Council Recommendation on strengthening prevention through early detection: A new EU approach on cancer screening replacing Council Recommendation 2003/878/EC - Statement from the Commission

Council of the European Union Brussels, 2 December 2022 (OR. en)

14770/22

Interinstitutional File: ADD 1

2022/0290(NLE) i

SAN 608

NOTE

From: General Secretariat of the Council

To: Council

Subject: Council Recommendation on strengthening prevention through early detection: A new EU approach on cancer screening replacing Council Recommendation 2003/878/EC

• - 

  Statement from the Commission

Delegations will find in Annex a statement from the Commission to be included in the minutes of the EPSCO (Health) Council on 9 December 2022.

ANNEX

Statement from the Commission

The Commission welcomes the overall progress and the improvements agreed by the Council in the compromise proposal, which constitutes an important step forward for cancer screening in the EU compared to the 2003 Recommendation. The Commission in particular welcomes the introduction of three new cancer types as part of the EU Cancer Screening Scheme and the acknowledgement of the Cancer Plan objective to ensure that 90 % of the EU population who qualify for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screenings are offered screening by 2025.

The Commission however regrets that the ambition of the proposal of the Commission has been reduced and that the scope of the recommended screenings has been limited. The Commission considers that it would have been preferable in particular to maintain the proposed recommended broader age range for breast cancer screening and the recommended reference to the level of efficacy of lung and prostate cancer screening. The Commission would also have been in favour of limiting the introduction of additional criteria and reservations for screening programmes.