Guest Editorial to the Symposium on European Union Governance of Health Crisis and Disaster Management: Key Norms and Values, Concepts and Techniques

Abstract

Over the past decade we have witnessed an increased readiness and growing infrastructure on the part of ‘Europe’ (EU, Council of Europe and WHO) to engage in emergency governance. Many, if not most, of the key examples centre on or implicate public health. Preparedness planning for terrorist attacks and pandemics provides perhaps the most obvious and recurrent example. But there is also the ongoing migration crisis, affecting the southern fringes of the EU in particular. Volcanic eruptions have grounded air travel for fear of lost lives from planes falling from the sky. And further back, BSE/CJD led to fears of an impact on human health as a result of farming techniques for cows. This symposium attempts to provide the groundwork for European governance of health crisis and disaster management (EHCDM) and from there to contribute towards an awareness and reflection with regard to the common core norms and values that shape the mechanisms that underpin future responses to emergencies in Europe.