WRITTEN QUESTION E-3891/00 by Marjo Matikainen-Kallström (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Gaps in the Commission's websites.
Date: 2000-12-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, Internet site, Northern Europe, access to EU information

C 163 E/222

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2001

(2001/C 163 E/261)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3891/00

by Marjo Matikainen-Kallstr(cid:246)m (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 December 2000)

Subject: Gaps in the Commission(cid:146)s websites

There are gaps in the Commission(cid:146)s websites. For example, on the pages dealing with the Directorate-
General for External Relations no information is available about the northern dimension to the Union. The
Internet is now one of the most important sources of information for the public about Union-related
matters. The Commission(cid:146)s failure to provide up-to-date and comprehensive information about the way the
Union operates thus runs counter to the spirit of the e-Europe initiative.

Why has the Directorate-General for External Relations ignored the northern dimension on its webpages
which present current EU programmes? What steps does the Commission plan to take in order to ensure
that the webpages in question are updated in future, not least as regards the northern dimension?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(26 January 2001)

The Commission would like to thank the Honourable Member for her question, which simply anticipates
the steps taken by the departments to fill existing gaps in the pages dealing with the Directorate-General
for External Affairs. Since the pages are constantly being updated, the Honourable Member is no doubt
aware that a speech on the northern dimension was recently included and further information will be
added in the coming weeks.

(2001/C 163 E/262)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3908/00

by Guido Podest(cid:224) (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(4 December 2000)

Subject: Non-completion of schooling in Europe

The failure of European school children to complete their education is a complex issue and one which
arouses strong feelings since it involves the generation which finds it hardest to enter the employment
market.

Uniform, comparable statistics have never been available, the main reason for this being the diversity of
Europe(cid:146)s education systems, compounded by the difficulty of finding a common definition of the problem.

Could the Commission supply data which would provide an accurate picture of the situation regarding the
premature abandonment of schooling in the individual Member States, and would it once again propose
(as it did back in 1992) that a European Monitoring Centre on the non-completion of education be set up?

What action does the Commission intend to take in order to contain this problem, which marginalises and
wastes the potential of the young people who represent Europe(cid:146)s future?

Does the Commission not think that it should present a special programme designed to encourage the
completion of schooling in order to prevent young people from being excluded from the world of
education and work, and thereby giving more substance to the various Community lifelong training
programmes, the main purpose of which is to allow access to the information society?