29 replied to our Call…

Last May, 500 million Europeans elected the new Members of the European Parliament.

On the 4th February 2014, during the celebration of the World Cancer Day, ECPC and its partners convened to the European Parliament in Strasbourg to launch a pan-European plea to EU policymakers to take up the fight against cancer: the Call to Action. Since then, we have received the endorsement of more than 50 MEP candidates, who promised to support the needs and rights of cancer patients within the European Parliament.

29 of those initial endorsers have been awarded by their respective constituencies, and are now sitting in the newly elected European Parliament. ECPC is glad and proud of their endorsement to the Call to Action  We can now affirm that the joint launching of the Call to Action and the European Cancer Patient’s Bill of Rights at the European Parliament was a tremendous success and we want to thank all our MEP endorsers once again for their commitment.

… Time to work together!

Cancer does not respect borders, nor time. Hence, ECPC quickly geared up to materialise the support of the endorsed into practical initiatives.

We explored several options to provide the strongest possible institutional support to the Call to Action’s objectives. We believe the Intergroup on Health for Citizens (H4C) promoted by Mrs Grossetete (EPP), Mrs Ries (ALDE), Mrs Kadenbach (S&D) and Mrs Gardini (EPP) would best represent the interests of cancer patients. Through ECPC’s direct engagement in the intergroup, we will prepare the ground for our endorsers’ help in order to put cancer on the top of a multidisciplinary and complete European public health agenda.

What is an intergroup?

An intergroup is a group of MEPs interested in discussing a particular topic or subject, in collaboration with the civil society. The intergroup differs from Committee since it is not an official body of the European Parliament, although it is recognised by it.

You can find more information on intergroups in the dedicated European Parliament webpage   

 Through the work of the intergroup, we aim at achieving the main objectives of the Call to Action, which are:

1. To address the unacceptable disparities in cancer care in Europe through the establishment of an EU Cancer Plan;
2. To address the needs of more than 14 million European citizens living with cancer through a European Cancer Survivorship Strategy;
3. Support research excellence in cancer and it’s translation for measurable benefits for European cancer patients.

ECPC engagement encompassed not only the European Parliament, but all EU Institutions. Our hard work to ensure the integration of cancer patients’ priorities within the European institutions’ agenda made us achieve an important success: we have been nominated as patients’ representatives within the newly created European Commission Expert Group on Cancer Control.

Our 29 Endorsers