The European Parliament adopted a declaration on setting up a European early warning system (EWS) for paedophiles and sex offenders and called upon the Council and Commission to act on the Commission’s Communication of 22 May 2007 entitled "Towards a general policy on the fight against cyber crime" ( COM(2007)0267 ).

Members note that it is essential to ensure that the Internet continues to afford a high level of virtual democracy, which does not present any threat to women and children. However, the Internet also allows paedophiles and sex offenders to enjoy freedom of action, putting them on the same footing as honest citizens and making it difficult for the authorities to trace them.

Accordingly, Parliament asks the Council and the Commission to implement Directive 2006/24/EC on the retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks and extend it to search engines in order to tackle online child pornography and sex offending rapidly and effectively.

Lastly, it calls on Member States to coordinate a European early warning system involving their public authorities, based on the existing system for food safety, as a means of tackling paedophilia and sex offending.