Mr President, Commissioner, it is a very positive sign that Lisbon will see focused discussion on the development of the information society in Europe. The ‘new economy’ is here to stay, in Europe too. The European response to new challenges and exploiting opportunities has, however, been a long time coming. For that reason, the e-Europe initiative is in a more crucially important position than ever before with regard to Union competitiveness and, consequently, from the point of view of our citizens also. The proposals for reform in the initiative are ambitious, but do not even necessarily go far enough. The goals are too modest, especially for my home country of Finland, where, in many respects, we are ahead of our European partners in networking. The initiative should also be supplemented by the future challenges facing those countries with a more advanced information society. Commissioner, I appreciate the amount of work that you, to your credit, have carried out regarding these issues relating to the information society. We Members of the European Parliament cannot stand by either, while Europe continually lags behind its global competitors in the world of the Internet. The clear lead Europe enjoys in the world of wireless communications is not enough for us to stop caring about the future of the European information society and about whether we really can keep up with the competition. Being in a key position when creating the information society encourages real competition in telecommunications networks. Competition cuts costs, and we have to bring down these very costs of communications, so that consumers and SMEs can derive full benefit from the electronic revolution. Apart from reduced costs, the growth in electronic commerce also means that questions of security should be able to be resolved to the satisfaction of consumers and that defects in legislation should be corrected. I think it is particularly important to take measures to increase venture capital projects for SMEs in the high technology sector. The EUR 20 billion currently being used in venture capital projects in Europe each year is only one quarter of what the United States spends over the same period. The amount is much too small. Fortunately, the Commission has shown initiative in this matter, however, and has focused attention on accelerating developments here. Speedy developments in the information society will drastically change our environment and our working and living conditions. As European legislators, we have before us an immense challenge, if we intend to keep legislation abreast of the times. The legislator does not always even have to interfere in developments: in certain matters industry and the players themselves may quickly resolve problems through cooperation. Examples would be the positive experience that was gained from the common standardisation of second generation mobile phone systems and which is directly visible now in the strengthened competitive position with regard to third generation output. Control of the new operational environment will also require increased technical and pedagogic facilities and resources in training schemes. Consequently, there will have to be more focus on the training of teaching staff in European educational and training programmes. Finally I would like to say that I support the introduction of benchmarking with regard to the development of the information society. With regard to the concrete proposals contained in the e-Europe communiqué, I can only wonder why the Council has not discussed them before, so as to ensure commitment on the part of Member States.

Political group: PPE-DE