No C 41/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 18. 2. 91 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision concerning a specific programme of research 
and technological development (R&TD) in the field of telematic systems in areas of general 
interest (1990-1994) (x) 
(91/C 41/03) 
On 6 June 1990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 130Q(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Energy, Nuclear Questions and Research, which was responsible for preparing 
the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 7 November 1990. The 
Rapporteur was Mr Flum. 
At its 281st plenary session (meeting of 20 November 1990), the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following Opinion unanimously. 
1. Description of the programme 
1.1. The aim of the Commission proposal is to create 
the preconditions for setting up European telematic 
networks in areas of general interest. The following 
priorities have been selected: 
1) exchange of information between national adminis­
trations; 
2) control and management of road and air transport; 
3) health care; 
4) distance learning; 
5) libraries; 
6) linguistic research and engineering. 
1.2. A total budget of 380 million ECU is earmarked 
for the programme, divided up as follows between the 
various areas (as %): area 1: 29-33, area 2: 30-34, area 
3: 15-17, area 4: 10-12, area 5: 6-7, area 6: 5-6. 
1.3. All these have two features in common: 
a) They essentially concern the conditions for future 
services, above all in public sectors. 
b) They essentially concern relations between the sup­
pliers and users of public services i.e. between public 
servants and citizens—and hence the quality of ser­
vices as products. 
1.4. The aim of the proposed programme is to com­
puterize functions and relations in the above areas, i.e. 
to transfer these functions and relations partly or whol­
ly to automated information and communication sys­
tems. 
(!) OJ No C 174, 16. 7. 1990, p. 19. 2. General comments on the research programme 
The Committee basically welcomes the proposed pro­
gramme because it can help to promote Community 
integration. The programme can be the basis for a far-
ranging, rational introduction of information tech­
nology into the public services in the Community, tak­
ing comprehensive data protection into account. To 
this end, the Committee asks for the following points 
to be borne in mind: 
2.1. The draft programme assumes that completion 
of the Internal Market will entail an increased demand 
for telematic services. In the Committee's opinion this 
assumption needs to be examined more closely in the 
light of the following: 
— Whether or not the demand for public services is 
increased depends entirely on the way in which 
public tasks are reorganized at national and Euro­
pean levels. 
— Only when a socially sound plan for the organiza­
tion of these tasks has been developed will it be 
possible to say whether the computerization of indi­
vidual services is useful. 
This answer cannot be found by applying the prin­
ciple that the greatest possible use has to be made 
of automated information and communication sys­
tems. Given the high risks involved in a far-reaching 
'computerization' of public tasks (data protection 
risks, vulnerability risks, threats to the purpose of 
services, deterioration in the providers of the ser­
vices' working conditions, etc.) it is better to pro­
ceed on the principle that the tasks taken over by 
electronic networks should be limited to what is 
necessary and socially acceptable. 
18. 2. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 41/7 
2.2. The draft programme aims to create the theor­
etical, technological and prenormative basis for the 
gradual introduction of European telematic networks. 
The creation of this basis means that important 
decisions are being taken in advance for the future of 
the sectors in question. The Committee takes the view 
that these tasks entail a number of problems and risks, 
of which the research programmes take little or no 
account. 
2.3. These fundamental relationships between pro­
motion of research into telematic services and the future 
of these services necessitate the participation of 
interested parties in the proposed measures, to ensure 
that their interests are taken into account even at the 
prenormative and normative stages of the innovation 
processes. The draft programme completely omits to 
take account of the basic need for the democratic 
involvement of all interests in the organization of tech­
nology and work. The participation envisaged is con­
fined to technology manufacturers, network operators, 
suppliers of telecommunications services and the insti­
tutions which will use these services on an experimental 
basis. The employers', workers' and consumers' groups 
affected are excluded. 
2.4. The result of the planned promotion of research 
will have a decisive effect on the quality of the services 
and the functions in question, without there being any 
assessment of whether and in what way the intended 
computerization of services and functions may be coun­
ter-productive. For example, it is likely that the planned 
automation of distance learning may suppress even 
further the social interaction essential to learning pro­
cesses. There is also a risk that the further computeriza­
tion of patient care in the health sector may push vital 
elements of the healing process even more into the 
background. The social groups concerned must there­
fore be able to participate from the start in the planning 
of research and development (R&D) measures. 
2.5. a) The networking of Europe-wide telematic 
services will also bring far-reaching changes 
for work in the service sector, especially in 
terms of work organization, content of work, 
health hazards and other stresses at the work­
place, and quality requirements. It must 
therefore be ensured at an early stage that 
possible effects on later organization of work 
and techniques are already taken into 
account when innovations are planned. 
b) The networking of telematic systems also 
raises the question of protection of authors' 
rights (protection of intellectual property) in 
many fields; this question has not yet been 
addressed in the programmes, and needs to 
be clarified. 3. Conclusions 
3.1. The starting-point and basis for the proposed 
research measures must in principle be the development 
of protected citizen-orientated and worker-orientated 
organizations and operational blueprints for public ser­
vices. 
3.2. The Committee would like once more to draw 
special attention to the following points: 
— basic provision for high-level data protection, 
especially with programmes 1 and 3; 
— guaranteed protection of authors' rights (1), particu­
larly with programmes 4, 5 and 6; 
— careful monitoring of the proposed programmes, 
e.g. for distance learning, language learning and 
patient care in the health sector; 
— safeguarding of legitimate interests in the fields of 
worker protection, work organization, and hazards 
at work, and as regards quality requirements in the 
setting up of the relevant telematic systems; 
— participation of the interested groups, most notably 
consumers, workers and employers. 
3.3. In the Committee's view, 
a) the Commission's planned report and the results of 
its review (Article 5 of the proposed programme) 
should also be addressed to the ESC; planned 
changes to the programme must be referred to the 
ESC in accordance with the Treaties; 
b) social groupings such as employers, workers and 
consumers must be given the opportunity to submit 
suggestions and comments to the committee envis­
aged in Article 6. 
3.4. The measures regarded as necessary by the ESC 
for promoting research into the effects of technology 
and into alternatives should not be carried out separ­
ately from the technological research itself, but must 
be promoted as an integral part of the various techno­
logical research areas (telematic networks for adminis­
trators, etc.). A reasonable proportion (at least 10%) 
of the overall budgets for these areas must go to finan­
cing the promotion of such measures. 
(J) See also the Committee Opinion on the Commission's Green 
Paper on copyright and the challenge of technology, OJ No 
C 71, 20. 3. 1989, p. 9. 
No C 41/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 18. 2. 91 
3.5. The Committee assumes that the Commission 
will take the necessary decisions on staffing to ensure 
that the programme can be implemented succesfully. 
4. Final remarks 
4.1. The ESC has taken it upon itself to set out its 
suggestions and opinions very clearly here. Its intention 
Done at Brussels, 20 November 1990. is to contribute to a Community in which citizens do 
not automatically have the feeling of belonging to a 
'computerized', i.e. electronically interlinked, society 
rates technological potential higher than safeguards for 
individual liberties. 
4.2. The ESC therefore calls on the Commission to 
take these concerns very seriously and to bear them in 
mind when it revises the proposal. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francois STAEDELIN