THE Fine Gael MEP, Ms Mary Banotti, has called for convicted paedophiles to be electronically tagged to enable police forces across Europe to monitor them, writes Carol Coulter.
Ms Banotti is addressing the World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Stockholm this week.
The MEP also called on the governments of Europe to set up a central database of missing children, and to adopt a tough international approach to stamp out child abductions and murders.
Ms Banotti is the Mediator on Abducted Children for the European Parliament. She said she receives numerous reports and petitions from frightened and disillusioned parents every week.
"The debate has been considerably sharpened by recent events in Belgium," she said. "It is no longer desirable or acceptable that the issues of child sex abuse and the sex trade be tackled on a purely national basis.
"The European member states finally signed the EuroPol agreement in July. It is now vital that each individual state ratifies the agreement as soon as possible in order to tackle this sickening crime."