The Promotion of Human Dignity Through the Envision of an EU Legal Framework on the End-of-life: An Impregnable Matter or a Concrete Possibility of Legislation for the Union?

Abstract

In 2025, the EU Commission responded to the possibility of regulating end-of-life matters across the Union, denying that it has a general power to intervene in this area. In the Treaties, it is laid down that the Union only has coordinative or supportive competence with respect to the protection and improvement of human health. Yet, one may question if primary law provisions might be the legal basis for legislative action here. In the same fashion, the CFREU and the ECHR need to be paid attention to. Hence, this article seeks to outline whether the EU has an actual (legislative) power to regulate the matter and investigate whether the EU can expand the scope of the protection of individuals’ human dignity, despite its past reluctance to do so.