WRITTEN QUESTION E-1723/99 by Marie-Noëlle Lienemann (PSE) to the Commission. Measures to combat American dominance of the internet.
Date: 1999-09-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU research policy, Internet, credit, research and development, research programme, technological change

C 170 E/82

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.6.2000

To be more precise, although it emerges from the 1995 study that was jointly financed by the Commission
that accidents occurring during this type of leisure activity resulted in an average hospitalisation of 7,8 %
as compared with the average of 5,5 % caused by all other factors recorded by the European Home and
Leisure Accident Surveillance System (Ehlass 1987-1998), those same accidents represented 1,2 % of the
accidents listed, a proportion also including accidents taking place on playing fields.

Since the conclusions reached at the 1992 Edinburgh Council have not been challenged, the Commission
intends to continue the approach adopted when it conferred a remit on the European Centre for
Standardisation (CEN) to draw up harmonised standards for amusements parks.

At the moment the CEN has stated that the surveys relating to those standards should begin during the
first half of next year.

(1) OJ C 135, 14.5.1999.
(2)

Parliamentary debates (September 1997).

(2000/C 170 E/094)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1723/99

by Marie-Noºlle Lienemann (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Measures to combat American dominance of the internet

(29 September 1999)

How can the European Union respond to (cid:145)second-generation(cid:146) developments on the internet?

How can the European Union ensure that full-scale research laboratory coordination programmes are
introduced? To what extent can it guarantee that the necessary additional resources will be allocated to
strengthening Europe(cid:146)s position in relation to American dominance of the internet?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(29 November 1999)

If Europe is to fully participate in the future development of the Internet, it is vital that our scientists and
researchers are actively involved in the process of its construction. With this in mind, the Community
sponsors leading edge research in this field to ensure that Europe is at the forefront of emerging
developments. Under the 1st call of the Information society-related technologies (IST) programme of the
5th framework programme (FPV) approximately € 300 million in funding has already been awarded to
138 collaborative research projects developing next generation networking technologies and applications
to exploit their potentialities.

This area is one that is likely to be a priority throughout the life of the current framework programme
(1999-2002). Already the IST expert advisory group, which provides advice to the Commission in
developing the programme, has identified a number of key areas where European industry has the
potential to lead the world (cid:129) e.g. mobile, wireless and optical technologies for the Internet. These
priorities will be reflected in next year(cid:146)s work programme.

However the issue is not just a technological one. There are also major regulatory and legal
issues
surrounding the continuous development of the Internet in which the Community is actively engaged. In
particular, the Community has been reassessing its regulatory policy in this area to provide legal certainty
and therefore facilitate the development of a new range of services,
in particular in the context of
e-commerce.

The overall aim of such activities is to ensure an open and competitive European market in this area. The
Commission adopted on 10 November 1999 a communication (cid:145)Towards a new framework for electronic
communications infrastructure and associated service (cid:129) 1999 communications review(cid:146). This communica-
tion lays down the position of the Commission with regard to the new regulatory framework for all
electronic communications infrastructure and associated services, and launches a public consultation. After
the public consultation, the Commission will proceed to legislative proposals in the second quarter of the

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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year 2000. The main thrust of the communication is to bring down the prices of telecommunications
services by increasing competition and cutting administrative burdens on telecom operators. This should
result in lower access prices and thus speed up the take-up of Internet in Europe. Furthermore, the
Commission will soon adopt a recommendation on the interconnection prices of leased lines part circuits,
the main aim of which is to bring down the prices of Internet services. A further recommendation on
access to local networks, and in particularly on local loop unbundling, will be issued next year and which
should have a further impact on availability of competitive high-speed Internet services.

As the Internet has become more ubiquitous and commercialised, the governance of this new tool has also
become professionalised and indeed more vital to Europe(cid:146)s interests. The Community, together with
Member States has therefore been taking an active role in the establishment of the Internet corporation
for assigned names and numbers (ICANN), the international private body in charge of policy on domain
names, information provider (IP) address allocations and Internet protocols.

The Community already ensures high quality interconnections between European research laboratories
through the trans-European net (TEN)-155 network (the follow-on to TEN-34), which supports the
interconnection of national research and education networks at capacities of 155 Megabit per second
(Mbits/s). The Community will continue to invest, through the 5th framework programme in Research and
technological development (RTD), in continuous upgrading of our research network infrastructure.

The IST programme has set aside a budget of € 161 million for (cid:145)research networking(cid:146) activity. This activity
will support both the establishment of a world-class network for Europe and experimental exploitation of
this network. Under this activity, research laboratories will experiment with new forms of collaborative
working, exploiting the full potentialities which high speed access to the Internet will provide.

From the point of view of the Commission, extensive resources are already being mobilised in the context
of the research programme to ensure that European researchers have access to world-class Internet
infrastructure and to support collaborative research and development) to develop new technologies in
this area. It should be noted, however, that in many of the key areas for the development of the Internet
such as national research infrastructures, and networking schools, the major investments required are the
responsibility of Member States and private industry. The Commission is making every effort to ensure
that all Member States recognise the importance of investment in this area.

(2000/C 170 E/095)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1728/99

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 September 1999)

Subject: Shift of emphasis in health policy

Under the Common Agricultural Policy the EU provides annual subsidies totalling 1 000 million euro for
the cultivation of tobacco. In contrast, only 11 million euro are earmarked for the (cid:145)Europe against cancer(cid:146)
programme. At the same time, however, there is evidence of a steady increase in the incidence of tumours.

This being so, does the Commission intend:

(cid:129) to ensure a gradual reallocation of financial resources for the benefit of public health in general?

(cid:129) to secure a reduction in nicotine consumption by raising the cost of tobacco products?

(cid:129) to improve monitoring of the various ingredients of tobacco products through appropriate legislation?

(cid:129) to regard the tobacco control issue in future as a priority objective of European health policy as stated

by the new Commissioner for consumer protection and health, David Byrne, at his hearing?