BACKGROUND: In 2008, members of the TEPARG provided first insights into the legal and ethical framework governing body donation in Europe. In 2012, a first update followed. This paper is now the second update on this topic and tries to extend the available information to many more European countries. METHODS: For this second update, we have asked authors from all European countries to contribute their national perspectives. By this enquiry, we got many contributions compiled in this paper. When we did not get a personal contribution, one of us (EB) searched the internet for relevant information. RESULTS: Perspectives on the legal and ethical framework governing body donation in Europe. CONCLUSIONS: We still see that a clear and rigorous legal framework is still unavailable in several countries. We found national regulations in 18 out of 39 countries; two others have at least federal laws. Several countries accept not only donated bodies but also utilise unclaimed bodies. These findings can guide policymakers in reviewing and updating existing laws and regulations related to body donation and anatomical studies.

Anatomy Department Medical Faculty Uludağ University Bursa Turkey; Trans European Pedagogic Anatomical Research Group

Anatomy Faculty of Science and Medicine University of Fribourg Switzerland

Centro de donación de cuerpos y salas de disección Universidad Complutense Madrid Spain

Departamento de Deontologia Bioética e DireitoMédico Faculdade de Ciências Médicas Universidade Nova de Lisboa Portugal; Trans European Pedagogic Anatomical Research Group

Department of Anatomy 2nd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Department of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy Chisinau Republic of Moldova

Department of Anatomy and Embryology Faculty of Medicine C Davila University Bucharest Romania; Trans European Pedagogic Anatomical Research Group

Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Dublin Ireland

Department of Anatomy and Surgical Anatomy National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Greece

Department of Anatomy Faculty of Medicine Ss Cyril and Methodius University Skopje North Macedonia

Department of Anatomy Histology and Anthropology Faculty of Medicine Vilnius University Lithuania

Department of Anatomy University Medical Centre Utrecht Utrecht the Netherlands

Department of Anatomy University of Pécs Hungary

Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences University of Copenhagen Denmark

Institute for Functional and Clinical Anatomy Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg Erlangen Germany

Institute of Anatomy University of Bern Switzerland

Institute of Clinical and Functional Anatomy Medical University of Innsbruck Austria; Trans European Pedagogic Anatomical Research Group

Laboratoire d'Anatomie Faculté de Médecine de Tours France

Laboratory of Anatomy and Anatomy of Surgery Aristotele University School of Medicine Thessaloniki Greece

Section of Anatomy Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology University of Padova Italy; Trans European Pedagogic Anatomical Research Group

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