Brussels, 02/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - During the presentation of its programme to the MEPs of the committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs of the European Parliament on Wednesday 2 September, Swedish Justice Minister Beatrice Ask said that she would make the fight against trafficking in human beings "a priority" of her term in office. In order to fight this "despicable" phenomenon, she said, the Presidency would seek to ensure that the framework decision on trafficking in human beings, which was presented by the Commission in March (EUROPE 9870), was adopted before the end of the year. At the same time, an international ministerial conference will be held on 19-20 October to try to reinforce cooperation with third countries in this field. "The objective will be to adopt a document on targeted action in the fight against trafficking in human beings", Ms Ask stressed. The minister has also set herself the objective of ensuring that the framework decision on the sexual exploitation of children is adopted as quickly as possible, and of supporting a European financial coalition and internet access providers in fighting this plague. She also stated that she hopes to reach an agreement before the end of the year over an initiative concerning the accreditation of legal medicine laboratories. She explained that this would consist of high common standards for the exchange of information between the authorities of the member states. Lastly, the minister laid emphasis on the future role of Europol, which will become an agency of the Union in 2010. In this, she stated that a ministerial meeting would be held in The Hague on 1 October to discuss ways of improving police cooperation against cross-border crime. (B.C./transl.fl)