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A Cancer Plan for Europe​​
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The European Cancer Plan is a political commitment to reverse cancer and another stepping stone towards a strong European Health Union and a safer, better prepared and more resilient EU.

Prevention

The last European plan to fight cancer was presented in February 2021.

It represents one of the EU's top priorities for the coming years, aiming to achieve significant results.

The European Plan is developed around 10 initiatives that will go through various support actions.

The European plan is primarily intended to support Member States' work to prevent cancer and ensure a high quality of life for cancer patients, survivors, their families and carers and is structured around a number of key areas in which the EU can add the maximum value:

• prevention
• early diagnosis
• diagnosis and treatment
• quality of life of cancer patients and survivors

Cancer research activities are now part of Horizon Europe.
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The EU4Health (2021-2027) programme will provide financial and technical support to Member States, helping efforts to strengthen health systems.

On 9 December 2022, the EU Council adopted a Recommendation on a ​on New Cancer Screening. Read the text here.
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Why is cancer a European priority?

In Europe, cancer is the second leading cause of mortality, after cardiovascular disease.

Each year, 2.6 million people are diagnosed with the disease and another 1.2 million kills.

Considering that Europe has 25% of all cancer cases in the world and less than 10% of the world population, it is clear that cancer is a huge threat to European society. Furthermore, the overall economic impact of cancer in Europe is € 100 billion per year.

It is clear that 40% of cancers are preventable if we implement what we already know, but only 3% of health budgets are spent on health promotion and disease prevention. Therefore, the scope for action is immense.

Furthermore, the fight against obesity and other non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes also benefit from action on cancer prevention and healthy lifestyles, as they share common risk factors.

​EU Policy framework

• Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan - SWD(2021) 13
  • Annex to the Communication
  • Implementation Roadmap and progress indicators
  • Synopsis report
• Council Recommendation on Cancer Screening in the EU
• Council Conclusions on Reducing the Burden of Cancer
• Latest European Parliament Resolution on Combating Cancer
• The European Code against Cancer
• Report on the implementation of the Council Recommendation on Cancer Screening in the European Union
• European guidelines for quality assurance in breast, colorectal and cervical cancer screening

EU Initiatives on cancer prevention and control

Initiatives coordinated by the Joint Research Centre of the Commission in the area of cancer prevention and control, include the:

• European Cancer Information System (ECIS)
• European Network of Cancer Registries (ENCR)
• European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer (ECIBC)

Health Programme funding contributes to the European Reference Networks on cancer as well as joint actions on:

• European Partnership (EPAAC)
• Comprehensive cancer control (CANCON)
• Rare cancer (JARC)
• Innovative Partnership on Action against Cancer (iPAAC)

Related information

• Health and long-term care
• Launch event for the public consultation of ‘Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan: Let’s Strive for More’
• European partnership on Action against Cancer
• Boosting Innovation and Cooperation in European Cancer Control
• European Guide on Quality Improvement in Comprehensive Cancer Control
• Expert Group on cancer control
• Roadmap for the implementation of actions to strengthen cooperation against vaccine preventable diseases
• Eurostat : Cancer statistics

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