Kick out prostitutes from our hotels, demand Nordic MEPs

Nordic attitudes are sweeping the European Parliament, with MEPs from Denmark, Norway and Sweden demanding that the hotels they use ban prostitutes.

A total of 37 Euro MPs are lobbying for hotels used by parliamentary staff to provide a sleaze-free certificate. In a letter to the parliament's president the signatories, including the former Danish prime minister, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, demand that "the European Parliament only use hotels which issue a guarantee that they are not involved in the sex trade, and that all staff have written guidelines on the issue".

Although it is not explicitly stated, the letter seems targeted at hotels in Strasbourg, the French city which hosts the European Parliament for one week every month. Although prostitution is outlawed in France, there is anecdotal material to suggest that some parliamentary staff pay for sex.

"I have seen it happen myself and it is completely unacceptable," said Charlotte Cederschiöld, a Swedish Christian Democrat. "We should not tolerate this behaviour, it damages our moral reputation, especially when we are here to work."

The move has put the parliament's president Hans-Gert Pöttering, a devout Catholic from Germany, in a tight spot. He agonised over the letter for a month, before deciding to refer the matter to a panel, which will investigate how widespread the problem is.

"The extent of the problem is very hard to measure," according to Isabelle Collot from Le Nid (the Nest), an outreach centre for prostitutes in Strasbourg. She said that in general the visitors to the parliament did not frequent street prostitutes. "They prefer escorts, girls of a higher level, who they can find in adverts."

Signatories of the letter say the EU should follow the example set by the Nordic Council, a parliamentary forum which adopted a zero-tolerance measure on prostitution and hotels two years ago. Sweden plans to clamp down on the trafficking of women when it takes up the rotating presidency of the EU in the second half of 2010.