Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Communication from the Commission on the social and labour market dimension of the information society "People First - The Next Steps"'
Date: 1998-02-26
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU employment policy, information technology, labour market, social policy

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vessels for which there is no economic justification
and where the consequences may be to unfairly

distort activity in the shipbuilding sector and serious-
ly damage the economics of the shipping industry.

Brussels, 25 February 1998.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Communication from the Commission
on the social and labour market dimension of the information society “People First — The
Next Steps”’

(98/C 129/06)

On 29 July 1997 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
communication.

The Section for Social, Family, Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 12 February 1998. The
rapporteur was Mr Pellarini.

At its 352nd plenary session (meeting of 26 February 1998), the Economic and Social Committee
adopted the following opinion by 97 votes to 9.

1.

Introduction

1.1.
Further to its task of monitoring, analysing and
providing guidance on the impact and problems of the
information society, the Commission has published
a new document focusing principally on its social
dimension and effects on the labour market.

The starting points are the 1994 Action Plan on
1.2.
Europe’s way to the information society and the 1996
Green Paper on Living and working in the information
society: People first.

Following the path set out in this basic document the
Communication sets the following main purposes:

— to increase awareness of the implications of the

information society;

— to build an information society dimension into social

policies and actions;

— to identify specific actions to maximize the contri-
bution of the information society to promoting
employment and social inclusion.

In an initial section, the Commission emphasizes
1.3.
the need to facilitate access to the information society,
which ‘must be based on the principles of equal
opportunities, participation and integration of all’.

Infrastructures and services ‘should be available at
affordable prices’; the concepts of ‘universal service’ and
‘public access’ need to be examined in greater detail and
looked at dynamically; software and hardware must
be increasingly user-friendly; social groups which are
largely uninvolved and uninformed must be made aware
of the opportunities offered by the new technologies,
bringing them into an on-going learning process.

Implementing the information society in public
1.4.
services can sustain and develop democratic life by
encouraging participation and open government. In this
regard, the Commission announces that it is preparing
a Green Paper on Access to and exploitation of public
sector information.

1.5.
Significant results may be achieved even in purely
social areas such as policies for equal opportunities or
enhancing the quality of life and employment oppor-
tunities for people with disabilities.

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1.6.
A second section focuses on changes in the
organization of work and the labour market. With the
‘People First’ Green Paper, the Commission had already
called for an in-depth debate on the modernization of
working life.

Far-reaching changes in working methods have occurred
in recent years and are continuing, mostly affecting the
balance between flexibility and security.

1.7. On the one hand, new ways of organizing work
can contribute significantly to making the economy
more competitive, as shown in the Green Paper on
Partnership for a new organization of work: this is of
fundamental importance in preparing Europe to take an
active part in the growing globalization of production
and markets.

1.8. On the other, the Commission’s consultation
process has shown that ‘employees and trade unions are
concerned that the introduction of ICT (information
and communications technologies) and new forms of
work organization might result in greater job insecurity
and lower labour standards’ (1).

1.9.
Special attention is given to forms of teleworking,
which is still not as widespread as expected, despite a
broadly-based expression of interest on the part of
workers.

The social dialogue too is affected by the new
1.10.
technologies, since ‘the social partners no longer operate
within traditional collective bargaining systems’, as a
result of the increasing flexibility of the organization of
work and the globalization of markets and pro-
duction (2).

1.11.
tunities, in terms of jobs, that ICT can offer.

Lastly, a further section deals with the oppor-

1.12.
The telecommunications liberalization process
may generate new jobs, which ‘will depend on the pace
of that process and on the speed of diffusion of the
technologies’ (paragraph 42).

Most new jobs in Europe are created by software
and computer service SMEs. However, problems exist
regarding inadequate skill
levels and the need for
on-going and prompt renewal of know-how.

(1) Communication on the Social and Labour Market Dimen-
the Information Society, COM(97)390 final,

sion of
point 26.

(2) Communication on the Social and Labour Market Dimen-
sion of the Information Society, COM(97) 390 final,
point 32.

1.13.
Regional and local authorities have an
important part to play in supporting SMEs, helping
them to maximize their potential.

1.14.
The social economy may also fulfil a significant
role, using the new technologies to assist particularly
disadvantaged groups to break down social exclusion.

1.15.
Lastly, public employment services will find
ICT the most efficient and fastest means of matching
job seekers with vacancies.

1.16.
The conclusion reached in the document is that
the social dimension should be closely integrated into
Member States’ information society development stra-
tegies.

2. General comments

2.1.
In its opinion on the Communication from the
Commission on Europe at the forefront of the global
information society: rolling action plan, the Committee
welcomed ‘the sustained efforts undertaken by the
Commission and all the EU bodies’ (3).

Given the complex nature of the questions and
2.2.
problems raised, the present Communication unques-
tionably confirms the objective importance of the new
technological revolution, which is bringing far-reaching
changes to all aspects of economic, social and cultural
life.

The scale of the opportunities is matched by the

2.3.
risks of exclusion for major sectors of the population.

2.4.
This is the not the first time that the Commission
has raised the question of the social, and in particular
employment, effects of the information society, but the
present Communication certainly represents a qualita-
tive leap forward in its approach to complex issues of
social cohesion and the relationship between employ-
ment and the new technologies.

2.5.
Firstly, it is to be welcomed that instead of
proposing individual measures which might be effective
to varying degrees on different aspects, a genuine strategy
is put forward committing the Union over the coming
years not only at the purely financial level, but also at
the level of more general economic, social and cultural
policy options.

2.6.
The Committee also pointed this out in its
above-mentioned opinion on the rolling action plan,
concluding that the process of building the information

(3) OJ C 296, 29.9.1997, p. 13.

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society ‘will involve decisions that will have to be taken
as part of the overall blueprint rather than separately,
bearing in mind their legal, organizational, economic,
social and cultural implications’ (1).

flexibility and social security and working conditions to
be considered among the future priorities for social
dialogue, which it will be possible to carry forward
thanks, in part, to the opportunities provided by ICT.

2.7.
The ‘People First’ dimension of this document is
clearly visible in that the Communication not only ‘sets
out the Commission’s strategy to further develop the
social dimension of the information society’, but specific
proposals are made at the end of each point discussed.
Checks will, of course, have to be made on their actual
implementation, but they already represent a valuable
framework for Commission commitments over the next
few years.

Each section of the Communication, dealing
2.8.
with the major individual aspects of the information
society in social terms, lists official procedures, research
and analysis documents, and specific actions to promote
debate or disseminate information.

2.9. More substantial questions, however, are also
discussed. It is, for example, significant that the Com-
mission declares its wish to ‘review’, by means of
the appropriate checks and adjustments, fundamental
choices such as the question of the ‘scope, quality, level
and affordability of universal service by January 1st,
1998’, with a view to ensuring accessibility for all.

2.10.
At the level of promoting democratic partici-
pation, the Commission thus accepts the European
Parliament’s proposal to draw up a communication
and information strategy to facilitate access to the
institutions for the public and organizations.

2.11.
Turning to the problem of employment, which
is the central core of the Communication, there is clearly
an awareness that the profound changes caused by ICT
must be closely monitored and analysed, so as to ensure,
firstly, enhanced company performance and secondly,
respect for workers’ rights.

2.12.
The decision to develop a European network to
boost RTD and disseminate good practice in new forms
of work and production organization is therefore to be
welcomed. Research and studies are also to be carried
out under the framework programmes for research and
technological development and the Action Plan for
innovation.

Regarding teleworking in particular, there is a
2.13.
willingness to tackle the question of its legal definition
and to launch consultations with the social partners
on the advisability of Community action to protect
teleworkers.

2.14.
Equally important is the Commission’s insis-
tence on the need for employment, the relation between

(1) OJ C 296, 29.9.1997, p. 13.

Concerning the potential for new jobs, the
2.15.
various aspects of the ‘dematerialization’ of the economy
need to be looked at more closely. The Commission
wishes to do this under the Fifth RTD Framework
Programme, also monitoring real trends and studying
Eurostat and ESIS statistical data on them.

2.16.
Special attention focuses on the future contri-
bution to job creation of the dissemination of the new
technologies in local development. As the Committee
has pointed out on several occasions, this is one of the
economic sectors which should be most exploited in
coming years, as it constitutes a major source of new
employment. Implementing the new technologies can
strengthen and accelerate this possibility.

The structural problem of the gap between
2.17.
the demand by business for high-level and up-to-date
qualifications and largely inadequate vocational training
must, however, be faced. A survey quoted in the
Communication reveals that 52 % of job seekers have
no vocational qualifications whatsoever, of whom only
a very small minority are offered real opportunities for
training.

2.18.
The Commission therefore declares that it ‘will
maintain, in the context of the Agenda 2000 proposals,
a strong commitment to improving human resource
development systems so as to anticipate economic and
social change, maintain employability and harness the
employment potential of the information society’ (para-
graph 48).

3. Universal service

3.1.
The Committee considers the Commission’s
work in defining the general information society strategy
to be well directed, but feels that it could be further
developed in greater detail, particularly regarding the
universal service issue.

In this document, the Commission displays a
3.2.
new and more problematic attitude concerning the
question of universal service. The Committee has repeat-
edly expressed its disquiet at an overly laissez-faire
approach to this delicate and fundamental issue. The
Commission’s caution appears to bear out the Com-
mittee’s approach and its repeated requests.

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3.3.

Several aspects are to be considered:

— the real possibility that access of public interest to

the information society will be guaranteed;

— the guarantee of no exclusions or restrictions for
those living in remote and rural areas or for social
disadvantaged groups;

— mass dissemination of information society tech-

nologies and know-how.

3.4.
The primary question is that of public interest
access. The Committee agrees with the Commission
when it urges Member States ‘to ensure that access is a
key objective of their information society objectives’,
and would also draw attention to the recommendation
of the High Level Expert Group to the effect that, in
order to avoid exclusion and preserve regional cohesion,
the existing concept of universal service should be shifted
in the direction of the ‘obligation of universality to the
educational, cultural, medical, social and economic
institutions of local communities’ (1).

In this regard, the Committee would repeat its
3.5.
views as expressed in the recent opinion on cohesion
and the information society (2) and, in particular, calls
upon the Commission to:

— spell out which services should be covered by the
concept of universal service: obviously, this can no
longer be limited simply to the telephone service,
but must include more developed services such as
Internet access;

— identify the locations and public institutions where

such services should be available to all;

— specify funding and pricing methods providing effec-
tive access; for example, a universal service fund with
contributions from companies managing telecom
services.

3.6.
These problems are of special importance for
remote and rural areas and, more generally, for less
developed regions.

The Commission is concerned that all the indicators for
network and service installation (3) unambiguously show
that although progress is undoubtedly being made, the
technology gap could widen over the next few years.

The Member States and the Commission will need to
take great care that the liberalization process does not
lead to greater penalization, in view of the higher costs
and lower profits which might discourage private
operators from investing in these areas.

The new concept of a universal service obligation should
provide access for all, at affordable prices, to advanced
telecom services.

The Committee supports the Commission’s
3.7.
efforts to increase the use of these new services by SMEs
in disadvantaged areas, since this boosts economic and
social cohesion, stimulates job creation and enhances
the overall competitiveness of the regions concerned.

The WOLF pilot projects and Implace and Marsource
initiatives should be reinforced and extended.

3.8.
It would also be advisable for the Commission
to carry out annual surveys of information society
developments in Europe from the economic and social
viewpoint, so as to increase awareness and provide a
basis for assessment (4).

4. Education and continuing training

A real information society for all means wide-
4.1.
spread use of new services and universal ‘literacy’, as
part of a shift from the information to the learning
society.

4.2.

Schools must take a leading role here.

The Committee would repeat its comments in an
earlier opinion (5) that information and communications
technologies should be built into all teaching systems
and stages of education.

4.3.
Governments in a number of Member States
have set up large-scale information plans at every stage
of education, or are in the process of doing so.

(1) Final policy report of the HLEG (High Level Expert Group)
‘Building the European information society for us all’, April
1997, Recommendation 10a.

(2) OJ C 355, 21.1.1997, opinion on cohesion and the infor-
mation society (rapporteur: Dame Jocelyn Barrow), 1 Octo-
ber 1997.

(3) See the statistical annex to the Communication on cohesion

and the information society, op. cit.

(4) The only research presently available is the study drawn
up by Nexus et al in late 1995: this data must be considered
to be largely out of date, since changes in the information
society sphere are faster than in any other field of
technology. The document may therefore provide a picture
which no longer reflects a rapidly-changing situation.
(5) Opinion on the Green Paper on living and working in the
information society (rapporteur: Mr Burnel), OJ C 206,
7.7.1997.

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The target of ‘a computer in every classroom’ should be
pursued by all Member States, and the Commission
must work to this end via programmes and initiatives
supporting and encouraging government efforts, edu-
cational experiments and exchanges of experience.

Special attention should be given to training and refresher
courses for teachers, offering them the opportunity to
bring the use of the new ICT into their teaching.

The establishment of a network connecting
4.4.
schools in all the Member States might be of great value
in encouraging this type of cultural movement, thereby
creating a ‘learning network’.

4.5.
The Committee would take up the HLEG’s
proposal to create a European Learning Agency and
Network (ELAN) to promote and disseminate know-
how on leading-edge ICT applications in sectors of
particular interest for education and training throughout
Europe.

4.6.
A real commitment to bringing the information
society into schools would also boost its introduction
among families.

4.7. While access to the information society is, for
the younger generations, virtually taken for granted,
adults — and particularly the elderly — may be largely
excluded.

The HLEG argues that ‘it is essential to view the
information society as a learning society’ and that ‘in
Europe the incentives to invest in such lifelong learning
activities are insufficient’ (1).

4.8.
The Committee backs the Commission’s plan to
promote awareness-building initiatives for those sectors
of the adult population currently furthest removed from
the information society, or most at risk of being excluded
from it, such as the unemployed, women and the elderly.

4.9.
The risk of obsolescence has spread from
machines to cover qualifications and people too. Many
individuals are thrown out of the employment cycle and
unable to get back into the labour market because they
cannot keep up with technological changes and the
necessary skills, which demand much greater flexibility
and capacity for change than in the past.

Public and private training systems must therefore
provide people with opportunities to update their

knowledge and qualifications on the basis of closer
knowledge of ICT, which now affect all production and
commercial sectors.

4.10.
The Committee supports the Commission’s
intention to confirm the feasibility of cognitive resource
centres, where people at risk of exclusion can have access
to basic ‘literacy’ and information society technologies in
order to acquire the necessary skills.

The push for genuine access for all to the
4.11.
information society must be one of the priorities in
developing a European information society model. One
of the features of such a model should be the ability to
lessen social exclusion and create new opportunities for
disadvantaged groups. This is of special importance at
a point in time when the welfare systems of all the
Member States are experiencing radical change.

5. Democracy and public services

An information society for all will also have an
5.1.
important impact on democratic life, as it will provide
new opportunities for citizens to be informed and to
participate, and enable administrative procedures to be
better monitored and more transparent.

5.2.
The Committee welcomes the Commission’s
intention to draw up a communication on an information
strategy facilitating access to institutions by the general
public and organizations.

The Committee believes that the use of ICT should be
developed in the Member States: one reason would be
to serve as a means of consulting citizens on issues of
common concern, particularly in local communities (e.g.
quality of life in cities, government planning priorities,
economic and tax options, transport, opening hours of
public institutions and private companies, social and
cultural issues, etc.).

ICT could provide a direct and permanent link between
the public authorities and the general public, enabling
an intense exchange of information to take place.

5.3.
The Committee also calls on the Commission
to envisage energetic awareness-building measures for
Member State citizens and central and local authorities
concerning sources of telematic information (via Inter-
net) on the European institutions. National or regional
databases and Internet sites on European questions
could be particularly valuable, contributing to greater
involvement of all in European aid and financing and
all other Community initiatives.

(1) HLEG policy report, op. cit; the report also quotes the
Delors report ‘Learning: The Treasure Within’, Report to
UNESCO of the International Commission on Education
for the Twenty-First Century, UNESCO, 1996.

The public authorities, together with schools,
5.4.
could become the driving force behind the information

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society for all by providing opportunities to gain the
necessary know-how and put it into practice.

5.5.
The Committee plans to assess the matter in
more detail, partly on the basis of a communication to
be issued by the Commission in the forthcoming months
subsequent to the debate on the Green Paper on
exploiting Europe’s public sector information.

5.6.
In the meantime, the Committee emphasizes that
greater use of ICT in the public services would also have
a significant effect on the quality of
the services
themselves, particularly by providing remote access —
this cuts waiting times and enables people with mobility
difficulties to have independent access.

The public authorities could offer new opportunities
to citizens in many fields, from registry office and
certification services to health or cultural departments,
through ICT.

5.7.
The Committee particularly appreciates the
Commission’s guidelines for promoting awareness of
the potential of ICT to improve health systems and its
plan to develop a Community-side network for sharing
epidemiological data and disseminating European public
health programmes.

6. Disabled people

An information society which is genuinely for all
6.1.
must also deliver a better quality of life and new
employment opportunities to the disabled.

ICT make available technologies and ways of using the
various services capable of satisfying these demands.

6.2.
The Committee calls, as does the Commission,
for the problems of disabled people in accessing the
information society to be included among the future
priorities of the universal service review, specifically
by determining which services should be defined as
universal.

6.3.
The Committee also feels that the Commission
should alert the Member States to the need to assist in
equipping disabled people with basic and advanced
services.

The Commission could sponsor, or possibly finance,
pilot ICT training programmes specifically aimed at the
disabled.

6.4.
The spread of telework should facilitate job
seeking, particularly for people with serious motor
disabilities, although it should not be allowed to lead to
isolation.

6.5.
Lastly, closer cooperation between industry and
associations for the disabled should be sought, in order
to increase hardware accessibility and initiate pilot
software projects aimed primarily at individuals who
have difficulty communicating.

7. Telework

7.1.
Telework merits particular attention: over recent
years, it has come to be seen — although with widely
differing judgements — as one of the most important
options arising from the new information society.

7.2.
The way work is now organized in all the more
advanced countries allows for many flexible work
approaches, including teleworking.

This might be seen as a further opportunity for workers,
or as putting them in a substantially weaker, insecure
situation.

7.3. Quite apart from technical and organizational
assessments, the social security, legal and health and
safety aspects are of special importance and should be
examined in greater depth if fresh solutions are to be
found.

The status of such workers is currently under
7.4.
discussion in virtually all Member States, but there also
needs to be a Community input into the definition of
this status.

No Member State presently possesses any specific and
coherently structured legislation in this field.

It is appropriate that in point III.3 of the Communication
the Commission specifically addresses this point, with a
view to creating an adequate framework for teleworking.

7.5.
The Committee welcomes the Commission’s
initiative of consulting with the social partners to
examine the possibility of Community action on the
legal and social protection of teleworkers.

The Committee will certainly take part in this debate,
in whatever form the appropriate authorities ultimately
decide.

As suggested by the HLEG, the convention and rec-
ommendation on the protection of homeworkers, adopt-
ed by the 1995 International Labour Conference, along
with the EU Commission’s proposed directive on atypical
work (1), could serve as European guidelines.

The Committee proposes that the Commission
7.6.
encourage the Member State social partners to include
specific clauses on teleworking in new national employ-
ment category agreements.

(1) COM(90) 228 final — SYN 280 and SYN 281.

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The Commission could also record and make known
good collective bargaining practices and hands-on
experience and offer these to the social partners as part
of the social dialogue.

Special attention should be given to training and refresher
courses for teachers, offering them the opportunity to
bring the use of the new ICT into their teaching.

7.7.
Lastly, the Committee suggests that ‘telecottage’
initiatives, or community teleservice centres, be taken
up on a widespread basis. They could also serve as a
focal point for training and information activities.

As well as helping those at serious risk of exclusion
— such as the long-term unemployed, who have no
income to invest
in hardware — to find jobs in
teleworking, telecottages also stimulate greater socializa-
tion, averting the danger of isolation inherent in tele-
work.

8. Conclusions and proposals

The Committee supports the Commission’s

8.1.
strategy to facilitate access to the information society.

8.6.
The Committee backs the Commission’s plan to
promote awareness-building initiatives, as part of a
continuing training approach, for those sectors of the
adult population currently furthest removed from the
information society, or most at risk of being excluded
from it, such as the unemployed, women and the elderly.

8.7.
The Committee believes that the central and
local public authorities, together with schools, could
become the driving force behind the information society.
Greater use of ICT in the public services would also
have a significant effect on the quality of the services
themselves, offering new opportunities and services to
citizens, including in the sphere of employment.

An information society which is genuinely for
8.8.
all must offer an enhanced quality of life and new
employment opportunities for people with disabilities
too.

This strategy should be based on the principles of
equality of opportunities and the participation and
inclusion of all.

The Committee endorses the Commission’s approach
of including the problems of disabled people in accessing
the information society among the priorities of the
universal service review.

8.2.
In practice, this means building an information
society dimension into policies and social initiatives,
promoting employment and social inclusion.

More specifically, the Committee recommends that all
currently planned or future actions should, as the
Commission itself envisages, provide ‘a real opportunity
to promote gender equality’ (1), with the active involve-
ment of women in producing information and in
communication.

The Committee calls on the Commission to
8.3.
consider how to extend universal service to cover more
advanced services (such as Internet), with easy access
and at moderate cost, as well as the basic service.

8.4.
The Committee would draw attention to the
proposals of the HLEG to the effect that in order
to avoid exclusion and preserve regional cohesion,
universal service should include facilitated access to
the information society for the educational, cultural,
medical, social and economic institutions of local com-
munities.

The Committee stresses that ICT should be built

8.5.
into all teaching systems and stages of education.

8.9.
The Committee welcomes the Commission’s
initiative of consulting with the social partners to
examine the possibility of Community action on the
legal and social protection of teleworkers providing a
clearer definition of health and safety issues in particular.

The actions mentioned above are intended to
8.10.
furnish a practical response to the problems posed
by ICT and to spread the potential offered by the
information society as widely as possible.

A fundamental question remains, which the Commission
document and all its predecessors touch upon only
indirectly, but which the Committee is convinced must
be tackled through specific actions: how to change the
information society’s image.

8.11.
Since its first appearance on the production and
commercial scene, the information society has been seen
by many as a factor in job losses.

But in recent years, while millions of jobs have certainly
vanished as a result of automation and telecommuni-
cations, others have been created in hardware and
software production and the new openings provided by
ICT in different production and commercial sectors.

(1) COM(97) 390 final, point 18.

8.12.
however, slow in making headway.

A positive image of the information society is,

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The Commission’s action via recent documents (1) has
undoubtedly helped to shift the debate towards the
positive aspects of the information society, including
employment.

This Communication with its ‘people first’ and labour
market dimension themes clearly follows in this direc-
tion, and should be fully exploited.

8.13.
The Committee therefore supports the Com-
mission’s efforts to include the social dimension when

(1) From the White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness,,
Employment, op. cit, to those on cohesion in the infor-
mation society, people first, etc.

Brussels, 26 February 1998.

implementing information society policies, and wishes
to take positive steps itself in this direction.

These information initiatives should be targeted princi-
pally at young people, the long-term unemployed and
women: in many regions, it is they who experience the
unemployment crisis most directly.

Lastly,

the Committee believes

this
8.14.
strategy of
focusing on the social dimension and
implementing practical actions to make the most of
the employment and social integration opportunities
may help create a more positive image of
the
information society.

that

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

APPENDIX

to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee

The following amendment, while receiving more than a quarter of the votes cast, was rejected during
the course of the discussion.

Point 7.5

Delete last sentence giving a reference to the convention and recommendation on the protection of
homeworkers, adopted by the 1995 ILO Conference, as a potential model for European guidelines.

Reason

The concept of ‘Homeworkers’ is limited to the place where you perform your work. Telework is much
broader.

The employers opposed as a group a convention on homework and didn’t participate in the discussions.
Few governments have ratified the convention. The reference should therefore be deleted.

Result of the vote

For: 34, against: 71, abstentions: 3.