In its 2006 statement, the National Ethics Council recommends to abandon the labels active, passive and indirect euthanasia because these terms are considered to be ambiguous and misleading.

In particular the label "indirect euthanasia" is being criticized because the actions that are to be covered by this term are said not to be intended as assistance in dying. The core is understood to rather be palliative measures such as pain therapy and sedation which are connected to the risk of a shortening of life induced by them. Consequently, the label "indirect euthanasia" should be replaced by "therapeutic measures at the end of life".

The Ethics Council furthermore suggests to label the failure or termination of life-prolonging measures as "letting die" because, in some cases, it constitutes an active intervention (for instance the removal of a stomach tube) which, allegedly, is not sufficiently made clear by the term "passive euthanasia".

Lastly, the statement recommends to use the term "homicide upon request" instead of "active euthanasia".