Pfizer Animal Health SA v. Council of the European Union

This lengthy case deals with the precautionary measure to no longer allow for the use of a specific type of antibiotic in animal feed in order to protect human health. Pfizer, the producer of the antibiotic, claims that errors were made with regard to risk assessment and management, that the precautionary principle was misapplied, that the obligation to state reasons and the principle of protection of legitimate expectations were breached. All these claims were rejected by the CFI, that went into an interesting legal argumentation on the above-mentioned principles and the wide discretion of the European authorities in decising which protective measures they want to take. Pfizer might still decide to appeal, in order to get more clarity on the boundaries of this discretion.