The fight against trafficking in human beings is rightly one of the priorities of the EU and a series of actions have been undertaken in order to fight against this scourge. The Council Directive 2004/81/EC on residence permits for victims of trafficking and the Council Framework Decision on combating trafficking in human beings 2002/629/JHA are some of the main instruments, together with the Daphne programme, against trafficking in human beings and organised crime.

- Can the Commission outline which Member States have already complied with the Council Directive 2004/81/EC on residence permits for victims of trafficking?

- Did the Commission produce the report requested by the Council Framework Decision on combating trafficking in human beings 2002/629/JHA?

- The EP has considered that the demand for prostitution in the Member States as a possible motivation for the phenomenon of trafficking and asked the Commission to carry out a comprehensive study on the impact of the Member States legislation on prostitution on the number of victims of trafficking; Would the Commission agree on launching this study?

- The EP has proposed to establish an anti-trafficking day in its recently adopted report on trafficking in human beings in order to raise awareness on the issue. Would the Commission agree on launching these initiatives this year?

- The EP also asked the Commission to cooperate with the Council of Europe and other international organisations like the International Organisation for Migration in the development of common guidelines for data collection and recommends to establish a common centre as soon as possible for the implementation of common definitions (trafficking, victim, etc.,). Which initiatives will the Commission take in this field?