Europe must crack down on sex-trafficking - Rabbitte

“A new form of slavery now exists, whereby women and children are held captive for the purposes of sexual exploitation, and are trafficked across Europe for that end,” the TD told the National Forum on Europe, sitting in Dublin Castle.

“This is an abomination, which has no place in a civilised society. It is a manifestly European problem that manifestly requires a European solution.

“The peoples of Europe expect to see their politicians, and the institutions of the union, acting firmly and consistently on this issue.

“I want to see concerted EU action in this area. Europe needs to do more to seal its borders, and to chock off this abhorrent trade.”

During his address, Mr Rabbitte said climate change was the most pressing problem facing Europe today.

“A modest investment in curtailing emissions now, will prevent runaway climate change, the dire consequences of which we can only imagine,” he said.

Referring to the UK Stern Report on climate change, Mr Rabbitte said reducing the risks of climate change would require cooperation between countries as part of an international framework.

“What is required is for a coming together, at a minimum of the US, Europe, Russia, India, China, Japan, and Brazil, where everyone has an incentive to let the others carry the burden of carbon reduction, and yet, without cooperation from all, the broader goal cannot be met.

“What is required is an unprecedented degree of collective world action to tackle an unprecedented collective world problem,” he said.

Mr Rabbitte said it was absolutely imperative that the EU takes on the leadership of this collective action against climate change.

“The most common argument against international cooperation on emissions reduction is that the incentive for free riding is too great. That India and China or the USA will use our goodwill to piggyback to greater prosperity and competitiveness.

“The incentive for free riding is greatest when the greatest number are acting alone. The more consensus there is in the international system, the greater the penalties for those outside it,” he said.

Mr Rabbitte said the size of the EU’s population at 456 million, the third largest after China and India, meant it wielded considerable economic power on the global station.

“If the EU were to choose to exercise this economic power in favour of, for example, Kyoto compliant countries, then the attractiveness of free riding would diminish,” he said.

He said an intergovernmental conference should agree a climate change protocol to be attached to the EU Constitutional Treaty.