The European Parliament,

–   having regard to Rule 123 of its Rules of Procedure,

A.   whereas 331 392 women in the European Union are diagnosed with breast cancer every year,

B.   whereas breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women aged 35 to 59, and 89 674 women die of breast cancer in the EU every year,

C.   whereas mammographic screening can reduce deaths from breast cancer by up to 35% in women between 50 and 69,

1.  Calls on the Member States to introduce nationwide breast screening, in accordance with EU guidelines;

2.  Calls on the Commission for a progress report on implementation of mammography screening in all EU countries every 2 years;

3.  Calls on the Commission to support studies to look at whether screening is useful for women over 69 years of age and under 50;

4.  Calls on Member States to provide multidisciplinary specialist breast units in accordance with EU guidelines by 2016, and on the Commission to deliver a regular progress report;

5.  Calls on the Commission to present up-to-date, reliable statistics on breast cancer and support the development of national cancer registers;

6.  Calls on the Commission to develop a certification protocol for specialist breast units in accordance with EU Guidelines by 2011 and to provide adequate financing for this;

7.  Instructs its President to forward this declaration, together with the names of the signatories(1), to the parliaments of the Member States.

(1) The list of signatories is published in Annex 1 to the Minutes of 5 May 2010 (P7_PV(2010)05-05(ANN1)).