The Brussels Trip

Full audio recording of press conference

Listen to audio recording of full press conference here Note: Clicking this link will download the recording into a temporary folder which opens up automatically into Windows Media Player. At the 1:14 mark, the microphone cuts out due to a problem at the event. After a short silence Clarence Mitchell returns and apologises for the interruption. This link connects direct to the actual recording made by the European Parliament and is therefore reliable. If you prefer to download direct from the EP site click here and then click on 'EU wide alert system for missing or abducted children: asf'.

First news of McCanns meeting in Brussels, 03 April 2008

The Week Ahead 7-13 April 2008 EuropeanParliament   Institutions - 03-04-2008 - 19:17   Missing child hotline.  A meeting to consider prospects for a Europe-wide alert system for missing or abducted children will hear from Gerry and Kate McCann, whose daughter Madeleine has been missing since May 2007 (Thursday).   *   Thursday 10/04/2008 Link   RECORDED Press conference 14:00 - 14:30 Missing child hotline Press Conference by Edward MCMILLAN-SCOTT (EPP-ED, GB) Brussels, Press Conference room - 10.30-11.00

Kate and Gerry McCann in Europe kid safety campaign, 05 April 2008

Kate and Gerry McCann in Europe kid safety campaign Daily Mirror   By Rod Chaytor 5/04/2008   Kate and Gerry McCann fly to Brussels to launch a child safety scheme next week while Portuguese police quiz their Tapas Seven friends in Britain. The couple will be present on Thursday when a draft declaration goes before the European Parliament, calling for a European-wide missing child alert system. Kate, 40, and Gerry, 39, believe that if it had been in place it could have saved daughter Madeleine, four, who vanished from Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3. The couple, official suspects in the Madeleine case, will also appear in a global televised press conference.   Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said yesterday: "Next to finding Madeleine, the introduction of a system which might save another child is the matter closest to their hearts. "They never want another family to go through what they have gone through." A three-man Portuguese police team will sit in on interviews by Leicestershire police of the Tapas Seven - who dined with the McCanns on the night Madeleine disappeared - from Tuesday. First witness is Jane Tanner, 36, of Exeter, Devon, who saw a man carrying a child near Madeleine's apartment. The friends have all volunteered to cooperate. None will be accompanied by lawyers. Mr Mitchell denied that the trip to Brussels by the McCanns, of Rothley, Leics, was a "diversionary tactic". The spokesman said: "It is a coincidence of timing."

	McCanns travel to Brussels by Eurostar, 09 April 2008
	Apr 9, 2008   McCanns Want Abduction Alert System   Kate and Gerry McCann have travelled to Brussels as police continue to re-question their friends over the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine. The couple are hoping to persuade MEPs to introduce a Europe-wide abduction alert system. No commentary.   00:00:47

McCanns To Argue For Child Alert System, 09 April 2008

McCanns To Argue For Child Alert System Sky News   Updated: 08:36, Wednesday April 09, 2008    The parents of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann are helping to set up a dedicated information hotline for missing children that will be available across Europe.   Kate and Gerry McCann are visiting Brussels as part of the campaign to bring in a dedicated alert system for abducted children.   The phone number - 116 000 - will work from phones across the continent.   Kate, 40, and Gerry, 39, from Rothley, Leics, recently visited America to see the "Amber" alert system.   This allows police to commandeer the airwaves and television channels in different states if they believe a child has been abducted.   The system also allows news alerts, often including the registration number of a suspect's vehicle, to be flashed up on digital signs on main roads.   Tomorrow the couple will give a presentation to MEPs at the European Parliament in Brussels, providing them with details about how the system works and the case for introducing it in Europe.   The couple say such a system could have helped find their daughter Madeleine in the crucial hours after she went missing from their apartment in the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz on May 3 last year.   The move has received cross-party support in the European Parliament and is being sponsored by five MEPs.   Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said: "For Kate and Gerry this is an important opportunity to ensure better co-ordination in Europe when a child goes missing to make sure that no other family goes through the anguish that they are continuing to endure.   "They hope to get the support of a majority of the Parliament's MEPs and with such a moral authority they hope that the European Commission will ensure that such a system comes in to being."   For the proposal to be brought forward, it would have to be signed by a majority of the 785 MEPs within three months.   This week Portuguese police asked the couple to return to Praia da Luz to take part in a reconstruction of the events of May 3.

McCann abduction hotline idea... was initiated in 2006 and launched by European Commission in Feb 2007, 09 April 2008

McCann abduction hotline idea The Press Association   Wednesday 09 April 2008    The parents of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann are in the process of setting up a dedicated information hotline that will be available across Europe for when police suspect a child has been abducted. Kate and Gerry McCann and their team are believed to have already reserved the hotline number - 116 000. It has yet to go live. The couple are visiting Brussels as part of a campaign to bring in a dedicated alert system for abducted children. Kate, 40, and 39-year-old Gerry, from Rothley, Leics, recently visited America to see the "Amber" alert system, which allows police officers to commandeer the airwaves and television channels in different states if they believe a child to have been abducted. The system also allows news alerts, often including the registration number of a suspect's vehicle, to be flashed up on digital signs above the country's motorways. The McCanns are to make a power-point presentation to MEPs at the European Parliament in Brussels, providing them with details about how the system works and the case for introducing it in Europe. They will then launch their declaration, calling for the introduction of such a system, to the world's media at a specially arranged press conference in the Belgian capital. The couple believe such a system could have helped find their daughter Madeleine in the crucial hours after she went missing from their apartment in the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz on May 3 last year. A statement released by the couple said: "A written declaration is being tabled to re-enforce the political message with concrete action and it will be open for signatures at the next plenary session in Strasbourg." The declaration has received cross-party support already. It is being sponsored by five MEPs.   COMMUNICATION TO THE PRESS European Federation The European Federation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children welcomes "116 000" as the European telephone number for missing children Brussels, 20 December 2006 - The European Federation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children welcomes today’s decision of the Extraordinary Communications Committee, reserving "116 000" as the European telephone number for missing children. The European Commission initiated this number as an example of services of social importance in its decision "on reserving the national number range beginning with ‘116’ for harmonised numbers for harmonised services of social value". The European number for missing children constitutes a major step towards strengthening the assistance offered by emergency hotlines across Europe in cases of disappearances of minors. The development of a European telephone number for missing children that can be dialled anywhere in Europe has been on top of the agenda of the Federation since 2005. Such a harmonised telephone number is crucial for a variety of reasons: * The phenomena of missing and sexually exploited children is by definition cross border. Victims and witnesses must have a number at their disposal, which can be used internationally. When losing a child, recognising a child that has been reported missing, etc. one will soon be able to dial 116 000 anywhere in Europe. * Parents, children, teachers or siblings confronted with the disappearance of a child are submerged with a feeling of great distress and panic. At such occasion, it is crucial for them to have a short and easily memorable number that can provide them with support wherever they are in Europe. * In cases of cross border disappearance of a child, one single international poster campaign can now more easily be distributed across the border, with reference to the European number. This will clearly and demonstrably advance the search actions organised by civil society organisations in cases of international disappearances. * The European hotline number for missing children will allow the launch of international awareness raising and promotional campaigns, thus greatly facilitating this costly and time-consuming work of NGOs operating emergency lines. (1) The European number will be operated nationally in the different countries of the EU, by existing emergency hotlines for missing children. Organisations managing such a hotline will have to address a request for using the number to their National Regulatory Authorities. By providing support to victims on the one hand, and assisting the judicial and law enforcement authorities in charge of the investigation on the other, these organisations play a crucial role in combating the aforementioned phenomena. In order for the European telephone number to be operational in the shortest delays, the Federation calls upon the national authorities in charge of telecommunication as well as the operators to take the necessary measures to allow a swift implementation. (1) This type of international awareness campaigns have already been organised, for instance, for the International Day of Missing Children, for which one set of graphical material was used in 2005 by 11 countries member of the European Federation. Missing Children Europa Missing Children - 116 000, European helpline telephone number Justice, Freedom and Security 13/02/2007 A European emergency helpline for missing children is being set up. The telephone number - 116 000 - will allow citizens to notify, free of charge, the authorities that a child is missing. The Member States are being asked to put in place this important initiative which is in favour of children's human rights. Emergency help lines exist in many Member States but at present each country has a different number. The development of a help line number for missing children which can be used from anywhere in Europe will allow for efficient European harmonisation and the more rapid launch of a search. PRESS RELEASE Cable Europe 8 June 2007 EU Telecoms industry support missing children hotline European cable, telecoms and mobile phone operators agree on Industry Guidelines to implement the 116 000 pan-European hotline number for missing children Brussels: In cooperation with Missing Children Europe, Cable Europe, ECTA, ETNO and GSM Europe, which collectively represent all of Europe’s telecoms services providers, signed today Industry Guidelines for the implementation of the 116 000 pan-European hotline number for missing children. The Industry Guidelines were signed in the presence of Rudolf Strohmeier, Head of the Cabinet of Mrs Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media. This initiative follows the European Commission's decision of 15 February 2007 to reserve national numbers starting with '116' for pan-European services of social value and to attribute the first one - 116 000 - to hotline services for missing children. Now that the number has been reserved at an EU level, several steps will need to be taken at the national level to make the number operational. Each National Regulatory Authority will have to register the new number and attribute it to the national hotline in charge of operating the service. Following this, the hotline will select, on commercial terms, a single communications service provider in each country to activate the number. By agreeing to the Industry Guidelines, the telecoms providers are being urged to make the 116 000 hotline number available and operational with minimal delays, and to make all necessary interconnection agreements to ensure that all operators carry the calls to the new numbers. Charges associated with these calls will follow the established model for national freephone calls. Finally, signatories will call on their member companies to raise the awareness of the 116 000 number. Alert would have saved Madeleine McCann Telegraph By Sarah Womack Social Affairs Correspondent, Last Updated: 1:38am GMT 07/03/2008 Relevant section to 116000 number: 'The European Commission launched a Europe-wide missing-child hotline number, 116000, in February last year, but so far only Belgium, Denmark, Greece and Portugal have adopted the scheme. The Commission’s vice-president, Franco Frattini, said he was disappointed with the progress made at a national level. "Only four member states showed goodwill until now."'

Madeleine McCanns' parents to address MEPs, 09 April 2008

Madeleine McCanns' parents to address MEPs Telegraph   By Caroline Gammell Last Updated: 12:54pm BST 09/04/2008    Kate and Gerry McCann will address MEPs in Brussels tomorrow to call for a European-wide missing child alert system as the friends on holiday with them in Portugal when Madeleine disappeared continue to be questioned by police.   The couple travelled to Belgium today to prepare for their presentation to the European Parliament, which has been sponsored by MEPs from England, Wales, Italy and Germany.   It is nearly a year since Madeleine vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz as her parents dined with seven friends at a tapas bar nearby.   They have campaigned relentlessly to find their daughter and hired private detectives in Spain, but no trace of the little girl has been found.   Suspicion fell on the couple themselves last September when they were named arguidos or suspects in their daughter's disappearance and they are desperate to clear their names.   While they are away, friends with them on the night Madeleine went missing are being questioned by Leicestershire Police in the presence of Portuguese detectives.   The first to be interviewed - Jane Tanner and Russell O'Brien - did not leave the force headquarters in Enderby until 9pm on Tuesday night, while Fiona Payne and husband David were interviewed today.   Portuguese police arrived in Britain on Monday and asked Mr McCann, 39, and Mrs McCann, 40, to take part in a full reconstruction back in the Algarve.   Although they are willing to help keep the case in the spotlight, they are concerned about going to Portugal while they are still regarded as suspects.   Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the fact that the McCanns were going to Brussels while the Portuguese police were in the UK was just a coincidence.   He said the pair, from Rothley in Leicestershire, saw the alert system as a way of creating some good out of their situation.   "For Kate and Gerry this is an important opportunity to ensure better co-operation throughout Europe when a child goes missing and to make sure that no other family goes through the anguish that they are continuing to endure," he said.   "They hope to get the support of the majority of MEPs and, with such moral authority, they also hope that the European Commission will ensure that such a child alert system comes into being."   Their declaration, which was drafted with the help of Geoffrey Robertson QC, calls for an alert system which tells border authorities, customs, police and law enforcement agencies, as well as media outlets, when a child goes missing.   Included in the alert is the identity of the child, a photograph, information about potential abductors and a general telephone hotline for people to contact.   They will also call for greater cooperation between countries and the creation of a central European body to provide assistance and training about missing children to the different member states.   The declaration has been backed by five MEPs - Edward McMillan-Scott MEP (England), Diana Wallis MEP (England), Roberta Angelilli MEP (Italy), Glenys Kinnock MEP (Wales) and Evelyne Gebhardt MEP (Germany).   MEPs will be able to sign the declaration at the next plenary session in Strasbourg, where it will remain open for three months. A majority of 785 MEPs are needed for the document to be adopted by parliament.

Smiling Kate McCann heads for Brussels, 10 April 2008

A smiling Kate sets off for Brussels Smiling Kate's Maddie mission The Sun    By Antonella Lazzeri Published: 10 Apr 2008    SMILING Kate McCann heads to Brussels yesterday to launch a child alert system she believes may have found Maddie in hours.   Kate and husband Gerry, 40, want Euro MPs to adopt the scheme based on the US Amber Alert plan.   Messages are broadcast on motorway billboards, radio and TV when a child goes missing.   Spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry saw the Amber Alert system operating and they believe Europe and Britain need to bring it in urgently."   Meanwhile Tapas 7 pals Dr Matthew Oldfield, 37, and wife Rachael, 36, who ate with the McCanns the night Maddie, four, vanished from Praia da Luz, were interviewed by cops in Leicester as Portuguese officers listened in.

McCanns Support EU Child Alert System, 10 April 2008

McCanns Call For Amber Alert System Sky News    Updated: 11:47, Thursday April 10, 2008    The parents of Madeleine McCann have urged European leaders to implement a missing child alert system throughout the continent - saying it may have helped find their daughter.   Amber Alert would see information on abductions - including details of the child and any suspected offender - released to the media within minutes.   Details would also be sent to customs, transport and law enforcement agencies.   Kate McCann said if the system had been in place last May when Madeleine disappeared, the chances of her being found "would have been higher".   Her husband Gerry said it would also take the onus off parents having to raise the profile of a disappearance at a time when they are traumatised.   The McCanns say a Europe-wide scheme is essential because offenders can rapidly cross borders and the quick release of information is essential to stop abductors getting away.   They are also frustrated that only four European countries have signed up for a continent-wide missing child hotline.   Belgium, Denmark, Greece and Portugal has adopted the facility, whose number is 116 000, which was set up by the European Commission. A charity has applied to run it in Britain.   The McCanns gave a presentation to MEPs at the European Parliament in Brussels, providing them with details about how Amber Alert works and the case for introducing it in Europe.   Madeleine went missing from the McCann's holiday apartment in the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz, on May 3 last year.   Her parents say they will not return to the Algarve to mark the anniversary, which they say will be private.   This week, Portuguese police asked them to take part in a reconstruction of the events.   The McCanns recently visited the US to see Amber Alert in operation.   Police also have the power to commandeer airwaves and television channels in different states if they believe a child has been abducted.   The system also allows news alerts, often including the registration number of a suspect's vehicle, to be flashed up on digital signs on main roads.   In the US, nearly 400 children have been found through the scheme while a similar system in France has been used five times with a successful outcome in each.