Context. Palliative medicine (PM), still in the development phase, is a new, growing specialty aimed at caring for both oncology and non-oncology patients. There is still confusion about the training offered in the various European PM certification programs.Objectives. To provide a detailed, comparative update and analysis of the PM certification process in Europe, including the different training approaches and their main features.Methods. Experts from each country completed an online survey addressing historical background, program name, training requirements, length of time in training, characteristic and content, official certifying institution, effectiveness of accreditation, and 2013 workforce capacity. We prepared a comparative analysis of the data provided.Results. In 2014, 18 of 53 European countries had official programs on specialization in PM (POSPM): Czech Republic,