Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Green Paper - Living and working in the information society: People first` (97/C 206/03)

On 2 August 1996 the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned green paper.

The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 4 April 1997. The rapporteur was Mr Burnel.

At its 345th plenary session (meeting of 23 April 1997), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 107 votes to three, with five abstentions.

1. Current background

1.1. The publication of a study commissioned by the Dutch Presidency, (the Booz Allen and Hamilton study) coincides with the Commission's Green Paper on information and communication technologies (ICTs). Among other points, the study notes that the EU is lagging behind in the ICT field, whether in terms of hardware or software manufacturing performance or use of these technologies.

For example, only two of the 20 leading hardware or software manufacturing concerns are European: SAP and Software A.G. The European Union has only done well in those sectors which are at present the least profitable: switching, mobile telecommunications, specialist semiconductors. One person in ten in the US has access to a computer compared to one in 20 in the main European countries. 90 % of European pupils leave school without ever having touched a computer. On this latter point, however, it is worth noting that while American universities have a considerable lead, lower-level establishments are less well-equipped.

1.2. A real economic and cultural gulf therefore separates the European Union from its North American or Asian competitors with regard to ICTs. Procrastination, quarrelling or looking for a scapegoat serves no purpose. The speed with which decisions are taken is a very important factor in corporate competitiveness, and hence growth. While waiting for matters to improve, the plight of the unemployed can only worsen or, to put it another way: 'While the grass grows, the horse starves`.

The green paper, then, has come at just the right time.

1.3. Given the issues at stake and their consequences, the European Union must not and cannot surrender in advance.

By pooling its knowledge and know-how, Europe has demonstrated its capabilities and effectiveness in scientific research, technological applications and high-quality, reliable manufacturing.

1.4. In view of what the outcome would be, there must be no let-up in enthusiasm, no backsliding and, above all, no decline into a state of apathy.

2. Will readers of the green paper be disappointed?

2.1. The green paper's title whets our appetites, indicating that priority is to be given to the human dimension. The page has been turned on the Businessmen's Europe, although this does not necessarily mean that the book has been closed. The information society heralds a new humanism - the Citizens' Europe, no less - a Europe of knowledge, employment, equitably shared rights and opportunities. It would be difficult to oppose such an aim.

2.2. The ESC agrees with many of the green paper's points. However, it regrets to note the following:

2.2.1. Too little attention is focused on daily life, an area where ICTs exercise a powerful attraction, offering the prospect of huge markets and therefore jobs. Other developments are taking shape on the horizon and still others will follow. Progress cannot be halted.

2.2.2. While a certain number of paths are mentioned, in practice too few specific suggestions are made on how to pursue them. However useful and important philosophical reasoning may be, it must be given practical form if a credible response is to be found to citizens' concerns and aspirations and needs, at a time when the world is rapidly changing. It is worth recalling that the ESC has already called for 'studies to evaluate the investment needed to set up and operate information highways and new services, and to assess the effect on employment` ().

2.2.3. According to the green paper, ICTs provide the opportunity to open, or reopen, debates on major issues which in fact will never be terminated given their fundamental importance. It is not surprising that the Commission should, for example, refer to the organization of work, education and training, health and access to healthcare, the ageing process and its effects, the importance of fostering human resources and regional development. Since these are issues which determine the respect accorded to human dignity and quality of life and which involve fundamental principles and values, it would be logical for all these issues to be tackled directly and without delay, ensuring on each occasion that the discussion encompasses the impact of ICTs as a means to an end, with all the advantages and risks they entail, in an attempt to neutralize those risks or minimize their effects in advance.

2.2.4. The same applies to renewal of the social dialogue and its institutions, on which the green paper places particular emphasis. These aspects are of course interconnected, but a technology must not be allowed to assume an initiating role, which rightly belongs to the authority and wisdom of the social partners and the legislation.

2.2.5. Social dialogue can also help alert public opinion and the authorities to the innovatory potential inherent in ICT growth. The relative dearth of services in some regions is one important indicator of social, economic and cultural underdevelopment. All means available, including social dialogue, should be deployed to put matters right, so as to develop a service culture in society at large and official bodies.

3. The Commission starts the consultation process

3.1. Following the Dublin colloquium, the Commission began consulting the organizations with which it is in regular contact. Although the panel is broadly-based, it does not unfortunately include all the national representations of all the players involved. The ESC regrets this, as it does the fact that the national contacts have not always worked. The Committee is surprised that the green paper has not been reported in the media, given the nature and impact of the subject.

3.2. The Commission also calls for citizens to express their views directly. The question arises as to whether it might not have been preferable, from an educational point of view - since the Commission is concerned to play an educational role - to have made use of all intermediary bodies (). The result would have been greater efficiency and speed, without the risk of distortion.

3.3. The ESC would be most interested in seeing the results of the consultation. It hopes that provision has been made for some feedback to the bodies and individuals who have answered the Commission's call.

4. Neither good nor bad

4.1. Technologies can be used for a good or bad purpose. A technology is, by its nature, a morally and politically neutral vehicle.

4.2. ICTs reflect human intelligence, while not being burdened with the least responsibility themselves. A machine carries out orders. 'It's the computer's fault` is just a poor joke.

5. The impact of ICTs on employment

5.1. The authors of the green paper are relatively optimistic as to the support which ICTs can lend to job creation. During the initial introductory phase all major new technologies tend to destroy jobs, but thereafter they create them. For a number of reasons, these new jobs do not match the old ones in either number or kind.

5.2. In the longer term, ICTs will create employment in the EU, provided that market conditions (i.e. supply and demand) are favourable - hence the importance, for example, of research, initial and continuing training, and forecasting of personnel requirements. The question is what kind of jobs to train for, and in what quantities.

5.3. The above-mentioned Booz Allen and Hamilton study argues that if the EU had experienced the same growth rates as the US in the various ICT sectors, one million new jobs would have been created, although it does not specify what kind of jobs. For the 1990-1995 period, growth stood at 9,3 % in the US, compared with 2,4 % in the European Union.

5.4. A European employment observatory, constantly covering the positive and negative effects of ICTs, would help greatly in taking predictive decisions.

5.5. ICTs are accused of encouraging business relocations. Insofar as they, along with other means, help cut distances and times, this is not untrue. On the other hand, they also contribute to the renovation of national or European problem areas and to safeguard or create jobs. The crunch comes with transfers to outside the EU. While ICTs may have a secondary role here, they are not among the main factors for relocation.

5.6. ICTs have made teleworking possible: this is the ideal solution for some, but can have the undesirable effect of creating or aggravating a feeling of isolation, thereby damaging physical and psychological well-being and giving rise to costs. Hence the importance of objective information and case-by-case advice.

5.7. ICTs have also enabled new forms of home shopping to be developed. This poses problems for certain types of customer, who must be protected against unfair practices and hasty decisions. Consumer organizations have an important role to play in terms of instruction, information and protection.

5.8. Whatever serves to erode personal relationships, either at work or in daily life, cannot be viewed positively.

5.9. SMEs do not have the resources available to large companies to make use of certain types of ICTs. However, SMEs are job creators; they must build up their export markets and they often act as suppliers for larger companies. The ESC has two wishes: firstly, that in relation to ICTs, SMEs receive assistance in terms of advice, training and equipment and secondly, that consideration be given to the possibility of establishing forms of partnership between them and experienced businesses.

6. Training and information: a two-fold response to needs, concerns and hopes

6.1. Ignorance leads to fear and nurtures illusions. Knowledge is freedom and is a factor for social, occupational and civic integration.

6.1.1. The ESC has, therefore, always advocated appropriate, up-to-date training at the earliest stage. It shares the green paper's concerns and endorses its proposals.

6.1.2. Consequently, ICTs must be built into curricula at every stage of education as a tool.

6.1.3. Harmonious relationships between generations are based on a proper family and social balance in the broadest sense.

It has been seen that certain information and communication technologies, on account of their novelty and the speed at which they have been introduced and spread, bother some sectors of the population - the elderly in particular, even when they are well-educated - and can even heighten a feeling of isolation. This is a real problem, but it is a problem which education and information can help reduce or even eliminate, by demystifying it. Individual well-being and access to progress are at stake, but it is also a question of social cohesion and the general interest, since physical and psychological isolation is recognized as one of the causes of deteriorating health which are often costly to treat. The role of associations which bring elderly and isolated people together, together with action by specialist services, should be encouraged. Here again, the interests of individuals and society overlap.

6.1.4. Information touches on questions of culture, freedom and quality of life. It must comply with ethical requirements and the rules of pluralism, and must respect the individual conscience.

7. The European Union must play its full role in the ICT sector

7.1. The ESC highlights the importance of analysing companies' and people's needs. In addition to analysis and reports, the EU must - in a spirit of consultation and solidarity - act vigorously: otherwise, there is a real danger that economically, culturally or ethically unpalatable solutions will be imposed on Europe by the globalization of the manufacturing and services industries.

7.2. The ESC would recall its earlier comments and positions, e.g. that it is important to align and pool audiovisual production resources:

- opinion on the revision of the directive on television without frontiers (especially points 2.2, 3.1.6 et seq.) ();

- opinion on the Media II programme ().

Secondly, it is necessary to create an audiovisual monitoring and regulatory body, along the lines of those to be found in many countries, because of the new broadcasting environment. But bans are not the answer. The solution is to be found in education and dialogue, to which such a body would contribute.

7.3. In its opinion on the Communication from the Commission 'Europe's way to the information society: An action plan`, adopted almost unanimously on 23 February 1995, the Committee considered that 'the Commission's proposed timetable for the liberalization of telecommunications infrastructure cannot reasonably be introduced without having first clearly defined the concept of universal service - including the reasons for it, the stakes involved, the safeguard mechanisms that go with it, its development, and the financial arrangements`.

7.3.1. It added that it 'supports the Commission's proposals on the introduction of a clear and stable regulatory framework, but urges that measures designed to open up the field to competition be adopted only after approval has been given to this framework and especially the rules governing competition, media concentration, privacy, intellectual property rights, electronic protection and the financing of a universal service that has been clearly defined beforehand and includes the widest possible range of advanced telecommunication services. The Committee would draw attention to the fundamental importance of the universal service concept - the key to European citizens' access to new information and communication services. The wealth of information and communication services on offer will depend on the definition of the universal service concept, which will decide whether social exclusion can be avoided`.

7.3.2. The ESC notes, at a time when its views on the green paper are being solicited, that the content of the universal service is only now being specified and that the funding, apart from that for a hesitantly-defined universal service, will not be provided by operators.

As regards social exclusion, unfortunately the ESC's fears may well prove to be prophetic.

7.4. The ESC endorses the green paper's concluding argument on the need to strengthen all expressions of pluralism at all levels. It therefore suggests that simple steps be taken to launch a debate - which, given the issues at stake and the speed of change, should be on-going. Policy should not lag behind technological innovations because of the danger that it might never catch up. Instead, it should keep ahead of or at least keep abreast of innovation.

8. No results without political will

8.1. Such a political will depends largely on the political courage of citizens. Citizenship involves more than just voting. It means each individual's willingness, in the light of all his or her responsibilities and functions, to take part in discussions whose outcome will shape his or her life. The debate on ICTs provides all of us with a golden opportunity to exercise our rights as citizens and fulfil our civic duties.

Brussels, 23 April 1997.

The President of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

() ESC Opinion on the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament and to the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Europe's way to the information society: An action plan. OJ No C 110, 2 5. 1995.

() Trade organizations, trade unions, mutual associations, cooperatives, bodies representing families and parents in schools, consumers and users, young people, the elderly, the disabled, cultural groups etc.

() OJ No C 309, 13. 11.1995.

() OJ No C 108, 29. 4. 1995.