One million Euro boost for European child alert system

2.15.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 18th May 2009

The proposal to set up a European wide child alert system for missing children, backed last year by Lib Dem Fiona Hall MEP for the North East, has received a million Euros of funding from the European Commission. The funding will be shared between a number of projects aimed at improving procedures to prevent child abduction.

Fiona said:

"The success rate of 'Amber Alert' in America and France proves that a similar alert system in Europe could be extremely useful.

"When more than half of MEPs signed the written declaration to develop a missing child alert mechanism across Europe, it sent a strong signal to the European Commission that action was necessary and it is good news that the Commission has now responded.

"The challenge now is to make sure that the countries of Europe work together, particularly to prevent children from being transported across country borders before disappearing entirely. The closer countries co-operate on this, the more successful these anti-abduction moves will be. It's a case of stronger together, poorer apart."