Verbatim report of proceedings

Thursday, 15 December 2016 - Strasbourg

Support for Thalidomide victims (B8-1341/2016, B8-1343/2016)

  Nessa Childers (S&D), in writing. ‒ All victims who are yet to be recognised ought to receive proper compensation from the companies involved, which must shoulder their responsibilities.

It is very important to adopt an EU-wide approach to the compensation system, since we are dealing with companies which have affected EU citizens spanning from Ireland to Spain and Sweden. There is no legitimate reason why the victims should be treated differently across the EU, and that is why they should receive commensurate compensation.

Monetary compensation alone, however, will not be a satisfactory answer. Assistance and support for the surviving victims, including their families, is vital so as to help them with unmet health needs, barriers and the stigma they face day in and day out. Thalidomide survivors have beaten the life expectancy originally set by doctors back in the 70s and 80s. However, they have been faced with deteriorating health and chronic pain as a result of their disability.

Fifty years on, the fight for Thalidomide survivors goes on. All survivors should be formally recognised in all EU Member States concerned and be finally given adequate and fair compensation from the Special Health Fund of the German Conterganstiftung.