lattice of recycled wood sourced from every corner of the EU. Neither has the past been obliterated: Europa incorporates a much older building – the Résidence Palace, built as art deco luxury flats in the 1920s, later commandeered to be the Nazis’ headquarters in Belgium, before eventually becoming offices.

Glowing in the dark, glinting in the occasional Belgian sunshine, Europa is a more thoughtfully crafted building than its nondescript predecessor, which was built on a bulldozed corner of older Brussels. The Justus Lipsius building, which will remain in use, could be the headquarters of a publicity-shy bank. A squat pinkish building, the windows are small and impossible to see through.

The eco-friendly building has faced criticism for its high cost and delays at a time when cash-strapped EU member statesand somnolence, and their acceptability to her. Her psychosocial and spiritual issues were served by our psychologist, social worker, and chaplain. According to our best assessment, we felt we had achieved an optimum balance of pain control and tolerable side-effects. Her son disagreed. For this, and other reasons, he withdrew her from our care, and enrolled her in home hospice. We heard that he administered high doses of morphine every hour at home. She died the next day.

This encounter and other experiences with dying patients' loved ones, hospice workers, and other care providers, who—with the best of intentions—feel that pain and other forms of physical suffering should be eliminated, provoked an active discussion in our unit about the unintended consequences of this practice. One of the most powerful