It would apply not only to recognised sex tourism destinations but also to any country where police believed a paedophile was likely to abuse children.Campaigners against child prostitution have warned that websites on the internet advertise “sex tourism” packages complete with air fares, hotel details and directions to local brothels.The problem is worst in Asia, where a million children are believed to be prostitutes. The travel loophole was highlighted recently when the pop star Gary Glitter – convicted in 1999 of downloading indecent photographs of children aged under 16 from the internet – moved to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which has a reputation as a centre for paedophiles.. The greatest Europeans of history are Winston Churchill, Leonardo da Vinci and, er, Joschka Fischer. The French voted largely for French figures, past and present, but 3 per cent went for Winston Churchill and 1 per cent for Tony Blair.In two other categories, suggested lists of great Europeans of modern times and ancient times, something much closer to a cross-frontier, European consensus emerged. The top three “modern” Europeans were Churchill, Marie Curie and Charles de Gaulle. The top three “ancient” Europeans were Leonard da Vinci, Christopher Columbus and Martin Luther.

William Shakespeare came fifth.The survey was organised by two French historians with the help of polling organisations in six countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain. The intention was to discover whether there was any such thing as a “European collective memory” or just a collection of national memories.Philippe Joutard, a historian who will give a lecture on the findings today at the headquarters of Unesco in Paris, said the results were disappointing. He blamed the teaching of history and culture, which tended to start from a national, not a European, viewpoint.”Most people went for figures from their own countries,” he said. “But there is no reason why a European collective memory should not emerge in time, if you consider how little has been done to create one.”. France is being deluged by economic bad news – ranging from a collapse in consumer confidence to a hunger strike by cognac workers – just as it prepares to overtake Britain as the fourth-largest industrial economy.

In Cognac in south-western France, three workers in the Martell brandy distillery and warehouse have been on hunger strike in front of the main gate since Monday to protest against plans to cut 114 jobs.Paradoxically, all of this bad news is piling up at the time that the book value of the economy seems likely to overtake that of Britain to become once again the world’s fourth-largest industrial economy. This development will be due entirely to the rise in the value of the euro against sterling in the past year. Both economies are now valued – in sterling – at just over £1,000bn but a small further rise in the euro would be enough to put France ahead for the first time since 1999.This news is unlikely to bring much comfort to the French. It is the high value of the euro, now trading at around 69p, its strongest for four years, that has added to the woes by increasing the cost of French exports.