According to a Statement from the Council of Ministers, the Government of Portugal appointed Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Emeritus Director of the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, as one of five personalities on the National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences (CNECV), an independent consultative body that works with the Parliament.

In addition to Boaventura de Sousa Santos, the following personalities, with recognised scientific merit in the fields of medicine, life sciences, law and sociology were also appointed: Rosalvo Almeida, Paula Freitas, Inês Godinho and Inês Fronteira.

Created in 1990 and operating in the Portuguese Parliament since 2009, the National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences (CNECV) is an independent advisory body whose mission is to analyse the ethical issues raised by scientific progress in the fields of biology, medicine or health in general and life sciences.

The CNECV aims to reflect in order to prepare Opinions and study documents, ensuring the participation of the Council in working groups, seminars, conferences and meetings of national and international scope. Following on from previous years, the CNECV also seeks to raise awareness and engage in dialogue with Civil Society by publicly presenting the matters submitted for its analysis.