On 30 September 2026, MEPs Against Cancer and the Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL) hosted the event ‘The Right to be Forgotten: ending financial discrimination for cancer survivors’ at the European Parliament in Brussels and online. The full recording is available below.
Surviving cancer should not mean a lifetime of financial penalty. Yet across Europe, cancer survivors still face barriers when accessing mortgages and loans, or are charged higher insurance premiums, sometimes years or even decades after they have been declared cancer-free. Their history of illness follows them into every credit application, quietly closing doors that are open to everyone else.
This is financial discrimination, and it carries a real human cost: a young survivor unable to buy a first home, a parent unable to secure a loan for their family, a business owner locked out of the credit they need to build a future. Having beaten the disease, survivors are forced to keep paying for it.
Several EU Member States, including France, Belgium and the Netherlands, have introduced national “right to be forgotten” frameworks that limit how long a past cancer diagnosis can be held against someone seeking financial services. These are important steps forward. But they differ significantly from one country to the next, creating a patchwork of protection in which a survivor’s rights depend on where they happen to live. Equity of outcome should not stop at a national border.
The revised Consumer Credit Directive (EU) 2023/2225 offers an important opportunity to address these disparities. As Member States implement it, there is a real chance to embed fair treatment of cancer survivors into European consumer protection, and to move from fragmented national solutions towards a common European standard.
The event brought together policymakers, cancer organisations, patient advocates and experts to take stock of progress, examine the gaps that remain, and set out the way forward towards ending financial discrimination against cancer survivors, once and for all.
Programme
Keynote intervention
Welcome and opening remarks
Setting the scene: Financial discrimination and lived experiences
Evidence on the socioeconomic impact of cancer, with Ireland as a national example of recent progress on right to be forgotten legislation.
Speakers:
Panel discussion: From national solutions to European action on the Right to be Forgotten
Discussion on national right to be forgotten frameworks, the implementation of Directive (EU) 2023/2225, and opportunities to advance equitable access to financial services for cancer survivors across Europe.
Speakers:
Closing remarks
MEP Romana Jerković, S&D
