Foreword: The EU Response to Major Crises: Where Do We Come from, Where Are We, Where Should We Be?

Abstract

Major crises often involve ethical, political and legal issues that are extremely difficult to handle. To make a good example, nuclear accidents sometimes open a catastrophic scenario which requires that someone assumes the responsibility to mend or isolate a damaged reactor. However, this is an extremely dangerous task that often causes death to some or even all those committed to address it. For example, in the case of Chernobyl, 29 firemen and employees participating in the mitigation measures died in the days and months afterward from acute radiation syndrome. Who should carry that weight? What are the boundaries of our moral duties under those circumstances? What information are we obliged to provide to people who will have to deal with such a task? These are all issues that raise fundamental moral debates. Providing a tentative response or, at least, showing the type of elements that should be considered in the discussion, is one of the main aims of this book.