~7^ ' COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 17.06.1996 
COM(96)273 final 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
on the final evaluation of the implementation of the Community programme, 
Establishment of an Internal Information Services Market (1991-1995) 
IMPACT 2 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
on the final evaluation of the implementation of the Community programme 
Establishment of an Internal Information Services Market (1991-1995) 
IMPACT 2 
Summary 
The final evaluation repprt on the implementation of the IMPACT 2 programme has been 
established by a committee of five external experts who conclude that the programme has 
been well managed by the Commission and has provided value for money in the results 
achieved. The programme has demonstrated the multiplier mechanism, whereby the 
money spent had an effect substantially greater than the value of the public funds invested. 
The programme has achieved to enhance the understanding of the information market, to 
develop a real dialogue with leading market players, to progress on legal issues, to 
stimulate the use of new media throughout the EU and to encourage business partnerships 
for collaborative projects to develop new multimedia information products. The 
programme's initiatives have attracted a large number of partners and have been 
particularly successful in involving a large number of SMEs. The Evaluation Committee 
has identified as the main message from the market place that without Community funding 
the risk in pan-European ventures would be too high. 
The Committee also has made a number of recommendations with a view to enhancing 
and extending information market stimulation initiatives under the forthcoming INFO2000 
programme, to reinforce the dialogue with market players and to substantially increase the 
fmancial resources. The Commission on the whole agrees with the conclusions of the 
Evaluation Committee and will undertake to follow-up the Committee's recommendations 
within the limits of the financial resources. It should be noted that some of these 
recommendations go beyond the scope of INFO2000, but are already addressed by other 
EU programmes related to Information Society developments. 
Introduction 
1. The Community programme on the "Establishment of an Internal Information 
Services Market" (commonly known and referred hereinafter to as the "IMPACT 
2" programme) was launched on the basis of the Council Decision 91/691/EEC of 
12 December 1991, covering a period of four years (1991-1995). The total budget 
estimated as necessary for the implementation of the programme amounted to 64 
MECU. The programme had set five objectives to be addressed by measures 
undertaken within the framework of four action lines. These action lines addressed 
demand and supply issues of the information services market and complemented 
each other through the implementation of horizontal and vertical actions to 
achieve synergy across the programme. The programme specifically required to 
address SMEs and the development lag of less favoured regions in the European 
Union. 
2. Article 6 of the Council Decision stipulates that at mid-term and at the end of the 
programme, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the 
Council, once the committee referred to in Article 4 has examined it, an evaluation 
report drawn up by independent experts on the results obtained in implementing 
the action lines referred to in Article 2 and may present, on the basis of these 
results, proposals for adjusting the orientation of the programme. 
3. The final evaluation was carried out by a panel of high-level independent experts 
set up by the Commission, known as IMPACT 2 Final Evaluation Committee 
(FEC). The panel, under the chairmanship of Mr B. BLUNDEN, conducted its 
evaluation between July 1995 and November 1995. 
4. The main objectives of the review were 
to assess whether the objectives of the IMPACT 2 programme have been 
achieved, 
to analyse how successful the Commission has achieved its role as a 
catalyst and stimulator for market development, 
to identify the needs for and scope of further Community actions to 
stimulate market development in the context of the European information 
society. 
5. In conducting the evaluation the Final Evaluation Committee has pursued a 
number of activities including desk research, interviews with EC officials and 
market actors, and a number of panel meetings. 
6. In accordance with articles 4 and 6 of the Council Decision, the IMPACT 
Programme Committee (IPC) was consulted on the choice of the members of the 
evaluation panel at its June 1995 meeting, and discussed the contents and 
conclusions of the Final Evaluation Report at its December 1995 meeting, 
confirming its overall positive opinion on the implementation of the IMPACT 2 
programme and its satisfaction with the report. 
Preliminary Remarks by the Commission 
7. The Community has over the last two years been confronted with new challenges 
emerging from the developments in relation to the Information Society. These 
developments are leading to a global restructuring of the information and 
communication industries and will be the key to economic growth, 
competitiveness and employment for the next decade. The importance for the EU 
to play a major role has been recognised and is being reflected in a number of 
initiatives including the Commission's White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness 
and Employment, the Bangemann report "Europe and the global information 
society", the Commission's Action Plan "Europe's Way to the Information 
Society" and the Brussels Gl Conference devoted to the information society. 
8. The multimedia industry is considered to play a key role in the development 
towards an Information Society, and the growing importance of the content 
industry is increasingly recognised as a most significant part of that industry, 
because of its economic potential in terms of turnover, trade balance and 
employment. This potential is also being perceived by big non-european global 
players of the ICT industries who are increasingly entering the content business, 
thus threatening the European position which, hitherto, has been particularly 
strong in print publishing. 
9. The exploitation of Europe's richness in information content is hampered by a 
number of factors. The European multimedia publishing industry is composed of 
mainly small and many new actors who are mostly nationally or regionally oriented 
and operate in an European market environment which is fragmented through 
linguistic and cultural differences. As a result, the European multimedia market 
lags behind the US by 3-5 years. This together with the high telecommunication 
costs and the problems of exploiting public sector information and of trading 
multimedia rights make the European content industry face serious disadvantages. 
10. The Community's IMPACT 2 programme to stimulate information market 
development has moved in the course of its implementation from a limited 
significance to the centre of economic interests. Although the IMPACT 2 
programme had been designed in expectation of these developments it had to be 
adapted continuously to respond to the fast changing environment. The 
IMPACT 2 final evaluation confirms that the Commission has managed to 
accomodate this situation, as far as it has been possible within the constraints 
imposed by budget cuts. 
11. In implementing the IMPACT 2 programme, the various initiatives have severely 
suffered from budget reductions by which only 52 MECU had effectively been 
allocated of the 64 MECU budget estimated as necessary by the Council Decision. 
12. The IMPACT 2 programme has operated in a climate of global and highly dynamic 
change of the information industry. This is leading to a restructuring of the global 
economy with the multimedia content industries becoming a key element in 
information society development. 
General Conclusions of the Evaluation Panel and Commission's comments 
13. The Final Evaluation Committee concludes that the IMPACT 2 programme has 
achieved its objectives overall and efficiently spent the budget allocated to it. It has 
provided value-for-money in the results achieved and has demonstrated the 
'multiplier' mechanism, whereby the money spent by the European Commission has 
had an effect substantially greater than the value of the public funds invested. The 
programme has contributed to the development of the European Union 
infrastructure in the development of the information market leading to the 
information society. 
14 The final evaluation report concludes that the recommendations of the mid-term 
evaluation have been implemented successfully in the remaining two years of the 
IMPACT 2 programme, and that the dramatic changes in the information market 
which have taken place since the introduction of the IMPACT 2 programme have 
been adequately reflected in the programme's implementation. The programme's 
initiatives have attracted a large number of partners and have been particularly 
successful in involving a large number of SMEs. 
15. The strategic changes occurring in the information market through widespread use 
of electronic trading and the development of multimedia publishing and technology 
convergence make the work of the Commission critical to the success of the EU 
information society. The Evaluation Committee considers the loss of resources 
through budget reduction a strategic error, in particular because for SMEs the risk 
in pan-European ventures would be too high to continue without continued EC 
funding. This emerges as a clear message from the marketplace. 
16. Commission comment: 
The Commission in principle agrees with the evaluation committee's assessment. 
The multiplier effect underlined in the report will continue after the end of the 
programme and will create a solid basis on which to build INFO2000. The 
budget cuts have in fact been difficult to manage, in particular for SME project 
partners for whom the Community funding is critical for the continuity and 
success of pan-European ventures. This resource limitations have also limited the 
exploitation of opportunities for pan-European developments which are becoming 
increasingly critical in a global marketplace. The Commission welcomes the 
Committee's recommendations for actions to be launched under the 
forthcoming 1NFO2000 programme. These recommendations will be taken on 
board, provided that the budget allocated to this new programme does not 
deviate too far from the Commission proposal (COM(95) 149 final). 
Specific conclusions of the Final Evaluation Panel and Commission's comments 
17. The Final Evaluation Report provides many valid recommendations which deserve 
scrutiny and follow-up. The following paragraphs review the essential conclusions. 
18. Action Line S aimed at improving the understanding of the information 
market through the actions of the Information Market Observatory (IMO). 
Actions have included the publication of working papers analysing specific market 
segments, a number of strategic studies addressing specific issues, the creation of 
an Information Policy Institutes Network and the publication of a widely 
recognised annual report on the main events and developments in the information 
market. Wide dissemination of the results of this work has taken place in printed 
and electronic form, including dissemination via the Internet Wrorld Wide Web 
(WWW). 
19. The Final Evaluation Committee concludes that improving the understanding of 
the market demands greater awareness of change in that market. In that respect 
the work undertaken by the IMO is considered to be good but insufficient for the 
needs of the marketplace. The budget reductions have caused constraints in 
improving the understanding of the market at a time when the development of the 
information society requires stimulation of the user market. Consequently, the 
rapidly changing information market in the EU must be reflected in expanded 
coverage of the IMO which needs reassessment. 
20. The Final Evaluation Committee has noted that the three strategic studies 
published by the IMO had a significant impact on the marketplace and that 
they are good examples of the Commission understanding properly its role to 
articulate comprehensively the views of the information content industries, the 
media and the user community. It is concluded that these studies have been a 
watershed in changing the relationship between the Commission and the 
leading players in the EU information industry, and the continuation and 
extension of that concept is strongly recommended. 
21. Commission comment : 
Ihe Commission is well aware of the continuous need for improving the market 
transparency and for articulating the views and needs of the information content 
market. Without such investigative work, the Commission cannot make its proper 
contribution to the development of a policy in nurturing the EU information 
society of the future. Accordingly, the Commission fully agrees to implement the 
recommendations made in the context of the new INFO2000 programme, but it 
will largely depend on the resources which will be made available whether or not 
it will succeed fxdly in this undertaking. 
22. Action line 2 aimed at overcoming legal barriers in the information market. 
Actions have contributed to the ELTs regulatory developments in the fields of 
personal data protection and the legal protection of databases. They have also 
addressed other legal barriers which require urgent solutions in the context of the 
information society, such as IPR in the digital age, information security and 
the legal implications of the convergence of technology and media. A number 
of actions have been launched to prepare specific initiatives to be undertaken 
under the INFO2000 programme, including access to and exploitation of public 
sector information and in the area of copyright dealing. The actions have been 
supported by the Legal Advisory Board (LAB) which consists of high level 
experts, policy advisers and information industry representatives. The work of the 
LAB is widely recognised and has become more visible through the organisation 
of conferences in Member States. 
23. Whereas the evaluators are satisfied with the activities undertaken, they encourage 
a further strengthening and expansion of such activities, because actions by the 
EC to overcome legal barriers are critical in view of the strategic changes 
occurring in the information market. The role of the LAB should further 
develop to represent the legal and regulatory requirements of the content 
industries, the media and the user communities. To fulfil this role properly, the 
LAB should continue to re-structure in favour of increased representation from 
private sector, and establish better liaison with other consultative industry bodies 
interested in legal and regulatory matters. 
24. Commission comment: 
The Commission agrees that further improvements in liaison with other 
industrial bodies is required to better represent the legal and regulatory needs of 
industry, commerce and consumers. It is intended to look into the question of 
how best to reinforce such links under the INFO2000 programme. This needs 
to be part of a wider Commission strategy as provided for in the framework of 
the Commission's action plan "Europe's Way towards the Information 
Society" containing a number of initiatives to establish an appropriate 
regulatory framework. 
25. Concerning activities to stimulate the application of norms and standards for 
information encoding under Action line 3.1 they have been aiming at increasing 
the awareness and understanding of information standards among market players 
and to demonstrate the benefit which can be obtained in their use. The publications 
of a newsletter, "Oil Spectrum", of guidelines for the application of standards and 
of an exhaustive list of information standards have efficiently contributed to this 
objective. Complementary to these actions the Commission has also launched an 
initiative to develop specifications for quality assurance of information 
products and services. The regularly updated list of information standards is a 
unique reference tool which is being used by industry and standardisation bodies 
throughout the EU and beyond. 
26. The Final Evaluation Report identifies the standards stimulating work as important 
and a unique activity for the EC, because the application of norms and standards 
will be important, if the Single European Market is to develop into one which 
captures a significant share of global markets. Although the work done under 
IMPACT 2 represents good value for money, the budget allocated to it has 
been too modest. The work on norms and standards must be comprehensive in 
defining information content owners and information user needs across many 
related technologies. An extension of this activity to improve coverage and market 
representation is, therefore, strongly recommended. 
27. Commissions comment: 
Whereas the Commission in principle agrees with this view, it should be noted 
that the scope of the IMPACT 2 programme, and that of INFO 2000 as well, is too 
narrow to give leverage to this initiative. Instead, those activities are now being 
closely co-ordinated with the Commission's European Standardisation policy and 
the results will be integrated into broader concepts presently being considered 
28. Action line 3.2 on increasing user-friendliness and improving information 
literacy has been addressed to users of electronic information services and was 
composed of three mutually supporting initiatives: the operation of the 
Commission's host service (ECHO) together with the World Wide Web 
(WWW) server I'M EUROPE as a central tool for training, guidance, awareness 
and virtual meeting and discussion fpra; the network of National Awareness 
Partners (NAPs), which in the Member States maintain close contacts with the 
regional/national user communities, particularly SMEs, and which perform a 
steadily increasing number of awareness and training actions; and kick-off training 
for information intermediaries, SME managers and students in less favoured 
regions which were subsequently multiplied through co-operation with the ELPs 
COMETT, SOCRATES and LEONARDO programmes. Since the IMPACT mid­
term evaluation, the number of ECHO users has increased from 16,000 to 33,000, 
and the number of connect hours has doubled from 5000 to 10,000 per month. 
The rapidly growing interest in the I'M-Europe WWW server is evident from more 
than 178,000 document accesses recorded for November 1995, a five-fold 
increase over the same period in 1994. The level of activity of the NAP network is 
reflected in more than 2000 awareness events for the period 1993-1995, 1000 out 
of which took place in 1995. 
29. The Final Evaluation Committee acknowledges that ECHO is an exemplar 
activity in database host facilitation and provides a unique role in the 
European information market Its I'M EUROPE WWW server has since its 
recent launch in September 1994 acquired an established position in "cyberspace". 
The Committee commends the continuation and further development of this 
successful activity. The evaluators have taken a particular interest in the NAPs 
activities, because they consider awareness and dissemination as vital features 
of all EC activities. They conclude that the concept of a distributed system is 
sound, but noted significant variations in the quality of the NAPs and that their 
operational concept may not fully reflect the changes in the marketplace. It is, 
therefore, recommended to review the composition of the network and the scope 
and modus of operation. A new call should set specifications that cause re-
focusing and set criteria against which to measure the performance of the NAPs. 
With regard to the training activities the Committee recommends their 
continuation under the INFO2000 programme. 
30. Commission comment: 
The Commission has made provisions to continue the successful activities 
commended by the Committee under the INFO2000 programme. The very 
detailed comments and suggestions made in relation to the improvement of NAP 
operations are considered valid and useful, and the Commission will take account 
thereof in the forthcoming re-alignment of the NAP network and its activities. 
31 Strategic Information Initiatives (Action line 4) to stimulate the supply of 
advanced electronic information products and services have supported pilot 
projects in the areas of interactive multimedia information (IMM), 
geographic information services (GIS) and information services for business 
and industry (BIS). A total of 610 proposais were received in response to three 
calls for proposals published in 1992, 1993 and 1994. From the first two calls (507 
proposals), 84 definition phase projects, leading to 30 implementation phase 
projects, were supported. From the third call (103 proposals), 17 full projects 
were supported, there being insufficient remaining time and budget to operate two 
phases in 1995. The total budget for these projects amounted to 24.5 MECU. The 
number of projects supported decreased from 59 in the first call to 17 in the third 
one which was due to constant budget cuts. The target of particularly 
stimulating activities by SMEs has been achieved, in that 65% of the 590 
participating organisations in the pilot projects were SMEs. Equally, high 
participation of organisations from LFRs has been achieved, in that 246 LFR 
organisations have participated in the pilot projects, i.e. 38%. 
32. The Evaluation Committee concludes that the Commission has successfully 
addressed two distinct aspects with these strategic initiatives. The first is to 
create exemplars and to reduce risk in experimentation as part of the learning 
process. As a result many projects are producing healthy commercial results, 
some even appear to have surpassed expectation. The second aspect is to develop 
products which enter the marketplace and build infrastructure in a new field, for 
which visibility is an important feature. These initiatives have contributed to this 
visibility by presenting high quality products at important events such as IDT 
Paris, On-line London, the Frankfurt Book Fair and MILIA in Cannes. The 
evaluators are particularly impressed by the very successful work done in the area 
of GIS. Because of the interest generated in the pilot projects, this area has 
expanded into one of policy development and should be considered as an exemplar 
for further work in other sectors under the INFO2000 programme. It is also 
confirmed that the criticisms made at the time of the interim review have been 
overcome. From interviews with project participants, the Evaluation Committee 
has identified the main message from the marketplace that without continued 
IMPACT 2 funding under INFO2000 the risk in pan-European ventures 
would be too high to continue. As a consequence the Committee recommends to 
reinforce these initiatives in INFO2000 and makes a number of concrete proposals 
for further improvements. 
33. Commission comment: 
The Commission is aware that there are plenty of opportunities to develop 
successful European multimedia products and services, and these will increase 
over the coming years as the information society progresses. It is understood that 
the private sector is mainly responsible for exploiting such opportunities. 
However, it is also understood that the public sector has a role to play in creating 
favourable conditions and in stimulating investment thus reducing the financial 
risk of the private actors. These public responsibilities need to be fulfilled in 
consideration of the subsidiarity principle at national and at European levels. 
The Commission's role consists of addressing these issues in a pan-European 
context and has made appropriate provisions under the INFO2000 programme. 
In implementing further initiatives, the Commission will take due account of the 
many valuable suggestions made in the Evaluation Report. The main obstacle in 
fully exploiting these unique opportunities for the benefit of the European 
positions in a global marketplace may ultimately consist of inadequate 
Community financial resources made available to the programme. 
10 
Proposals for future developments 
34. The Final Evaluation Committee has conducted the evaluation in the light of the 
information society developments, and it has reflected the Commission's proposal 
for the INFO2000 programme in its recommendations. In recognition of the 
success of IMPACT 2 and the growing importance of the information market to 
EC policy overall, the Committee recommends to extend the Commission's 
information content initiatives by building on the results of IMPACT 2 and to 
consider an increase of budget for INFO2000. The report provides a rich 
source of extremely valid and detailed suggestions for such extensions and further 
improvements. 
35. Commission comment: 
The Committee's considerations are fully in line with the Commission's views 
which have found its place in the INFO2000 programme proposal. As a 
consequence, the suggestions made by the Committee will be taken into account 
in the implementation ofINFO2000 as far as feasible. 
M 
ANNEX 1 
Executive Summary of the Report on the IMPACT 2 Final Evaluation 
Composition of the IMPACT 2 Final Evaluation Committee 
Mr Brian BLUNDEN, Chief Executive, IEPRC, UK - Chairman, 
Mr Rolf KAT, Business Development and Analysis, VNU, Netherlands, 
Mr René MAYER, Président de section honoraire, Conseil Général des Ponts et Chaussées, France, 
Mr Franz G. MÔSL, Unternehmensberatung, Germany, 
Mr José Joao CAMPOS RODRIGUES, Director, Challenge, Portugal, 
Mr Mogens RASMUS SEN, Managing Director, Sarbaek A/S, Denmark, Secretary 
The full text of the evaluation report is available in English from 
European Commission 
DGXIII/E 
L-2920 LUXEMBOURG 
Fax:+352-430133190 
AL 
Executive Summary: Final Evaluation Committee (FEC) for the IMPACT 2 programme: 
The Final Evaluation Committee (FEC) concludesLthat the IMPACT 2 programme has 
achieved its objectives overall and efficiently spent the budget allocated to it by the Council.-
The programme has been well managed by DGXIII/E. It has provided value-for-money in 
the results achieved. The programme has demonstrated the multiplier mechanism. 
whereby the money spent by the European Commission (EC) has had an effect 
substantially greater than the value of the public funds invested. This multiplier effect will 
continue after the end of the programme and will create a solid basis on which to build 
Info2000. 
The IMPACT 2 programme has contributed to the development of European Union (EU) 
infrastructure in the development of the Information Market leading to the creation of the 
Information Society. Specifically the achievements of IMPACT 2 are demonstrated by: 
• ennanced understanding by industry and governments of the Information Market through 
the work of the Information Market Observatory (IMO) 
real dialogue with leading players in the information industry through the strategic studies 
commissioned by DGXIII/E 
progress on regulatory and legislative issues through the work of the Legal Advisory Board 
(LAB) 
reduction in technological barriers to information transfer and electronic trading through 
work on norms and standards 
growth in the use of information by industry and commerce through the work of the 
European Commission Host Organisation (ECHO) 
stimulation in the use of new media throughout the European Union by exemplars such as 
the I M-EUROPE WWW server on the Internet 
amplification in the appreciation in industry of the benefits of cooperation throughout the 
European Union through the work of the National Awareness Partners (NAPs) 
through kick-off actions in the area of training in Less Favoured Regions a large multiplier 
effect has been achieved by the COMETT programme 
provision of opportunity for the encouragement of business partnerships ~ particularly 
SMEs - by Calls for Proposals and financial priming to collaborative projects such as those 
stimulated by the IMM and GIS programmes 
as a result of the large interest in GIS a communication to Council and the European 
Parliament is underway 
creation of a European-wide focus on the benefits from the use of information by industry 
through the Call for Information Services for Business and Industry (BIS) 
development of the total European market by international cooperation programmes such 
as the Copernicus projects 
Ai 
The Final Evaluation Committee considers the success of the IMPACT 2 programme to 
make an overwhelming case for support by Member States, the Council and the European 
Parliament to the Info2000 programme; and for consideration to be given to increasing the 
budget allocation given to the Info2000 programme. 
The reason the Final Evaluation Committee advocates budget increase for Info2000 is that 
it would follow the logic of recent EC White Papers and the findings of the Bangemann 
Committee on stimulation to the growth of the Information Society. The EU needs to 
create jobs and to improve competitiveness in global markets. The Information Market is 
recognised as a major driver of these two objectives. In turn, the driver of the Information 
Market is that of users of information and providers of content - such as publishers 
Without users and content providers there is no demand for software, hardware, or facilities 
such as telecommunications. Hence the role of DGXIII/E is critical to the development of 
the Information Market and to the formulation of EC policy overall. At present this work is 
under-funded when compared with the size of the challenge which it should address. 
There appears to be a failure in strategic understanding of this driver mechanism in the EC. 
DGXIII/E must be encouraged to continue to articulate the views and aspirations of all 
information users - industry, commerce and the many branches of the public sector 
including cultural communities such as education - together with the views and aspiration 
of content owners, the media and functional activities of commerce such as advertising 
DGXIII/E must be mandated to give coherence to these views on all matters related to the 
Information Market development including the regulatory framework required for 
competitive trading. 
Since the introduction of the IMPACT 2 programme the Information Market has changed 
dramatically. The Information Market now permeates virtually all organisations in the pnvate 
and public sectors of the European Union. Multimedia has become the focus of activity by 
global players as well as industry, commerce, academia and the public sectors and 
governments in the Member States. This change in the Information Services marketplace 
has been reflected in the work of DGXIII/E. However, the issue of mandate clarity 
disadvantages the players in the information industries in the EU and deprives Member 
State programmes of the benefits of leadership in cooperation, and thus gaining the 
maximum multiplier effect throughout the EU from Information Society programmes. This 
situation must be changed. It is a subject which requires urgent political attention at the 
highest level. 
Thus, the recommendations of the Final Evaluation Committee arising from the IMPACT 2 
programme may be summarised as follows. 
1 The IMPACT 2 programme has been completed successfully and within the budget 
guidelines set out by the Council. 
Au 
2 In recognition of the success of IMPACT 2 and the growing importance of the Information 
Services Market to EC policy overall, consideration should be given to increasing the 
budget for Info2000. Any attempts by Member States to change - by elimination of 
activities - any part of the proposed Info2000 programme should be rejected 
3 The Council and the European Parliament should support an enhanced mandate for 
DGXIII/E. Four specific changes are recommended. They are: 
• to ensure that DGXIII/E has the mandate to realise its mission to articulate the aspirations 
of the content and media industries and the total information user community 
• revision by some Member States governments of their representation on the Advisory 
Committee for Info2000 
• increased representation from the information content industries in the Information Society 
Forum 
• creation of a small high level group of commercially expert advisers from private and public 
sector business communities to advise DGXIII/E in matters of policy development 
4 Allocation of budget resources in !nfo2000 to the development of a methodology for the 
stimulation of particular sectors or topics is required. 
5 In project calls, the adoption of a standard procedure for feasibility stage work which is 
minimal in bureaucratic procedure is needed. Independent investigation of the project 
administration procedures in the administrative departments of the EC to reduce drastically 
paperwork, timescales. approval, acceptance and project support payment settlement 
should be instigated. 
6 The scope of the work of the IMO should be enlarged to take full account of the changes 
taking place in the Information Market; the dissemination of the IMO report should be 
speeded up. 
7 Increase in the budget for strategic studies with a minimum provision of 750.000 ECU per 
annum during the duration of the Info2000 programme is advisable. 
8 An enhanced mandate for the LAB - and if necessary increased budget - is recommended 
by: 
• re-statement of the LAB mandate to ensure that all Directorates-General recognise its role 
to represent the regulatory and legal requirements of the information content industries, the 
media and the information user community 
• re-assessment by the management of DGXIII/E to ensure it has adequate budgets and 
resource provision 
• management of DGXIII/E to ensure the LAB undertakes systematic and comprehensive 
liaison with interested organisations concerned with regulation and legal affairs in the 
Information Services Market 
• continued re-structuring of the LAB to reduce the representation from academia and 
increased representation from commercial players in the information market and re­
structuring of the representation to reflect a proper balance of all interested parties in the 
Information Services Market. 
9 Increased budget allocation to work on the promotion of standards and specifications under 
the Info2000 programme is proposed; this should specifically address the issues of: 
xr 
• measures of quality in new media products 
• meaningful measures of advertising effectiveness in new media. 
10 A new Call for NAPs should go out to demonstrate understanding of the total Information 
Market, and to put in place a system of milestones and performance criteria which requires 
the activity to resemble a marketing development programme for EC activities. 
11 Continued funding to support ECHO and I'M-EUROPE WWW server is proposed, as well 
as continued support to training initiatives under Info2000 in conjunction with DGXXII 
12 Continued support to interactive multimedia services (IMM) is recommended and 
specifically: 
• continued monitoring of IMM projects over the next two years to ascertain their impact on 
the information marketplace 
• continuation of a similar initiative to ensure a constant flow of exemplar products 
• extension of this exemplar concept to include creative use of new media in advertising 
• continuation to the initiative to ensure the nurturing of SMEs in the EU as producers and 
users of information services. 
12 Re-consideration of soecific allocation of budget resources in line with the communication 
on GIS to Council and the European Parliament. 
14 Development of stimulation to business and industry information services should be 
encouraged by: 
• continued support for business and industry information services (BIS) which will contribute 
most to the development of EU infrastructure 
• initiating a programme with private sector research and technology organisations (RTOs) 
and relevant public sector bodies to develop a coherent business and industry information 
service network in the EU 
• development of pan-European virtual communities concerned with business and industry 
futures issues throughout the EU. 

/& 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(96) 273 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 16 10 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-96-283-EN-C 
ISBN 92-78-05490-9 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg