Madeleine McCann's family encouraged by support for alert system

Jun 19 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

Kate and Gerry McCann onboard a Eurostar train bound for Brussels. Ian Nicholson/PA Wire _320

THE parents of Madeleine McCann were on course last night to win the vital backing of MEPs for a Europe-wide child abduction alert system.

In the 36 hours since the start of their visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, another 72 Euro MPs signed up to their campaign, said the McCanns’ spokesman.

However, in what could be a critically important development, the couple have also been told the parliament’s president is set to give them more time to secure the support required.

Gerry and Liverpool-born Kate McCann need the signatures of 393 members, more than half the total number, by July 24, to see a written declaration of the cross-border alert published and sent to the European Commission President.

A signed declaration carries no legal weight, but suggests a political will to see such a scheme implemented.

The McCanns launched their drive for the US-style Amber Alert in Brussels in April, but went to Strasbourg needing another 182 signatures.

Yesterday, officials said they had received a modest 15 additional names by the end of their day- long visit. But the Leicester- shire couple’s gruelling series of meetings with leading MEPs throughout the day appears to have paid off today with a surge of support.

Last night, they needed another 110 MEPs to sign the declaration, with the prospect of extra weeks to secure the necessary signatures. The McCanns’ Spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "We are keen to get the number by the end of July, but we are ex- tremely encouraged by the number of MEPs who have signed it."

"The hard work will continue until we get the required 110 signatures.", but there’s the possibility of the period being extended under European Parliament rules and that’s a major boost."

Edward McMillan-Scott, a declaration sponsor, said the parliament’s president, Hans-Gert Pottering, will authorise an extension of the time the McCanns have to collect signatures if they get 300 by the end of the July plenary session.

Mr McMillan-Scott, parliament vice-president, told them that the extension would be until after the September plenary.

With just 17 more names needed to reach the 300 mark and five weeks to get them, the couple at least look set to buy themselves more time.

Madeleine went missing from her family’s holiday apartment, in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 last year.

The McCanns believe a European version of Amber Alert - which notifies the public via media across the US when police confirm a child has been abducted - would have helped the search for their daughter, then aged three, in the crucial hours after her disappearance.

MEPs sponsoring their declaration spent today lobbying fellow members to sign up.

Sponsors Mr McMillan-Scott, Glenys Kinnock and Evelyne Gebhardt sent emails or handed flyers to members to encourage them to put pen to paper.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Mrs McCann said: "Whilst we remain confident that the declaration will have been signed by a majority of MEPs by the deadline at the end of July, we have also learnt that we still have much to do to increase awareness of the declaration amongst MEPs before then."

Tonight, Mrs McCann and her husband were said to be "encouraged" by the extra signatures and the possibility of more time to obtain the 393 needed.