WRITTEN QUESTION No. 424/98 by Graham WATSON to the Commission. The Millenium Bug
Date: 1998-02-24
Institutions: European Parliament, WATSON
Subjects: Economic and Monetary Union, computer system, data processing, euro, impact study, information system, institutional cooperation, interinstitutional cooperation (EU), technological change

C 310/62

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

9. 10. 98

Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission

(27 April 1998)

The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its findings as
soon as possible.

(98/C 310/80)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0424/98

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(24 February 1998)

Subject: The Millenium Bug

What studies has the Commission made of the impact of the millenium bug on preparations for Economic and
Monetary Union, both by the EU institutions and Member States?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(8 May 1998)

The  Commission  has  adopted  a  communication  on  the  year  2000  computer  problem (1),  in  which  the
relationships  between  the  millennium  bug  and  the  preparations  for  the  changeover  to  the  single  European
currency  are  identified.  In  addition,  the  Commission  has  followed  and,  in  some  cases,  partially  supported  a
number of surveys aimed at monitoring the state of readiness of business in various Member States and sectors
on both issues. In parallel, the Commission has organised meetings with different parties to discuss more closely
the technical preparations as well as ways in which experiences and good practices could be shared between
Member States and sectors.

Within the Commission itself, the impact on internal systems of both the year 2000 and the changeover to the
Euro is handled by the Informatics directorate for the central aspects and by each Directorate general for their
information systems. An inter-service task force has been established by the Commission to support analysis and
solutions to identified problems, and work is in progress. Given the importance of the issue, the task force will be
steered  by  a  working  group  chaired  at  the  highest  level  in  the  Commission.  Both  projects  are  following  the
phased approach, applied widely in the private and public sectors including risk management measures.

As regards co-operation at an inter-institutional level, a contact group between the informatics services of the
different institutions was initiated at the end of 1997. This group follows the same approach as that followed
within the Commission itself and the timing of the different steps is planned to enable an adequate resolution of
these problems for all institutions. The situation is regularly reviewed within the inter-institutional informatics
committee and appropriate measures will be taken, if and when necessary, to cope with specific problems.

Furthermore,  the  Commission  maintains  a  world  wide  web  site  on  the  year  2000  computer  problem  and  the
information  technology  impact  of  the  Euro  (http://www.ispo.cec.be/y2keuro).  This  site  provides  access  to
information about activities in different economic sectors and Member States, points to sources of advice on
specific aspects of the problem, and links to other sites as well as to all documents and reports produced by the
Commission on the subject.

(1)  COM(1998) 102.