A4-0399/97

Resolution on the Commission communication on cohesion and the information society (COM(97)0007 - C4-0044/97)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions (COM(97)0007 - C4-0044/97),

- having regard to the communications from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the information society: from Corfu to Dublin, the new emerging priorities and on the implications of the information society for European Union policies - preparing the next steps (COM(96)0395 - C4-0521/96),

- having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Europe at the forefront of the global information society: rolling action plan (COM(96)0607 - C4-0648/96),

- having regard to the Commission White Paper on education and training - teaching and learning - towards the learning society (COM(95)0590 - C4- 0597/95),

- having regard to the Green Paper on living and working in the information society: people first (COM(96)0389 - C4-0522/96),

- having regard to the STOA workshop report on the consequences of the information society for the development of the least-favoured regions of the European Union: a scientific and technological assessment (PE 166.784),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Regional Policy and the opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy (A4-0399/97),

A. whereas information and communications technologies (ICTs) are of very great importance to Europe because of their catalytic function in relation to new businesses and industries, because they can do much to render Europe more competitive with other parts of the world and because they occupy a significant position in the European economy as a whole,

B. whereas the rapid and coherent development of the information society is essential to Europe's competitiveness and employment,

C. whereas the use of emerging technologies can contribute to improving regional cohesion in Europe in a cost-effective way,

D. whereas the advent of teleworking may mean that the information society has a favourable impact in terms of maintaining economic and social activity in rural areas,

E. whereas, when using ICTs, distances and language barriers no longer hamper the dissemination and communication of information and can therefore have a positive impact on economic and social conditions in the regions,

F. whereas the range of barriers to effective networking between regions and across national and linguistic barriers has to be lifted,

G. whereas telephone, electrical, cable and other companies responsible for marketing ICT applications have adopted a policy designed to achieve maximum profit in the immediate term, presenting consumers with a bill which is out of proportion with real costs, thereby slowing down the extension of new technologies, particularly in less-favoured regions and sectors,

H. whereas the cohesion dimension needs to be fully taken into account, in particular by helping the less-favoured regions to participate effectively in the information society,

I. whereas the discrepancies and imbalances between different Member States of the Union are recurring in the information society in terms of infrastructure, content and knowledge and will, if they are not remedied, lead to competitive imbalances and undermine efforts to achieve cohesion,

J. whereas the Treaty of Amsterdam includes a new Article 7d on services of general interest; whereas it is essential for all regions and all individuals to have access to the new emerging information infrastructures,

K. whereas Article 109n of the Treaty of Amsterdam states that the 'Member States and the Community shall work towards developing a coordinated strategy for employment and particularly for promoting a skilled, trained and adaptable workforce and labour markets responsive to economic change with a view to achieving the objectives defined in Article B of the Treaty on European Union and in Article 2 of this Treaty¨,

1. Takes the view that applications for less-developed regions should be geared to the development of integrated systems to meet basic human needs, particularly in rural areas and island and outlying communities, and concentrate on universal access and local content, with equal attention being devoted to the development of the physical infrastructure and of human resources;

2. Emphasizes the need for common principles for the provision and financing of universal services, considering that the concept of universal service, based on the principles of equality, continuity and affordability, must evolve to keep pace with advances in technology, market developments and changes in user demand;

3. Stresses the need to make the benefits of the information society accessible to every citizen of the Member States of the Union; to achieve optimum utilization of its advantages, fees to consumers must be affordable and costs to firms set at reasonable levels so that all European citizens are able to participate in this new development;

4. Considers that access to modern information tools, in particular the Internet, in less-developed regions cannot rely on private purchase of personal computers or alternative home appliances, but calls for easily accessible workstations in publicly accessible places of collective interest (libraries, schools, chambers of commerce, recreational centres or specialized premises); this implies that the inclusion of ISDN as a component of the universal service must be envisaged in the short term;

5. Calls on the Commission and Council to continue the dialogue concerning the principles and strategies which should be applied to ensure that modern ICTs do not create inequalities but on the contrary contribute to social, economic, ecological and cultural development;

6. Calls on the Commission to provide incentives for investment in the infrastructure of the information society and to promote easy-access information services by permitting access to databases via the Internet, market initiatives for the establishment of pan-European information services and information service programmes run nationally by Member States;

7. Urges the Commission and Council to devote special attention to women, the elderly and groups which are liable to be excluded from the information society on account of their geographical or social position, for example by cooperating with market participants responsible for infrastructure and basic services in peripheral and disadvantaged regions to facilitate voluntary upgrading of the potential of their networks in order to ensure that the information society does not lead to new forms of inequality;

8. Considers that, in the information society, lifelong education is a key factor in Europe's competitive position and that it should be accessible to all citizens regardless of their geographical situation;

9. Calls on the Commission, the Council and the two sides of industry to take into account demographic trends, flexible working arrangements such as teleworking and opportunities for vocational training, so that people who have lost their jobs or risk doing so can resort to retraining in order to improve their employment prospects;

10. Calls on the Commission to secure close cooperation and coordination between the different programmes and activities in the area of ICTs;

11. Calls on the Commission, without overlooking the needs of the current Member States in terms of cohesion, to intensify international cooperation and, in addition, to assist accession countries in their preparation for the information society and to improve communication with other regions, in order to promote the global information society;

12. Urges that, regarding measures taken by the Commission and national and regional governments to develop rural areas, priority be given to the creation of infrastructures necessary for full participation in the information society;

13. States that in order to protect the interests of less-favoured regions of the Union, state and regional funding under the provisions of Article 92 et seq. of the EC Treaty should and must be used where necessary to ensure the full participation of these areas in the information society;

14. Calls on the Commission to make available specific across-the-board budgetary resources to ensure the swift and generalized dissemination of experience which in the context of the information society has had cohesive effects and encouraged demand;

15. Expresses its concern at the fact that only 2% of Structural Fund expenditure goes to investment in the telecommunication sector, stresses the favourable impact of the information society for regional planning and maintaining economic activities in rural areas and considers that expenditure on the information society for this purpose should be included in the 'mainstreaming' of the Structural Funds;

16. Draws the attention of the Commission and of Member States to the opportunities of satellite communications to enable state-of-the-art transmission of information throughout the territory of the Union, and especially to the less densely populated regions and to those where conventional telecommunications infrastructure is insufficient or outdated;

17. Stresses the importance of radio broadcasting as a cultural and educational service, and believes that a decisive factor as regards European citizens' access to this medium would be to use the new information technologies to digitalize it;

18. Points out that, if modern communication tools are to be used by all citizens, it is crucially important to ensure multilingual information content, but also multilingual access and development of software tools, and proper training for the large population groups that risk being left behind;

19. Considers that the Structural Funds, and particularly the Community initiatives, should be used in synergy with the trans-European network telecommunications projects of common interest, especially to achieve the objectives referred to in the above paragraphs;

20. Recommends that the total or partial substitution of 'physical¨ investments by the supply of adequate telecommunications services in such a way as to minimize the cost of investment and the constraints on the environment and quality of life be systematically included as part of the evaluation process of investment financed by the Structural Funds and a substantial part of the national programmes presented in the framework of the Funds;

21. Considers it important to carry out a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the contribution of the Structural Funds to the creation of the information society and to analyse the reasons behind the different results obtained;

22. Calls on the Commission to take due account of the specific needs of the less-developed regions of the present European Union and challenges arising from enlargement when formulating its policy on the information society;

23. Considers that the new information technologies may create even greater regional and social disparities in the European Union than at present and considers that in order to obviate this risk, the use of information highways should focus on correcting the existing imbalances and discrepancies between the regions of the European Union in terms of economic and social development, and social and regional problems (tele- medicine, distance learning, teleworking, tele-administration, etc.), with a view to obtaining benefits whose general availability will stimulate progress; there is a risk that these opportunities will not be available in all regions, with the result that the differences between them will become, if anything, even greater, to the detriment of cohesion policy and development convergence;

24. Urges that under Agenda 2000 the information society be included more specifically as a strategic priority of the Union having a special impact on employment and cohesion, but believes that it is nonetheless essential to prevent the new information technologies from encouraging relocation of European Union tertiary sector activities to countries with low wages and low levels of social protection;

25. Points out that Structural Fund appropriations are already being earmarked for telecommunications programmes and that modern information technology gives fresh impetus to business competitiveness and hence the employment market;

26. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee.