Keynote address by Commissioner McGuinness at Joint Euro-American Forum on Cancer

Joint Euro-American Forum on Cancer

Delighted to see the Tánaiste's work acknowledged here this morning.

And I also was really interested listening to you: the good news is that cancer survival rates are only improving.

And I do believe in that through collaboration, which is absolutely key.

So delighted to be with you.

And I suppose you're aware of the European Union's Beating Cancer Plan which was launched just three years ago.

Led by my colleague, Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health.

And she's a passionate supporter of this.

We've had a wonderful choir visit us twice in the European Parliament, where really lifted the spirits, the Irish voices who came to sing at various conferences.

And I think that coming together helps everybody.

Those that are involved at the medical end and those that are involved at the political end.

And I also want to pay particular tribute this morning to Commissioner Kyriakides' predecessor in the role, David Byrne.

Because really you had a very strong role, David, in Europe's fight against cancer.

You laid the foundations of this work when you were the first EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection from 1999 to 2004.

Now I want to move to why I'm here. Why is the Financial Services Commissioner here to talk about health? Why am I talking about cancer?

There is a financial aspect to cancer and indeed Europe's Beating Cancer Plan.

And I want to focus my remarks on the need to ensure access to financial services for cancer survivors.

We do think of cancer as a health issue, which of course it is.

But it can also impact individuals and families when it comes to accessing financial products, like mortgage protection policies.

Financial inclusion requires that everybody should be able to access appropriate financial products.

But we know that cancer survivors too often face financial exclusion.

And again a cancer diagnosis brings so many challenges.

Of course health implications, and many worries too – about what it means for family, jobs, career.

But also what it does it mean for the financial situation.

And I think as policy-makers, the leadership of policy-makers in the audience today, it is our responsibility to do what we can to make sure cancer patients and survivors can focus on what ' s important – their health and their family.

And again thankfully, medical treatments are improving every day.

So more and more cancer survivors can make long-term plans and return to normal life.

But even when fully recovered, cancer survivors can and do face difficulties.

Their cancer history can make it hard, more expensive, or even impossible to access certain financial products and services.

When a person with cancer survives, their return to a normal life should be smooth.

And that includes financial services.

Cancer survivors should not face unnecessary burdens in accessing financial services.

And this is an issue as a cancer survivor no matter what country you come from, and certainly no matter what country you come from in the European Union.

I know there are representatives from across Europe at this important event, from Northern Ireland and the United States.

So we know that this is an issue, and we are addressing it by embracing the concept of ‘the right to be forgotten'.

And many of you in this room are working on it with us.

This is about enabling access to financial services for those who have recovered from cancer.

Back in 2022, the European Commission published a study on “Access to financial products for persons with a history of cancer in EU Member States”.

This identified many hurdles faced by cancer survivors.

It found a particular issue when survivors wanted to take out insurance linked to a mortgage loan.

This is a fundamental topic for people who want to purchase a property and get on with their life.

Last year, we launched in the Commission a little bit more research.

We wanted to develop a deeper understanding of the situation right across the European Union.

Because we know that some Member States are addressing this issue.

Particularly 11 EU countries have now put in place mechanisms to give cancer survivors the right to be forgotten.

8 Member States have brought in legislation, and 3 Member States in the form of a code of conduct.

That includes here in Ireland, where a voluntary code of conduct was introduced last year.

So in 11 Member States, after a certain period, insurers must not use information on a previous cancer diagnosis to underwrite policies or determine individual premiums.

The mechanisms differ in their details, and this is often down to national differences and nuances.

Some of these mechanisms have only very recently been introduced, as I said here in Ireland.

Others have existed longer and shown their value.

And they have evolved over time to provide additional support for cancer survivors.

But here's the big but, which is unacceptable in the European Union.

16 Member States have no mechanism at all.

And this is a problem.

So depending on where you live in the European Union, you might have access to a financial product or you might not.

So there is no level playing field here.

And I was interested to the point of your conference – cancer has no borders.

But there are barriers when it comes to access to financial products.

So we do have problems, and we need to solve them.

And that fragmentation of access needs to be addressed at a European level.

So that is why we are looking at this EU-level code of conduct.

We are holding stakeholder roundtables to develop the code.

Organisations representing survivors, the medical community and the financial sector are combining their expertise.

And again this work stems directly from Europe ' s Beating Cancer Plan.

The idea was to make sure that the evidence around cancer treatments and their improved effectiveness is reflected by financial service providers.

And the aim is essentially to facilitate access by cancer survivors to financial services in each and every Member State.

Now this is not an easy task, or it would be widespread.

But it's important work and we have to keep moving forward.

The groups involved in this process have very different perspectives and viewpoints – and that's why they are all around the table, to make sure that all of those different perspectives are reflected.

And of course the solutions have to work for everyone too.

But I do believe that everyone involved wants to help achieve better outcomes for cancer survivors.

And I understand this process needs everyone to talk to one another and importantly also to listen and better understand each other.

An EU code of conduct in my view would be a hugely significant step forward.

And it could start helping cancer survivors very soon.

It would plug the gap that exists for 16 Member States who have not taken any action on this important topic.

So the code of conduct is about raising the bar – part of a gradual upward trend towards every single Member State having a mechanism in place to enable cancer survivors to access financial products.

And this code of conduct would not be cast in stone.

Because it would evolve in line with the evidence, and with ever-more effective treatments that we expect to improve recovery perspectives for all cancer patients.

And I think in this room certainly and in the wider frame, that this is a long-term aim that we share.

So my remarks are short, and in closing, I just want to express my thanks again to all the organisations in this room today.

Your discussions around cancer in its many aspects are absolutely crucial.

Especially as you are bringing together many different people and voices from across Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United States and the European perspective.

Once someone survives cancer, they should be able to return to a normal life as easily as possible.

And that ' s what the work at EU level on access to financial services for cancer survivors aims to achieve.

I have a strong view about financial inclusion in many areas, but particularly in this.

And I think working together, despite the difficulties, we should be able to come forward with an EU code of conduct.

And what an incredible difference that would make across the European Union.

That would take away fear that exists today for those who have a cancer diagnosis, who might be in the middle of trying to get a mortgage and find that their efforts to establish their home is stalled because they had cancer.

And I think it is really incumbent on all of us, despite the difficulties, to push ahead.

And I leave you with my absolute full support that we will do that.