Differences in the approaches to risk assessment and management, and the development of regulation under conditions of uncertainty, are important sources of friction between the US and the EU. A transatlantic dialogue entitled "The Reality of Precaution", managed by the Duke University Center for Environmental Solutions and the Group of Policy Advisors of the European Commission, addresses the application of the precautionary principle in practice. With sponsorship from the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), R. Andreas Kraemer participates in and contributes to the dialogue.