(Strasbourg) During its plenary session in Strasbourg today, the European Parliament has adopted its mandate for negotiations on new rules to combat trafficking in human beings, ahead of a first round of talks with EU governments in November. The mandate, prepared by the Civil Liberties and Women’s Rights and Gender Equality committees, “would expand the scope of the existing directive to include forced marriage, illegal adoption, surrogacy for the purposes of reproductive exploitation” among the crimes to be combated at EU level, while also providing “better support for victims”, according to a statement from the European Parliament. MEPs also want to “make sure that victims of trafficking who are also in need of international protection receive appropriate support and protection and that their right to asylum is respected”; to “introduce penalties for companies convicted of trafficking, for example excluding them from tendering processes and from public aid or subsidies”; to “ensure that victims are not prosecuted for criminal acts they were coerced into committing”; to “ensure support to victims using a gender-, disability- and child-sensitive approach”; and to “guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities and appropriate support to unaccompanied children”. Parliament will start negotiations with the Council in November. Member States already agreed on their position.