POLITICIANS need thick skins. But no one with any heart -- and a parent to boot -- could fail to be moved when a constituent comes and pleads for your help with a cross-border child abduction case. During my 11 years as an MEP, I have dealt with a number of such heart-rending cases. Indeed, one of the most recent received extensive coverage in the BEN.

The big problem, up until now, has been the lack of EU-wide rules on child access. A court may have granted a parent the right to see a child in one EU country, but this may not necessarily apply in another.

The good news is that this unacceptable state of affairs is about to change. Last week in Strasbourg, the European Parliament passed new child abduction rules covering all 15 EU member countries.

Crucially, under the new system, child access rights will be mutually recognised across Europe. And radical steps will also be taken to improve co-operation between national authorities.

That should simplify and speed up procedures for getting illegally abducted children back home to Britain from other EU countries.

The only problem is that the new rules will not cover cohabiting couples, or children from previous marriages. That is something Labour MEPs are fighting to remedy.

EU Government ministers could formally endorse the new legislation as early as next month -- and help ease the pain of losing a child that too many estranged parents have suffered for far too long.