WRITTEN QUESTION E-2179/00

by Jaime Valdivielso de Cué (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(7 July 2000)

Subject: Employment

The consulting companies Datamonitor and Microsoft have recently published a study in which it is stated that, over the next three years, Europe will lose business worth 380 000 million euros owing to its lack of people trained in information technologies.

What specific action is the Commission preparing to take in order to meet the demand for workers in this field, taking into account the size of the unemployment problem in Europe?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(18 September 2000)

The Commission is aware of the problem that the skills gap poses to the European economy. Whilst the primary responsibility to meet the demand for workers in this field lies with the Member States and the social partners, the Commission plays a co-ordinating role within the European employment process. The Commission also co-ordinates the work of the high level group on the employment and social dimension of the information society (ESDIS), composed of Member State representatives.

The Commission communication Strategies for jobs in the information society(1), prepared in co-operation with ESDIS and presented to the European Council in Lisbon, acknowledges the lack of information society specialists and defines a series of recommendations addressed to Member States, social partners and information society industries so as to deliver the skills needed in industry.

Under the draft Commission action plan e Europe 2002 an information society for all(2) endorsed by the European Council in Feira, a special chapter on Working in the knowledge-based economy based on the Commission's communication(3) defines the three main challenges faced by the Community: to meet the demand for information technology professionals through education and training; to raise employment rates; and to modernise work organisation.

The draft action plan defined six action lines with deadlines from end 2000 to end 2002 for which progress will be evaluated by members of ESDIS in co-operation with the Commission: to give the labour force the chance to become digitally literate through life-long learning; to increase information technology training places using European social funds where appropriate; to establish a European diploma for basic information technology skills; to support greater flexibility in the workplace, e.g. teleworking and part-time working; to promote a network of learning and training centres

for information and communications technology training and retraining of postgraduates; and to set up public Internet access points in public spaces and establish multimedia tele-centres in all communities using the structural funds where appropriate.

Regarding the Lisbon agenda, the European Council called upon the Community and the Member States to prepare the transition to a competitive, dynamic and knowledge-based economy, and to put the issue of information and communication technologies (ICT) skills and digital literacy at the top of the European agenda. Two issues should be highlighted in this context. The Lisbon conclusions draw attention to the need to improve employability and to reduce skills gaps and suggest that this should be achieved in particular by providing employment services with a Europe-wide data base on jobs and learning opportunities and by promoting special programmes to enable unemployed people to fill skills gaps. They also suggest giving higher priority to lifelong learning by encouraging agreements between the social partners and by enhancing the complementarity between lifelong learning and adaptability (working time flexibility etc.). In addition, a substantial annual increase in per capita investment in human resources is needed.

(1) COM(2000) 48 final.

(2) COM(2000) 330 final.

(3) COM(2000) 48 final.