When palliative medicine and care started to spread across Europe some 40 years ago after the opening of St. Christopher's Hospice in London, this was a rather slow and difficult process. It was not before the 1990s that it became a more dynamic and, subsequently, an almost rapid development, with varying dynamics in the European countries.
Still, it is highly desirable and much needed to set up national and pan-Europe projects that comprise all important aspects for the enhancement of detailed national plans of action, including education, further education, networking, co-ordination, quality assessment, research, funding, public awareness programmes and the necessity to expand palliative treatment to patients other than those suffering from cancer. In the framework of the mutual goal that patients are well-informed and have equal access to excellent palliative care not only at the end of life - an approach that does not necessarily want to increase the number of specialists, but rather increase the knowledge and skills of health professionals generally, including other involved professionals such as psychologists and chaplains, should be the first choice. Furthermore, in specific areas such as research, documentation and collection of data, a future European harmonisation is a must, other aspects of the further development, however, need to be designed to match the varying cultural needs of the European nations.