ECO RESPONDS TO EUROPEAN COMMISSION CONSULTATION ON DISABILITY AND PARKING CARDS

The Commission was seeking stakeholder views on its published legal proposals that would:  

• providing a harmonised mechanism for individuals to prove their disability to benefit from preferential treatment in public and private spaces – via a new European Disability Card; and  

• improve the existing European Parking Card for persons with disabilities by further harmonising parking rights across the EU.  

ECO’s Survivorship and Quality of Life Network identified the consultation as an opportunity to raise policy attention to:  

a. the needs of cancer patients and survivors encountering disabilities as a result of their disease and treatment; and  

b. the needs of individuals with disabilities to access cancer services and cancer control more generally.   

In responding to the consultation, the European Cancer Organisation:  

• welcomed the Commission’s proposal identifying cancer survivorship needs, as cancer and its treatments are often considered a disability triggering physical and cognitive changes; 

• recommended that all cancer patients be eligible for the European Disability Card to help access cultural, leisure and other social activities that support their quality of life and wellbeing while they undergo treatment; 

• recognised that the European Parking Card for persons with disabilities will require separate eligibility procedures with greater focus on physical mobility considerations. To help address the financial burdens associated with cancer, ECO suggests encouraging member states to provide vehicle tax exemption to individuals holding a European Parking Card for persons with disabilities; 

• suggested extending the physical format of both cards to braille and easy- to-read versions, to allow greater inclusion;  

• supported synergising the digital card format with EU-supported mobile applications such as the EU Cancer Survivor Smartcard App (SmartCARE); and, 

• proposed ensuring adequate funding to promote citizen awareness and understanding of both cards after the legal proposal is passed and implemented.  

Read ECO’s full consultation reply here.  

Find out more about the ECO Survivorship and Quality of Life Network, and how to participate within it, here.   

You can read further information about ECO’s policies on cancer survivorship and quality of life in the relevant chapter of the Time To Accelerate: Together Against Cancer Manifesto here. We invite your endorsement!  

For further information about this topic, and to connect to ECO's work on Survivorship and Quality of Life, please contact Marion L’hote at marion.lhote@europeancancer.org