2001/48/EC: Council Decision of 22 December 2000 adopting a multiannual Community programme to stimulate the development and use of European digital content on the global networks and to promote linguistic diversity in the information society
Date: 2000-12-22
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU programme, information network, interactive network, international relations, multilingualism, new technology

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II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 22 December 2000

adopting a multiannual Community programme to stimulate the development and use of European
digital content on the global networks and to promote linguistic diversity in the information
society

(2001/48/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 157(3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),

Having regard to the opinion of
Regions (4),

the Committee of

the

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

The evolution towards an information and knowledge
society should influence the life of every citizen in the
European Union by, inter alia, affording new means of
gaining access to knowledge and new ways of acquiring
knowledge.

The Lisbon Summit stressed the need to bridge the
digital divide in the emerging information society and to
strengthen social cohesion.

Digital content plays a predominant role in this evolu-
tion. Four million Europeans are currently employed in
the content sector. Content production has given rise to
rapid job creation in recent years and continues to do
so. Most of these jobs are created in small emerging

(1) OJ C 337E, 28.11.2000, p. 31.
(2) Opinion delivered on 14.12.2000 (not yet published in the Official

Journal).

(3) Opinion delivered on 29.11.2000 (not yet published in the Official

Journal).

(4) Opinion delivered on 14.12.2000 (not yet published in the Official

Journal).

companies. This will radically change the conditions of
access to knowledge or acquisition of it, and thus consti-
tutes an essential asset for economic growth, enterprise
and employment, and enhancing the professional, social
and cultural development, and the creativity and innova-
tive capacity of the citizens of Europe now and in the
future.

The economic and social potential of the development
of digital content extends to the culture, education,
training and leisure sectors.

The structures and business environment of the content
industries are changing fast.

Respect for intellectual property and labelling of works
are preconditions for increased distribution and exploita-
tion of digital content on global networks.

There are numerous barriers to the full development of
the European content industries and markets.

The Bonn ministerial declaration, issued at the confer-
ence of 6 to 8 July 1997 on the role of global networks
for the information society, devotes special interest to
the Internet commercial developments, thus forming the
basis for the continuing discussions on Internet content,
management issues and electronic commerce.

On 8 December 1999 the Commission adopted the
eEurope initiative which was subsequently welcomed by
Member States at the Helsinki European Council of 10
and 11 December 1999.

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

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(10)

The Council has underlined, in its conclusions adopted
on 17 December 1999 (1) on culture industries and
employment in Europe, that progress in communication
technology and the information society has substantially
increased the number of distribution channels, which
has boosted demand for new programme content.

(20)

(11) On 23 and 24 March 2000 the European Council in
Lisbon specifically recognised the role of the content
industries in creating added value by exploiting and
networking European cultural diversity.

(12)

(13)

Community actions undertaken concerning the content
of information should respect the Union's multilingual
and multicultural character and encourage initiatives that
facilitate access to digital information in the languages of
present and candidate countries.

The interim evaluations of the INFO2000 programme
established by Council Decision 96/339/EC (2) and the
multilingual information society initiative (MLIS) estab-
lished by Council Decision 96/664/EC (3) call
for a
vigorous follow-up of the actions in the area of digital
content and linguistic and cultural diversity.

(14) Measures should be taken encouraging participation of
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in informa-
tion society developments.

(15)

The different rates of development on the provision and
use of information services as well as of new communi-
cation techniques and the related content in the present
Member States and in the candidate countries deserve
special consideration, having regard to the internal cohe-
sion of the Community and the risks associated with a
two-tier information society. The presence of content in
different languages promotes equality of access for citi-
zens to the information society and reduces discrim-
ination.

(16)

The Commission has published in January 1999 a Green
Paper on public sector information in the information
society,

launching a European debate on this topic.

(17) Access to information originating in the public sector
must respect the particular obligations of those authori-
ties and the need to protect
the confidentiality of
personal data as provided for in Directive 95/46/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council (4).

(18)

(19)

The use of public sector information should respect
provisions set by Member States on property rights of
digitised material.

The removal of barriers to access to public sector infor-
mation should be encouraged, inter alia, by encouraging
the exchanges of best practices.

(1) OJ C 8, 12.1.2000, p. 10.
(2) OJ L 129, 30.5.1996, p. 24.
(3) OJ L 306, 28.11.1996, p. 40.
(4) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.

Since the objectives of the proposed actions cannot be
sufficiently achieved by the Member States due to the
transnational character of the issues at stake and can,
therefore, by reason of the European scope and effects of
the actions be better achieved at Community level, the
in accordance with
Community may adopt measures,
the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the
Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportion-
ality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go
beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those
objectives.

(21) Any content policy action should be complementary to
other ongoing Community initiatives, and be performed
in synergy with actions under
the fifth framework
programme for research and development, the frame-
work programme for culture, the media programmes,
with Community education actions, SME actions, with
the Structural Funds, with the eEurope action plan and
the risk capital action plan.

(22)

(23)

Complementarity and synergy with related Community
initiatives and programmes should be ensured by the
Commission through appropriate coordination mecha-
nisms.

to developments

Progress of this programme should be continuously and
systematically monitored with a view to adapting it,
where appropriate,
in the digital
content market. In due course there should be an inde-
pendent assessment of the progress of the programme
so as to provide the background information needed in
order to determine the objectives for subsequent content
policy actions. This interim assessment report should be
submitted in time to allow corrective actions in the
second phase of the programme. At the end of this
programme, there should be a final assessment of the
results obtained and a report to the European Parliament
as to the future content policy and success/impact of
this programme in achieving the objectives set out in
this Decision.

(24)

It may be appropriate to engage in international
cooperation activities with international organisations
and third countries for the purpose of implementing this
programme.

(25) A financial reference amount, within the meaning of
point 34 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May
1999 between the European Parliament, the Council and
the Commission (5), is included in this Decision for the
entire duration of
thereby
affecting the powers of the budgetary authority as they
are defined by the Treaty.

the programme, without

(5) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.

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(26)

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down
the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers
conferred on the Commission (1),

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

The financial reference amount for the implementation of
2.
the programme for the period mentioned in paragraph 1 shall
be EUR 100 million.

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary
authority within the limits of the financial perspective.

An indicative breakdown of expenditure is given in Annex II.

Article 1

Article 4

A multiannual programme ‘European digital content for the
global networks’ (hereinafter referred to as ‘eContent’) is hereby
adopted.

The programme has the following objectives:

(a) helping to stimulate the use of and access for all to the
Internet by increasing the availability of European digital
content on the global networks to support the professional,
social and cultural development of the citizens of the Euro-
pean Union and facilitating the economic and social inte-
gration of nationals of the applicant countries into the
information society;

(b) stimulating access to and use of European digital content
potential and especially promoting more effective use of
information held by the public sector;

(c) promoting cultural diversity and multilingualism, especially
in the languages of the European Union, in digital content
on the global networks and increasing the export oppor-
tunities of European content firms, and in particular SMEs,
through cultural and linguistic customisation;

(d) creating favourable conditions for the reduction of market
fragmentation and for the marketing, distribution and use
of European digital content on the global networks to
stimulate economic activity and enhance employment
prospects.

Article 2

In order to attain the objectives referred to in Article 1, the
following actions shall be undertaken under the guidance of
the Commission, in accordance with the action lines set out in
Annex I and the means for implementing the programme set
out in Annex III:

(a) improving access to and expanding use of public sector

information;

(b) enhancing content production in a multilingual and multi-

cultural environment;

(c) increasing dynamism of the digital content market.

The Commission shall be responsible for the implementa-
1.
the programme and its coordination with other
tion of
Community programmes. The Commission shall draw up a
work programme every two years on the basis of this Decision.

2.
In the implementation of the programme, the Commis-
sion shall, in close cooperation with the Member States, ensure
general consistency and complementarity with other relevant
Community policies, programmes and actions that impinge
upon the development and use of European digital content and
the promotion of linguistic diversity in the information society.

The Commission shall act in accordance with the proce-
the

3.
dure referred to in Article 5(2)
following:

for the purposes of

(a) adoption of the work programme;

(b) determination of the criteria and content of calls for the
proposals, in line with the objectives outlined in Article 1;

(c) assessment of

the projects proposed under calls

for
proposals for Community funding of an estimated amount
of Community contribution equal
to, or more than
EUR 700 000;

(d) any departure from the rules set out in Annex III;

(e) acceptance of participation in any project by legal entities
from third countries and international organisations other
than those mentioned in Article 7(1) and (2).

4. Where the amount of the projects referred to in point
3(c) is less than EUR 700 000, the Commission shall merely
the
inform the committee established by Article 5(1) of
projects and the outcome of their assessment. This threshold
can be reviewed in the light of experience at the end of two
years from the date of publication of this Decision.

The Commission shall inform the committee of progress with
the implementation of the programme as a whole on at least a
half yearly basis.

Article 5

Article 3

1.

The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.

1.
The programme shall cover a period of four years from
the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

2. Where reference is made to this point, Articles 4 and 7 of
Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at three months.

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Article 6

1.
In order to ensure that Community aid is used efficiently,
the Commission shall ensure that actions under this Decision
are subject to effective prior appraisal, follow-up and subse-
quent evaluation.

2.
their
During implementation of projects and after
completion the Commission shall evaluate the manner in
which they have been carried out and the impact of their
implementation in order to assess whether the original objec-
tives have been achieved.

The selected beneficiaries shall submit an annual report to

3.
the Commission.

to the European Parliament,

After two years from the date of publication of this
4.
Decision and at the end of the programme, the Commission
shall submit
the
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the
Regions an evaluation report on the results obtained in imple-
menting the action lines referred to in Article 2. The Commis-
sion may submit, on the basis of those results, proposals for
adjusting the orientation of the programme.

the Council,

The programme shall be open to participation of appli-

2.
cant countries on the following basis:

(a) those from central and eastern Europe (CEECs), in accord-
ance with the conditions established in the Europe Agree-
ments, in their additional protocols, and in the decisions of
the respective Association Councils;

(b) Cyprus, Malta and Turkey,

in accordance with bilateral

agreements to be concluded.

Participation may be opened,

in accordance with the
3.
procedure referred to in Article 5(2), without financial support
by the Community from the programme, to legal entities estab-
lished in third countries and to international organisations,
where such participation contributes effectively to the imple-
mentation of
the
principle of mutual benefit.

the programme and taking into account

Article 8

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 7

Done at Brussels, 22 December 2000.

1.
Participation in the programme may be opened to legal
entities established in EFTA States which are members of the
European Economic Area (EEA) in accordance with the provi-
sions of the Agreement on the EEA.

For the Council

The President

C. PIERRET

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ANNEX I

ACTION LINES

The action lines are a means to implement a European approach to the development of the digital content industries.
They will contribute to the strategic objectives of the eContent programme, that have been defined as follows:

— helping to stimulate the use of and access for all to the Internet by increasing the availability of European digital
content on the global networks to support the professional, social and cultural development of the citizens of the
European Union and facilitating the economic and social integration of nationals of the applicant countries into the
information society,

— stimulating access to and use of European digital content potential, especially promoting more effective use of

information held by the public sector,

— promoting cultural diversity and multilingualism, especially in the languages of the European Union,

in digital
content on the global networks and increasing the export opportunities of European content firms and in particular
SMEs through cultural and linguistic customisation,

— creating favourable conditions for the reduction of market fragmentation and for the marketing, distribution and use
of European digital content on the global networks to stimulate economic activity and enhance employment
prospects, safeguarding cultural diversity, optimising the European heritage and facilitating access to knowledge.

The three action lines of the new programme are strongly intertwined. Thus, linguistic aspects are essential for the
cross-border exploitation of public sector information, facilitating access to capital for Internet start-ups is fundamental
for the language industries, public sector information is an opportunity to be used by Internet firms in collaboration with
public sector bodies, strategic views to be elaborated in close collaboration between the public and the private sectors will
help identify emerging priority areas, etc.

The eContent programme aims at supporting projects that fulfil the aims expressed above and present some common
features. They should be:

— an instrument against the barriers that prevent, at European level, the establishment and functioning of the single

market in the areas they address,

— high risk — high reward projects,

— cross-sectoral and transnational, and

— scalable and act as multipliers,

— user-orientated.

Application of existing technology (state of the art) will be required for the projects.

1.

IMPROVING ACCESS TO AND EXPANDING USE OF PUBLIC SECTOR INFORMATION

The Green Paper on public sector information in the information society, published in January 1999, triggered a
discussion at European level on the issues of access to and exploitation of public sector information. This discussion
has contributed to raising awareness in this field among public and private parties and may be an important basis for
improving the conditions of the exploitation in Europe of content with a high added value in educational, cultural,
social and professional terms and for the development of new multimedia goods and services, while safeguarding
wide access to it. At the same time, experiments of public/private partnerships based on the principle of mutual
benefit, started under the INFO2000 programme, should be accelerated and expanded. Furthermore, participation of
European Union applicant countries in the initiatives of this action line will facilitate future integration. A better
management of information (for example in the field of land registers, cultural heritage, or multilingual access to
public sector information) is of vital importance in these countries for creating a transparent legal framework as well
as the functioning of the internal market after accession.

1.1. Experiments in concrete projects

The public sector collects and produces vast amounts of information, much of which is of interest to individuals and
businesses, and which can be the raw material for value-added information services produced by the content
industries. There are however, many barriers for the transformation of this potential
into usable products and
services. These barriers lead to uncertainties, which in turn result into a lack of investment from both the public and
the private sectors, degrading the level of services for users. Projects that can be used as examples of good practices
and that will allow to identify practical problems in public/private partnerships, will help to redress this situation.
These projects, while safeguarding wide access to information in a multiplicity of languages on the global networks,
will foster public-private partnerships, serving as catalysts to further developments in this field.

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Preliminary actions have started under the INFO2000 programme, that supported a limited number of pilot and
demonstration projects. Given the huge potential of this domain, experiments with public-private partnerships,
aimed at the exploitation of public sector information with a European interest, will continue. Within this action line
the use of language technology applications will be promoted among the administrations in Member States, and the
European Union institutions.

Projects will address the main barriers hampering the development of a single market in public sector information,
such as the possible need for common standards (for example in collecting methods), or the need for transparent
pricing for public information access and use in the various Member States. This will be achieved in areas of public
interest, such as cultural heritage, health or education applications, but also of more commercial interests, such as
geographic information, business, environment, or tourism.

Application of different and emerging technologies (e.g. mobile applications) will be encouraged.

Furthermore, there will be room within this action line for projects forging links between the content industries and
public sector bodies in the candidate countries, increasing the availability of reliable information of the public sector
for business and citizens.

1.2. Establishment of European digital data collections

The pilot-projects as described in point 1.1 usually cover a limited geographical area within Europe. The presence on
the global networks of information collected and held by the public sector in the form of consistent datasets shared
between a large number of European countries will have to be stimulated. The absence of complete datasets at
European level constitute indeed one of the barriers to the exploitation of the content potential. Therefore, in
addition to the experimental projects, the establishment of European data collections will be stimulated, through
financial support, to work on pan-European metadata for public sector information and through projects collecting
information covering a significant number of European Union Member States. This work will be conducted in
accordance with Community law provisions regarding data protection.

An example would be a project linking and harmonising the formats of the repositories of the national mapping
agencies.

Interest and commitment of public and private parties will be decisive for selecting the type of data and the areas to
be covered, as well as the contribution of such projects to the achievement of public interest objectives, inter alia, in
cultural, educational and social fields.

2.

ENHANCING CONTENT PRODUCTION IN A MULTILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

Adequate support for multilingual and cross-cultural information provision and access is a key enabler for the
development of a European mass market for on-line products and services, and for a wider deployment of European
content in other regions. The technological aspects of this process are well covered within the fifth framework
programme. RTD activities, however, do not address the fundamental issue of turning technological advances into
enhanced business capabilities and market penetration,

including new export opportunities.

The programme will promote and support actions aimed at encouraging cooperation in the European content and
language industries, thus helping to improve the competitive positions of both sectors. These actions constitute a
natural follow-up to the actions carried out under the precursor MLIS programme, adapted to the needs of an
increasingly digital and global environment. Special attention will be given to SMEs and start-ups, user aspects and to
less widely spoken European Union languages and the languages of accession countries.

Demonstration and infrastructure projects will be complemented by targeted accompanying actions aimed at
documenting best practice, promoting exchanges and increasing awareness, and achieving cross-fertilisation of
industrial, professional and national activities in the field.

2.1. Fostering new partnerships and the adoption of multilingual and multicultural strategies

The overall aim of this sub-line is to foster competitiveness and provide improved market opportunities for
European content and language businesses, in particular innovative SMEs and start-ups, thus enhancing Europe's
multilingual and multicultural presence on the global networks. Participants in these actions may be:

— commercial content players (creators, designers, packagers and distributors) who intend to enhance their

offerings (e.g. web portals, mobile services) and penetrate new markets,

— corporate content players who intend to establish or strengthen their presence on the e-commerce scene (e.g.

web marketing and retailing).

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Such actions are expected to encompass, for example:

— projects addressing the multilingual exploitation of public sector information, in continuity with action line No 1,

— projects connecting the knowledge in the areas of cultural creation, education, marketing and technology.

Private and public-sector content providers and distributors will be stimulated to make their products and services
available in a broader range of languages, throughout the design, authoring and publishing chain. IT vendors and
telecom operators will be encouraged to provide platforms and delivery channels enabling multilingual information
access and delivery of content meeting the cultural requirements of the target communities. The providers of
language services will be encouraged to adapt their offerings to match an expanding customer base in the content
industries.

It should be noted that the language issues are particularly relevant when taking into account expansion in
geographical coverage of the programme in the central and eastern European countries.

2.2. Strengthening the linguistic infrastructure

The availability of an adequate linguistic infrastructure is a prerequisite for the timely and cost-effective creation,
customisation and exploitation of multilingual content. It is the structural basis for any sustained internationalisation
and localisation effort, especially for less widely spoken languages where market forces often provide insufficient
incentives. Strengthening Europe's linguistic infrastructure implies establishing an open framework comprising
interoperable multilingual resources encompassing for example multilingual glossaries and ontologies, translation
memories and terminology collections, and the associated tools such as computer assisted translation. These
resources must be pooled together to yield widely accessible repositories which can then be exploited by content
providers and distributors, and by suppliers of language services.

This sub-line shall

include broadly-based efforts geared towards:

— l a n g u a g e c e n t r e s : networking of regional, national and subject/discipline specific data centres, coupled with
user-friendly search aids, on-line referral and brokerage services, user advice and testing of language tools,
framework agreements and technical standards enabling private and public sector stakeholders to share and reuse
existing and upcoming resources,

— e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n w i t h I T t o o l s : integration and field testing of Internet-based software tools in the areas of
content localisation management and workflow; collaborative production, use and maintenance of distributed
language repositories; and cross-lingual search and gathering of digital content,

— n e w r e s o u r c e s : creation and transnational distribution of new datasets for those languages and subject areas
where no suitable resources exist and market forces have provided insufficient incentives to address the issue.

Projects and other actions established under the last point will address as a matter of priority less widely spoken
European Union languages and the languages of the accession countries. Specific actions geared towards the
languages of major European Union trade partners may be undertaken where justified in terms of Community
interest and export potential. In addition, adequate support will be provided for collaborative industrial training, with
a view to addressing the current and foreseeable shortage of specialist skills.

3.

INCREASING THE DYNAMISM OF THE DIGITAL CONTENT MARKET

Fragmentation in the digital content market and the resulting uncertainties for marketplayers tend to lead to inertia
and underinvestment. This has a negative impact on economic growth and employment. Support for the develop-
ment of a common vision, access to available forms of investment capital and a unified European approach to trade
rights on-line for multimedia production are therefore needed to speed up new initiatives and investments and to
improve the overall environment for players in the digital content markets.

3.1. Bridging the gap between digital content industries and capital markets

Content industries experience specific difficulties in accessing investment capital necessary to develop new digital
content applications and increase their innovative capacity. Corrective actions are needed to improve access to
investment capital in order to bring out the full potential and improve business opportunities of European digital
content industries in terms of valorisation of the European cultural heritage, business models, innovative applica-
tions, mobile multimedia, etc. These actions will complement other Community programmes as well as national
initiatives in accordance with the subsidiarity principle.

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In order to encourage the exchange of information and best practice, the focus of these actions will be on supporting
the dissemination of expertise present in business universities and training centres and in the new economy in
matters such as management and administrative skills, as well as deploying distance-learning facilities. Activities will
have an experimental character, searching for new ways of bringing together ideas and funds.

3.2. Rights trading between digital content market players

The trading of rights between rightholders, producers of new digital services and products and players from other
parts of the value chain is essential to the development of content industries. The effectiveness and efficiency of the
multimedia rights clearance have a strong and direct impact on the functioning of the content industries. The
integration and interoperation of distributed specialised clearance services at European level was stimulated under
INFO2000 through feasibility studies, prototype, standards and pilot system development. Further support is needed
to arrive at a unified European rights clearance approach.

The focus of future actions will be on extending multimedia rights clearance pilots, on supporting the creation of
multimedia rights clearance centres in Europe and on specific measures to support candidate countries, less advanced
sectors and specific public sector applications.

3.3. Developing and sharing a common vision

A vision of future developments shared by both private and public parties will reduce uncertainties and speed up
concrete initiatives and investments. Continuous interaction between market players and public parties will be of
increasing importance as a key mechanism to foster the evolution of the vision-building process. The regular and
consistent observation of the converging content and languages market developments in close contact with market
players will constitute the information basis needed to update the vision building process.

The focus of actions will be on defining and collecting relevant statistical data, on identifying and promoting
European best practices and on developing and updating a continuous benchmarking with third countries.

The programme execution will be supported by actions aiming at the dissemination of the results (e.g. publications,
worldwide websites, conferences
showcasing projects) and strategic studies highlighting emerging market
phenomena.

ANNEX II

INDICATIVE BREAKDOWN OF EXPENDITURE

1. Improving access to and expanding use of public sector information

2. Enhancing content production in a multilingual and multicultural environment

3. Increasing the dynamism of the digital content market

40 % to 45 %

40 % to 45 %

10 % to 15 %

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ANNEX III

THE MEANS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMME

1. The Commission will implement the programme in accordance with the technical content specified in Annex I.

2. The programme will be executed through indirect actions and wherever possible on a shared-cost basis.

3. The selection of shared-cost projects will normally be based on the calls for proposals procedure published in the
Official Journal of the European Communities. The content of the calls for proposals will be defined in close consultation
with the relevant experts and according to the procedures referred to in Article 5 of the Decision. The main criterion
for supporting projects through calls for proposals will be their potential contribution to achieving the objectives of
the programme.

4. Applications for Community support should provide, where appropriate, a financial plan listing all the components of
the funding of the projects, including the financial support requested from the Community, and any other requests for
or grants of support from other sources.

5. The Commission may also implement other more flexible funding schemes than the call for proposals in order to
provide incentives for the creation of partnerships, in particular involving SMEs and organisations in less favoured
regions, or for other exploratory activities in different segments of the multimedia content market. These schemes
might be operated on a permanent basis.

6. The detailed arrangements for the procedures referred to under point 3 will be implemented after consultation of the
committee referred to in Article 4 of this Decision, following the rules of Article 5 of this Decision, in accordance with
the Financial Regulations. They will be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

7. Projects fully financed by the Commission within the framework of study and services contracts will be implemented
through calls for tenders in accordance with the financial provisions in force. Transparency will be achieved by
publishing the work programme and circulating it to interested bodies.

8. For the implementation of the programme the Commission will also undertake preparatory, accompanying and
support activities designed to achieve the general objectives of the programme and the specific aims of each action
line. This includes activities such as: studies and consultancy in support of the programme; preliminary actions in
preparation of future activities; measures aimed at facilitating participation in the programme as well as facilitating
access to the results produced under the programme; publications and activities for the dissemination, promotion and
exploitation of results: brochures, electronic publications (CD-ROMs, DVD, web presence, etc.), participation at
exhibitions, preparation of press-related material, etc.; analysis of possible socioeconomic consequences associated with
the programme; and support activities such as spreading the use of digital content standards, and encouraging skills
development at European level.

9. All projects receiving financial support under the programme will be required to display an acknowledgement of the

support received on the products.