Multicriteria optimization is distinct from multicriteria value decision analysis. The former does not model the value/utility of the criteria, while the latter does. If you do not model value/utility (what you need) then you cannot solve the underlying multicriteria problem.
No, unless I've mistaken the phrase, they're not the same. I'm thinking of the problem when competing criteria can't be satisfactorily combined as inputs to a function with a scalar output. This comes up in ethical paradoxes, for example.