Health care services are constantly assessed by their ability to accommodate values popular in contemporary societies. Autonomy, justice, and human dignity have for some time been among such values in the affluent West. Relative newcomers in the field are the notions of “precaution” and “solidarity,” which seem to attract, in particular, Continental European ethicists.This article was produced as a part of the projects Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects of Human Genetic Databases: A European Comparison (ELSAGEN), financed between 2002 and 2004 by the European Community (QLG6-CT-2001-00062); Public Policies, Law and Bioethics: A Framework for Producing Public Health Policy Across the European Union by Examining Concepts of European and Universal Ethical Standards (EuroPHEN), financed between 2003 and 2006 by the European Community (QLRT-2001-02320); and Ethical and Social Aspects of Bioinformatics (ESABI), financed between 2004 and 2007 by the Academy of Finland (SA 105139). My thanks are due to these institutions for their support, and to Peter Herissone-Kelly for checking my English.