The “Right to Be Forgotten” Creating Ripples Across Europe

After Youth Cancer Europe's White Paper was presented at the European Parliament in Brussels in 2018 it created ripples, all over Europe. YCE’s call to end financial discrimination against cancer survivors, labeled as the "Right To Be Forgotten," urged national governments and financial regulators in Europe, to extend and implement legal rights. Due to the tireless efforts of patient advocates who lobbied for implementation on national levels, as of 2024, eight Member States have taken legal measures to counter financial discrimination against cancer survivors: France (January 2016), Belgium (March 2018), the Netherlands (January 2021), Portugal (January 2022), Romania (July 2022), Spain (July 2023), Cyprus (November 2023) and Italy (December 2023). The White Paper had also a huge influence on the wording of the European Commission's Beating Cancer Plan as well as the European Parliament Report 2020/2267(INI) ‘Strengthening Europe in the fight against cancer’ and the European Commission’s current initiative to develop a Code of Conduct for fair access to financial services. YCE was invited to the BBC to talk about the issue of financial discrimination against cancer survivors, which was also echoed by The Independent and the Daily Mirror newspaper.