This paper focuses on interrogating the implications of using risk as a way of governing disaster planning operations. It begins by asking “How have risk management practices contributed to the process of creating new EU Rapid Reaction-capable institutional actors?” To answer this, the paper examines the ‘mitigation-response’ risk assessments conducted by the EU’s DG in charge of Humanitarian Aid, DG ECHO, which led to the Civil Protection Mechanism (CPM) and the European Civil Protection (ECP) teams. The project argues that the mantra of risk underlies the very notion of ‘Crisis Management’ that the EU holds so dear; risk is central to the thinking behind what Crisis Management means, and is the way by which the EU has developed its Crisis Management capability portfolio to emphasise the importance of Rapid Reaction capabilities. Using the CPM and the ECP teams as case studies, the paper outlines the intimate relationship between risk practices and EU Crisis Management, specifically focusing on how mitigation risk practices are precisely about how best to not only respond rapidly to a situation, but also have tools on hand and available to minimise the effects of an event taking place.
