EU sex offenders register backed

Politicians across Europe want crimes involving children to be treated the same way in all member states, the research found.

The survey was commissioned by the campaign to find Madeleine McCann, who was snatched from her parents' holiday flat in Portugal. Numerous sightings of the four-year-old have been reported across Europe and North Africa, including in Belgium, Malta and Morocco.

Almost every MEP surveyed (97%) agreed there should be an EU-wide sex offenders register, and 95% said police should treat serious crimes involving children exactly the same across Europe.

Nearly nine out of 10 MEPs would support the introduction of a common EU policy on child abduction cases.

The research also looked at attitudes of British MPs, 84% of whom believed sex offenders should be tracked as they move across Europe and forced to register with local police. Almost nine in 10 MPs felt that the UK's Child Rescue Alert - an emergency scheme to publicise suspected child abductions within hours - should be extended across the EU.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have travelled around Europe to publicise their daughter's disappearance. They said she could have been taken to another country by abductors taking advantage of the EU's porous borders.

The Algarve village of Praia da Luz, where Madeleine went missing, is only a few miles from both the port of Lagos and the main east-west motorway linking southern Spain and Portugal.

Mrs McCann said in an interview that it was "not ridiculous" to think that the young girl could be in Spain. Mr McCann said: "Since Madeleine's abduction, Kate and I have been made aware of a number of areas in European law that may be improved to help prevent child abuse and track those responsible for such crimes.

"We are pleased to see that elected members of both the UK and European parliaments agree that changes to legislation and greater consistency across the European Union are needed. We want to work with law enforcement agencies and non-governmental organisations to try and make Europe safer for all children. Kate and I would like to encourage further debate on how Europe can best manage serious crimes such as child abduction."