The European Parliament adopted a written declaration on emergency cooperation in recovering missing children , pointing out that the abduction of a child is amongst the most inhumane of crimes. The commission of such crimes is increasing in Europe and may involve transporting victims across state borders. The prospects of saving the life of an abducted child decrease as time passes, and there is neither a Europe-wide system of alert for child disappearances nor any local or national systems throughout much of the EU.

Accordingly, Parliament calls on Member States to introduce a missing child alert system , which, when activated, would require the immediate forwarding to the relevant news media, border authorities and customs and law enforcement agencies of:

details of the missing child, with a photograph if available; information relevant to the disappearance and the suspected abductor(s); a telephone number to call with information (116 000, where operational); Member States are asked to reach cooperation agreements with all bordering states to ensure the capability of raising an alert rapidly across any relevant territories.

Lastly, Parliament calls for the development of a common organisation to provide assistance and training to national bodies.