ABSTRACT
In this paper, I plan to outline how the four main stakeholder groups actively involved in environment and health debate (policy-makers, scientists, industry and NGO representatives) perceive risk, and how this perception affects the implementation of some of the regulatory tools used in risk issue management (namely, precaution, risk assessments, regulatory impact assessments and stakeholder dialogue). Although the emphasis in the European Union today is to encourage a wide dialogue to build consensus, when stakeholders are not speaking the same language, a consensus position could barely be anything more than weak compromises. For this paper, I will focus on the domain of chemicals risk issue management within the environmental health debate.
