Explainer
An overview of European countries that authorize (or are considering authorizing) euthanasia (death caused by a healthcare professional at the patient’s request) or assisted suicide (the patient takes a prescribed medication to end their own life).
Slovenia, which is holding a referendum on assisted suicide on Sunday,is the most recent country in Europe to legislate on the subject.
An overview of European countries that authorize (or are considering authorizing) euthanasia (death caused by a healthcare professional at the patient’s request) or assisted suicide (the patient takes a prescribed medication to end their own life).
Netherlands and Belgium, pioneering countries
Nos Netherlandsa euthanasia has been strictly regulated since April 2002: A physician and an independent specialist must determine that the requesting patient is suffering unbearably with no hope of improvement. This right was extended in April 2023 to children under 12 years of age.
Already Belgiumthe request must be “voluntary, considered and reiterated”, “without external pressure”, according to a May 2002 diploma. In 2014, the country became the first in the world to authorize euthanasia for minors without age limits.
O Luxembourg decriminalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2009.
Assisted suicide in Switzerland
Switzerland bans euthanasia but allows assisted suicide: since the Second World War, the Penal Code has stipulated that aiding suicide is not punishable, as long as it is not motivated by a “selfish reason”.
This practice is governed by codes of medical ethics and managed by associations. Austria legalized, by a vote in parliament in December 2021, assisted suicide for people with serious or incurable illnesses.
Strict conditions in Spain
Spain adopted, in March 2021, a law that allows euthanasia and medically assisted suicide. The conditions are strict: the applicant must be “fit and conscious”the request must be made in writing, subsequently reconfirmed, and validated by an evaluation committee.
In Portugal, the decriminalization of euthanasia, approved in May 2023, has not yet come into force, following a decision by the Constitutional Court.
Referendum on assisted suicide in Slovenia
The Slovenian parliament legalized assisted suicide in Julyafter a favorable referendum. The law grants lucid, terminally ill patients whose suffering is unbearable the right to end their lives.
But a civil society group, supported by the conservative opposition, collected the 40,000 signatures needed to hold a referendum on the effective application of the law.
Start of regulation in Italy
The Italian Constitutional Court defined in 2019 the conditions necessary for a person with a terminal illness to can have access to assisted suicide without the person assisting them being the target of criminal proceedings.
But it remains difficult to put assisted suicide into practice, because parliament has not yet approved legislation on the subject. A pro-euthanasia association is campaigning for the adoption of standards on a regional scale, to simplify and speed up the procedure.
In February, the Tuscany became the first Italian region to adopt such standards. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing and far-right coalition, which opposes euthanasia, is challenging these norms.
Towards assisted dying in the UK
In June, British deputies approved, in second reading, a bill to legalize the “assisted death” for terminally ill adults capable of self-administering the lethal substance.
The diploma, currently under review by the House of Lords (upper house of parliament), will apply in England and Wales, but probably not in the coming years.
The Scottish parliament, which has devolved powers over health, approved in May, in first reading, a bill to legalize assisted suicide. The text is still being analyzed.
In France, assisted suicide under analysis
The evaluation of a bill, defended by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, to establish the “assisted suicide” for adults suffering from serious and incurable illnesses, it was interrupted by the dissolution of parliament in June 2024.
This project was later transformed into a proposal for a parliamentary initiative by deputy Olivier Falorni, from MoDem, and accompanied by a second bill, based on unanimity, on palliative care.
Approved at the end of May in first reading in the National Assembly, it is expected that they will be analyzed by the Senate in January 2026 and return to the Assembly in February. Macron raised the possibility of a referendum, in the event of a parliamentary impasse.
