Lisbon, 02/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - The 27 justice ministers of the EU have agreed on the creation of a kidnap alert system to interconnect the systems already in existence in the member states, Portuguese Justice Minister Alberto Costa announced on Tuesday 2 October in Lisbon. However, the ministers were not able to agree on a proposal from the Portuguese presidency to extend the “kidnap alert” instrument as used in France and Greece (and soon in Belgium) to the entire Community. That system consists of transmitting alerts on all major media, in railway stations and on information boards on motorways. Several states, such as the Netherlands, had proposed focussing on a “regionalised” kidnap alert system instead of a generalised European system. Such a procedure could be useful in certain cases, but too many alerts in too many countries could be counterproductive in terms of achieving the desired results, some ministers believed. “I do not think that it is useful to broadcast an alert in Denmark concerning a child who has been kidnapped in the south of Italy”, said German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries, going on to point out that in 50% of cases in Germany, the missing child reappeared within three days. Ultimately an agreement in principle was reached on a “flexible” alert mechanism, as a complement to cooperation between member states, which would be used “in certain carefully chosen cases”.
This system would be interest for both “very small geographical areas” and for “cross-border areas” alike, said Mr Costa, suggesting that the system may not be brought in in all 27 member states. For his part, the commissioner for justice, Franco Frattini, clearly declared his ambition for such a system. He feels that it is a question of extending the device gradually (every 30 minutes), depending on the evidence gathered and how far the kidnapped person is likely to have travelled. For example, if a child is kidnapped near a bus stop, the device should be extended to motorway signboards, or, if the kidnapping was carried out near to an airport, the device should be extended to other airports. “We cannot limit ourselves to the borders alone (…). I have asked all the member states to become interconnected”, stated that commissioner. When asked how long before the system was in place, he replied: “that depends on the goodwill of the member states. There is no need for legislation” to bring it in. In order to ensure that a system of this kind, interoperable across the EU, is introduced, there are many details which have not yet been sorted out, the diplomat stressed. It is worth noting that the ministers also agreed to include a regular update of the list of missing children in the future electronic legal portal. (bc)