MEPs Against Cancer and the Association of European Cancer Leagues invite you to the event ‘The Right to be Forgotten: ending financial discrimination for cancer survivors’, taking place at the European Parliament on 30 September 2026 at 14:30 CET (hybrid event).
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, 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. It means a young survivor unable to buy a first home, a parent unable to secure a loan for their family, or 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, such as France, Belgium, or 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 entirely 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 move to implement it, there is a real opportunity to embed fair treatment of cancer survivors into European consumer protection, and to move from a fragmented set of national solutions towards a common European standard.
This event will bring together policymakers, cancer organisations, patient advocates and experts to take stock of progress, confront the gaps that remain, and chart the way forward towards ending financial discrimination against cancer survivors, once and for all.
Event information
Programme
Welcome and opening remarks
Keynote interventions
Framing the political case for ending financial discrimination against cancer survivors and the role of the European Parliament in driving change.
Setting the scene: financial discrimination and lived experiences
Overview of the evidence on financial discrimination, its socioeconomic impact, and the lived experiences of cancer survivors across Europe.
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.
Closing remarks
