Luxembourg, 28/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - The football World Cup, which will be held in Germany during the month of June, will serve as a test- under real conditions- in the fight against the trafficking in human beings, according to the Austrian Presidency. "We are taking the World Cup in Germany as a field of experimentation", the Austrian Interior Minister Liese Prokop, who chaired the JHA Council, announced on 27 April. In a preliminary attempt to solve the problems of this trafficking, and to tackle one of its direct consequences, "sexual exploitation", the ministers have pledged to take preventative measures to fight against this phenomenon. The package of measures, some of which had been announced in March by Commissioner Franco Frattini (EUROPE 9148), include: - "the use of liaison officers" to reinforce cooperation, according to Ms Prokop;- measures aiming to provide "sufficient levels of assistance and protection" for the victims of trafficking in human beings (hosting centres, telephone helplines); - the launch of "targeted information campaigns"; - measures to "discourage demand" in the field; - "the closest possible cooperation with civil society and those organising the event"; - police reinforcement in the Member State which is organising the sporting event; - detection measures for established cases of trafficking in human beings together with measures to locate the victims, and the appointment of specialist agents to fight against this phenomenon; - risk assessment and cooperation with the other Member States. The Presidency of the Council notes, however, that the European Commission "has not received sufficient information from the Member States" on vulnerable persons and "on children in particular" and as a result of this, "the EU is not in a position to make an accurate assessment of the protection and assistance to be made available to these victims".