President, I welcome this initiative from the Commission. This proposal reflects the goal of the Lisbon Summit by aiming to stimulate the development and the use of digital content. In doing so I trust that Europe's position in the knowledge-based global economy will be consolidated. Owing to the fast-changing nature of this sector, the EU needs to take immediate and concrete measures since the new communication technologies are already generating demand for content, products and services as well as having considerable social impact. If we do not act and tackle the barriers that undermine the potential of European industry, then the European citizen will pay the price not only in terms of slower economic growth and lower employment opportunities, but also in terms of cultural and social influence. If I can say briefly what is important in my report and what I believe is the key priority for this Parliament, it is the issue of linguistic diversity. We in Europe are lagging behind the US because at present the EU market is fragmented as a result of linguistic and cultural diversity. What we need to do is to rectify this situation by fostering and encouraging multilingual content, as this is absolutely crucial to the success of the European content industry. Multilingual content should be incorporated wherever possible at the embryonic stage of electronic communication. As a result the market position of European companies will be enhanced and at the same time it will prove to be less costly to them. That is the reason why I propose the amount of budget earmarked for this sector. In my view we must adopt an inclusive approach in relation to languages and a pledge to commit more funding to this area, precisely because European SMEs are dissuaded from setting up websites in different languages by the burdensome cost that they incur. I cannot under-estimate the importance of customising our content. By ensuring that it is conveyed to each and every corner of the EU we underwrite our goal of a fully integrated and functional information society. It should not be necessary to master the English language in order to find interesting content on the Internet. The presence of content in different languages will promote citizens' equal access to the information society and therefore prevent the creation of an information underclass. Secondly, I believe that the initial proposal of five years is far too long and should be curtailed to four years, especially because of the rapid evolution of the e-content sector. Therefore it is necessary to shorten the implementation of the programme and it also enables this programme to have a much greater impact owing to the commitment of more money in shorter timescales. Furthermore, I call on the Commission to conceive more efficient and faster implementation procedures in the field of calling in proposals. In changing priorities from public sector information to multilingual content, my intention is not to diminish the importance of public sector information. My reasoning is that I believe there is a greater potential for public/private partnerships as there is a huge commercial value to be exploited on the market in the interest both of companies and citizens. More importantly we need to also resolve the issues of copyright and intellectual property. These issues have to be addressed so that all parties are fully aware of the implications. Another key area that Parliament is keen to develop further is how we lend additional support to market enablers, recognising that in recent months the sector has experienced a particularly volatile period. It is essential that we sell to them the potential gains and opportunities of investing in companies that are taking on board linguistic diversity and exploitation of public sector information. The lack of financing for enterprises that want to operate in the digital content sector has to be eliminated. The problem I am mainly concerned with is that small enterprises do not always have sufficient guarantees and a proven business track record to offer investors. However, if we could make use of expertise already available in terms of business experience by encouraging the establishment of a mentoring service through which successful business people would introduce new entrants to the sources of financing available, we could give Europeans in business the head start they need. It is up to us now not to squander this opportunity. Seeing that the Americans are not yet out of our sight, Europe can meet this challenge by focusing on this sector: Let us not forget the potential for job creation and economic growth in such a huge and rapidly developing sector, provided we create the right environment for growth.

Political group: PSE