WRITTEN QUESTION No. 114/98 by Anita POLLACK to the Commission. Urban policy
Date: 1998-01-30
Institutions: European Parliament, POLLACK
Subjects: Austria, EU programme, European Commission, European Parliament, conference proceedings, urban centre

C 304/32

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

2. 10. 98

The Commission will discuss the year 2000 and its implications through all the relevant contacts available in
industry  and  Member  States.  In  particular,  attention  will  be  paid  to  the  impact  on  and  preparation  of
infrastructure  sectors,  the  impact  on  consumers  and  small  and  medium-sized  enterprises  (SMEs),  and  the
potential impact on the functioning of the internal market, including economic and monetary union.

The Commission will, together with Member States, monitor progress, exchange information, and benchmark
best practice while reporting regularly to the Council on the Community(cid:146)s progress towards year 2000 readiness
and its related issues.

The Commission will examine, in the context of its policies such as those on industry, SMEs, consumers, and
training, whether a further contribution could be made towards helping raise awareness and address year 2000
related problems.

Within the Commission itself, the so-called millennium bug is handled by the Informatics directorate for the
central aspects and by each directorate general for their information systems.

Since mid 1996 awareness of the year 2000 problem is promoted continuously by the Informatics directorate
inside  the  Commission.  Working  groups  were  established  at  the  beginning  of  1997  to  support  analysis  and
solutions to identified problems, and at the end of 1997 a contact group between the Informatics services of the
different institutions was initiated.

The project scope was established in 1997 and necessary resources were allocated. 1998 will be the year to fix
and solve possible problems and 1999 will be the critical year to test and implement the solutions. The project
year 2000 inside the Commission is following the phased approach, applied widely in the private and public
sectors including risk management measures.

As  for  the  prevention  of  new  viruses  spreading,  the  Commission  is  constantly  upgrading  the  anti-viruses
software  used  after  virus  attacks.  Protection  against  computer  viruses  requires  a  constant  effort  to  raise  the
awareness of IT professionals and users. It also requires a constant updating of the technology for detection and
destruction  of  computer  viruses.  Within  the  Commission,  the  Security  office  and  the  Informatics  directorate
regularly organise awareness raising campaigns in co-operation with all other directorates general. Anti-virus
software is in constant evolution, and is continuously assessed, updated and upgraded. The necessary guidelines
for use are developed for all IT systems.

(1)  COM(98) 102.

(98/C 304/44)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0114/98

by Anita Pollack (PSE) to the Commission

(30 January 1998)

Subject: Urban policy

What plans has the Commission made to date for the Urban Forum planned for November 1998? Is there a date,
venue and participation list agreed yet and will the European Parliament be invited to participate?

Answer given by Mme Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission

(26 February 1998)

The Commission intends to organise the Urban forum in Vienna on 26-27 November 1998 with the support of the
city  of  Vienna.  The  participation  list  will  be  decided  in  the  near  future.  The  Commission  hopes  that  the
Parliament will be a major participant.