Brussels, 14/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament is urging member states to introduce a Europe-wide alert system for missing children. A written declaration urging the European Commission and Council of the EU to introduce such a system was signed by a majority of MEPs on Tuesday 10 July 2008. The MEPs call in the event of a kidnapping, for information about the child's identity to be immediately sent to the media and various police forces. The MEPs also ask member states to sign cooperation deals with all border countries to make it possible to rapidly raise the alarm in those countries. They call for the creation of a common organisation to train and aid national bodies. A similar system, 'Alerte Enlevement', in France has been used successfully six times. 'Mostly, alert systems would work at a local or national level, but occasionally neighbouring countries' emergency services will need to cooperate cross-border to ensure that all that can be done is being done,' commented Diana Wallis (ALDE, UK), joint author of the statement, in a press release. On 8 July 2008 at a meeting of EU justice ministers, the member states said that progress should be made in moving towards an interoperable alert system (see EUROPE 9699). Michele Cercone, spokesperson for the EU Justice Commissioner, said on Friday 11 July 2008 that the Commission had asked all member states to set up a national missing child alert system, not to create a centralised European system but rather to ensure that systems could work in interoperability mode. He added that the Commission hoped that at the 23-25 July 2008 Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council or at the JHA Council at the end of September 2008, it would be possible to confirm that all member states had set up a missing child alert system. (B.C. /trans/fl)