madam president i absolutely agree with what mrs harkin has just said
in my constituency in scotland it is the elderly and people who run bed-and-breakfast establishments or self-catering holiday cottages that fall foul of this criminal activity
they enter addresses into this directory and then receive a bill for a thousand euro
the elderly are terrified when they get these threatening letters from the supposedly legal representatives of these companies
this is a cross-border criminal activity
these companies give their identities and they give their addresses
we have to track them down close them down prosecute them and protect the citizens of the european union
when any member of the public contacts me in my constituency i simply say to them to write back to the company and tell it to send all future correspondence to me
they never hear another thing
however these people must also be imprisoned
