[Medical liability. Comparative compensation for personal injury in Europe]

European institutions apply a number of common principles to medical liability and compensation. The Scandinavian patient insurance system, based on listed criteria, is independent from the notion of "fault", unlike in the rest of Europe. However, since March 2002, French law has also allowed for compensation of major medical accidents, regardless of the notion of fault. On the eve of harmonization, two statutory bases must be created. The first is a common European list of recoverable medical damages. Yvonne Lambert-Faivre's recent work offers a convenient guide in this respect. The second--pecuniary quantum of damages--should be founded on Courts of Appeal rulings on personal medical injury. Common trends can be identified in nearly all European countries. Despite the subsidiarity principle, a common road towards harmonizing medical accident compensation systems can be found.