ABSTRACT
This chapter provides historical information about the European bioethics scene and offers personal reflections on the theoretical mainstreams of the practice of bioethics in European centres. It focuses on bioethics on the European continent; indeed, it is the author's humble opinion that the bioethics scene in the UK occupies the mainstream of bioethics, as it is understood and practised in American, Australian and Asian bioethics centres. The two developments on the regulatory level are the creation of an advisory committee to the European Commission and the publication of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine of the Council of Europe. While the first initiative emphasizes the role of the ethics advisory committee, the second initiative is more important for the future of the European Union and for so-called bio-law in Europe. One of the most important differences between American principlism and the majority of bioethical approaches on the European continent is connected with the interpretation of the concept of personhood.
