Internationalization of Bioethics : the search for common norms of bioethics in the EU and the Council of Europe

Abstract

In this article, the development of bioethics in one of the most scientifically developed regions of the world - Europe- is discussed with reference to the enactments in the Council of Europe and the European Union. An international effort for the creation of ethical and methodological regulations in the medical arena has started in Europe. These efforts were primarily that of the Council of Europe with the Convention of Human Rights and Biomedicine and regulations by the European Union. This study examines the internationalization of bioethics and the national aspects of norm building and decision-making in Europe that covers the political parties, the different stances taken in public debates, evolution of norms and regulations involved in the process and the policies. The questions of the transformation of classical understanding of the state in Europe and the evolution of bioethical norms are also addressed in this study. The article dwells upon the task of analyzing the attempts for common norms of bioethics in the EU and the Council of Europe in four parts. The first part discusses the formal aspects laying down the principles of bioethics in the domain of the Council of Europe and mainly focuses the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine. The second part moves the discussion to the European Union and generally outlines the attempts by the EU regarding bioethics and the rules of conduct upon the layer initiated by the Council of Europe. The third part draws out the future prospects in genetics and biotechnology and makes an assessment of the general trends. The fourth part makes a conclusion with a summary of the main points which were discussed through out the article