It is just a little more than a year ago that the European Ministerial Conference on Global Information Networks was held in Bonn. Businesses and consumers are energetically pushing the development of global electronic commerce.
Governmental measures can only be supplementary in nature.
They must be confined to an absolute minimum of framework regulation since entrepreneurs must retain the widest possible scope for action in open markets. This helps to improve acceptance of electronic commerce especially to small and medium-sized enterprises and to consumers. In my opinion it is indispensable that the necessary regulations are developed in a dialogue, both between governments and between government and businesses. In January this year, Germany's telecommunications markets were opened by legislation that is highly liberal compared with the international level. We have also adopted a multimedia Act which enhances the opportunities especially of electronic commerce.