After two years of negotiations, the EU has reached a landmark agreement on the new Child Sexual Abuse Directive, setting much stricter rules against predators.
One of the most significant measures allows victims of child rape and other serious offences to formally file a complaint against their alleged assailant until they turn 50, in all EU member states.
It aims to remove what's been called a cruel geographical "lottery" by giving all victims across the EU at least 32 years to file charges after reaching the age of 18.
That's particularly relevant for countries with shorter limitation periods, such as Finland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Lithuania, where victims typically have only between 20 and 25 years to report even the most serious child abuse crimes.
At the same time, countries such as Sweden, Belgium, Hungary, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark and non-EU member the UK, have abolished limitation periods for the most serious counts or most of them.
