Prague reveals design plans for the Vltava Philharmonic Hall
The Danish studio Bjarke Ingels Group won the international architectural competition
The Luca Coscioni Association are raising awareness about euthanasia in Italy, Source: Mihai Romanciuc, on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
However, there is still a lack of legally-defined procedure for assisted suicides
The ethics committee of the Marche Region health authority became the first institution in Italy to grant the right to euthanasia to a claimant, who is represented by a right-to-die activist organization. Although the Italian Constitutional Court ruled out already in 2019 that assisted suicide is lawful in some cases, there has not been a corresponding initiative from the country’s parliament to adopt corresponding legislation.
Thus, people such as the unnamed claimant (referred to as ‘Mario’), who has been living for 11 years paralyzed from the neck down after a car accident, have been living in a legal limbo adding to their physical and mental suffering.
The Marche authority granted the request from Mario following two legal petitions, filed on his behalf by the Luca Coscioni Association, an NPO campaigning for the right to euthanasia to be legalized in the country.
"After the Constitutional Court effectively legalized assisted suicide, no ill person has been able to benefit from it, as the national health service hid behind the lack of a law that sets the procedure," explained Marco Cappato, Treasurer of the activist NPO, quoted by ANSA news agency. "Mario is going ahead anyway thanks to the courts and highlighting the buck-passing that is taking place (in the process). What is lacking now is the definition of the process to administer the euthanasia medicine.”
In Mr Cappato’s opinion, the responsibility for this administrative debacle lies squarely with the passivity of the Italian Parliament, which has been reluctant to propose a draft bill for debate and voting in the chamber. The controversial and hot issue is one that most institutions in the still traditionally Catholic country are not too keen on dealing with decisively.
Yet there is a growing demand for a law to materialize. Over a million people had already signed a petition, spearheaded by the Luca Coscioni Association, asking for a referendum on legalizing euthanasia. That means that the Constitutional Court is already looking into it since the minimum requirement for petitions is 500, 000 signatures.
The REPowerEU 200 billion-euro plan calls for a gradual reduction of Russian fuel imports
The summer ticket will be valid on local and regional trains, buses, as well as on the U-Bahn and S-Bahn
The Danish studio Bjarke Ingels Group won the international architectural competition
The city also added a new bathing area
The new Walking and Cycling Index shows that an overwhelming majority want to live in 20-minute neighbourhoods
Explore the underbelly of the city’s most iconic site in the moonlit hours
The REPowerEU 200 billion-euro plan calls for a gradual reduction of Russian fuel imports
Close engagement initiatives with the business sector and residents were key to spreading the idea across the board
The new Walking and Cycling Index shows that an overwhelming majority want to live in 20-minute neighbourhoods
The city also added a new bathing area
The installation of the sensors is part of its “Smart Museum” project
Authorities want to do away with the passive status of nature in the city
These will be spread across 11 EU countries and will serve to support the EU Missions
The European Commission has accepted to develop the idea
An interview about AYR, one of the 2021 New European Bauhaus Prize winners
An interview with Nigel Jollands and Sue Goeransson from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
An interview with the President of the City of Athens Reception & Solidarity Centre
A talk with the Mayor of Malmö on the occasion of the city’s UN Resilience Hub status