COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 27 November 1995

on the industrial aspects for the European Union in the development of the information society

(95/C 341/03)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Whereas the White Paper on Growth, competitiveness and employment, submitted to the Brussels European Council in December 1993, recommended a policy to develop a common information area and in particular to improve the efficiency of the European information and communication technologies (ICT) sector;

Having regard to the conclusions of the Corfu European Council in June 1994 on the report by the High Level Group chaired by Mr Bangemann on 'Europe and the Global Information Society`;

Whereas the Cannes European Council in June 1995 emphasized the development potential of new growth sectors (for example, multimedia) and the potential for job creation in promoting the information society and called for work to continue on establishing the regulatory framework that will enable it to develop, while taking care to maintain cultural diversity and bearing in mind the objective of equal access to these new services;

Having regard to the Commission Communication of July 1994 on 'Europe's way to the information society: an action plan` and the Commission communication of May 1995 on a methodology for the implementation of applications for the information society;

Having regard to the Green Paper on the Liberalization of telecommunications infrastructure and cable television networks of October 1994 and the Council resolution of November 1994,

I

1. Considers that the reaction to the challenge of the information society is a political priority for the European Union that will help achieve the objectives of creating employment, improving the quality of life of citizens, increasing the competitiveness of the production system and increasing economic and social cohesion in the Union.

2. Considers that information and communication technologies are of major importance for the competitiveness of economic activities and that as a mobilizer of investment they will be an important factor in economic expansion.

3. Considers that it is the responsibility of enterprises to ensure and improve industrial competitiveness and of the public authorities to foster a competitive environment and to create an appropriate legal and regulatory framework.

II

4. Considers that the development of the information society has a twofold effect on European industry:

- it has a general influence on the competitiveness of industry as a user of infrastructure and information services,

- it has a direct impact on the European information industry as the supplier of operators, producers of all kinds of content and providers of information services and on users.

5. Stresses that the content industry will have great importance for the future of the information society and that the information services industry must expand considerably.

6. Recognizes that the level of acceptance of the new services on the part of users is one of the decisive factors for effective development of the information society. The substantial industrial demand generated will be both in the public and private telecommunications networks and the management of asssociated information services and in the area of content creation and production.

7. Considers that the expansion of information and communications technologies in the information society will depend on developments in the following areas:

- New applications

The identification of applications which will generate a high concentration of advanced multimedia services, producing a knock-on effect which will result in a boom in supply through economies of scale, is fundamental.

Many of those, despite the central responsibility taken by private initiative, will be aimed at socio-economic areas in which there is considerable State participation (public administration, health, education and environment).

- Public communications networks

Supplying the public networks accounts for a major proportion of demand for switching and transmission equipment and for ever more complex systems for supervising and administering the networks themselves.

- Businesss communications

The best prospects for growth in developed societies come from business demand, headed by large industrial groups and in particular the financial sector.

The interconnection needs of private networks generate a significant specialized demand for hardware and software.

- Supplying of users

Supplying domestic users is one of the basic requirements for securing demand which will make the development of the new information society networks and services viable.

Professional use of such equipment at home, by self-employed workers and very small businesses of various types (consultancies, distribution, etc.), will generate rapidly-expanding demand.

8. Emphasizes the importance of completing the process of liberalizing telecommunications begun by the European Union in accordance with the timetable laid down.

9. Recognizes that, in general terms, European industry is in an excellent position as regards technology and production in the field of telecommunications equipment and has a solid industrial base in the audiovisual industry and considerable capacity for software development, although it does also have some vulnerable aspects.

10. Stresses that, because of the constant changes made in the organization of firms' production methods, the development of the information society should make a critical contribution to the elimination of regional disadvantages and the strengthening of economic and social cohesion in the European Union.

III

CALLS ON THE COMMISSION TO:

(1) promote in the European Union's policies, strategies and actions, especially in the implementation of the research and development framework programme, the development of information and communications technologies in industry, paying special attention to small and medium-sized enterprises;

(2) conduct a study of the effects of the information society on the competitiveness of the various sectors of economic activity, starting with the current situation of European industry and proposing appropriate initiatives which will contribute to an improvement in its position in the world context;

(3) consider such initiatives as part of a policy accompanying the process of liberalization of telecommunications in the European Union. Such initiatives may be encouraged by the appropriate application of existing Community instruments and their efficient and coordinated use;

(4) pursue those initiatives which contribute to the promotion of the content industry and the new information services, taking into account their implications for industry in general;

(5) continue examining the various pilot projects and other experiments under way at European level and in the Member States relating to the development of the information society, and encourage the dissemination of their results and the best practices;

(6) take account, in current and future research and development framework programmes, of priorities which are consistent with the results of the abovementioned analyses and which promote the development of industry to the greatest extent;

(7) consider, as part of the above policy, the potential offered by joint action at Union and Member State level, intended to encourage in particular:

- closer cooperation between European enterprises, especially in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises,

- increased work on standardization to facilitate the rapid introduction of new services and access to and exchange of information;

(8) continue the analysis of the obstacles and the legal and regulatory implications linked with the development of an open, competitive environment;

(9) submit to the Council during 1996 a communication containing the actions which must be envisaged at Union level for the creation of a competitive industrial area capable of responding to the challenges and expectations arising from the information society, and inform the Council periodically of the follow-up to initiatives related specifically to the industrial aspects of the information society.