WRITTEN QUESTION E-0741/01 by Giles Chichester (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Research and development.
Date: 2001-03-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, EU research policy, research and development, research body

C 318 E/112

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.11.2001

(2001/C 318 E/117)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0735/01

by Roy Perry (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(9 March 2001)

Subject: High-speed trans European communications network

The 2000 Lisbon European Council called on the Council and the Commission, together with the Member
States where appropriate to (cid:145)facilitate the creation by the end of 2001 of a very high-speed trans European
network for electronic scientific communications, with EIB support,
linking research institutions and
universities, as well as scientific libraries, scientific centres and, progressively, schools.(cid:146) Does the
Commission believe that this target will be met, and what evidence can it supply to support its view?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(1 June 2001)

The major action leading to the creation of an high performance network for research in Europe was the
launching of the G(cid:201)ANT backbone for research in Europe,
in November 2000, in the context of the
Information Society Technologies (IST) Programme (with a Community contribution of € 80 millions for
a total estimated cost of € 200 millions).

G(cid:201)ANT increases the geographic coverage of Europe(cid:146)s internet backbone for research from 24 to 30
countries, and increases its capacity by a factor of 16 times to that provided by the previous 155 Megabits
per second (Mbit/s) technology. In fact, it is expected that in November 2001, 2,5 Gigabits per second
(Gbps) connectivity will be installed between eleven countries.

Such a European development matches, and complements the developments taking place at national level
through the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs). This backbone interconnects all NRENs
of the Community and Associated Countries which are also being significantly and continuously upgraded
and which are responsible for bringing research and education institutions connected. G(cid:201)ANT has set up
a working group that investigates how funds from the European Investment Bank (EIB) could be used for
the further upgrade of the European or national backbone networks.

The Commission is also supporting advanced trans-European scientific testbeds favouring the deployment
very high speed (beyond Gigabits) communications and GRID technology. In this respect the e.g. Datagrid
project (lead by the European centre of nuclear research (CERN) and with a Community contribution of
€ 10 millions) deploys a testbed linking the most advanced high energy physics institutes in Europe with
the most advanced technology on high performance computing and networking.

Testbeds on GRIDs and G(cid:201)ANT are a major support to the eEurope initiative and constitute essential
infrastructures for the European Research Area, in line with the objectives set by the European Council.

(2001/C 318 E/118)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0741/01

by Giles Chichester (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(9 March 2001)

Subject: Research and development

The 2000 Lisbon European Council called on (cid:145)the Council and the Commission, together with the Member
States where appropriate, (cid:133) to map by 2001 research and development excellence in all Member States in
order to foster the dissemination of excellence.(cid:146) Does the Commission believe this target will be met, and
what evidence can it provide to support its view?

13.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 318 E/113

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(8 May 2001)

Following the resolution of the Research Council of 15 June 2000 inviting the Commission to map
scientific and technological excellence in all the Member States by the end of 2001, the Commission, with
the help of a group of representatives appointed by the Member States, undertook to establish the
objectives and expected results of the exercise.

On the basis of discussions with the said group, supplemented by expert consultations, the Commission
produced a working paper (1) setting out the methodology to be applied and a timetable for the exercise.
This was sent to Parliament and the Council on 12 March 2001.

In the first phase, the exercise will be limited to mapping ten or so emerging scientific and technological
fields spread over the areas of Life sciences, Nanotechnologies and Economics. An expert panel will be set
up for each of these fields to help the Commission characterise the field by keywords and identify best
research capacity, initially on the basis of surveys. In parallel with this, a bibliometric analysis will be
launched to identify competent and excellent entities on the basis of objective data. The experts(cid:146) findings
should be available in October 2001, while the bibliometric study will produce its first results at the end of
2001. The two sets of results will be compared and consolidated at the beginning of 2002.

The exercise will be conducted in such a way that the majority of areas of science and technology of
relevance to the Community are mapped by the end of 2002.

(1) SEC(2001) 434.

(2001/C 318 E/119)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0742/01

by Giles Chichester (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(9 March 2001)

Subject: Unbundling the local loop

The 2000 Lisbon European Council called on (cid:145)the Member States, together with the Commission, to work
towards introducing greater competition in local access networks before the end of 2000 and unbundling
the local loop in order to help bring about a substantial reduction in the costs of using the Internet.(cid:146)
Following the adoption of the Regulation on this matter in December 2000, does the Commission
consider that the local loop is now fully unbundled in all Member States, and what cost reductions in
Internet use have been achieved as a result?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(7 June 2001)

Following the Lisbon European Council in March 2000, the Parliament, the Council and the Commission
engaged in an intensive process of co-operation which resulted in the rapid adoption of the Regulation
(EC) No 2887/2000 of the Parliament and the Council of 18 December 2000 on unbundled access to the
local loop (1) This legislation was necessary to achieve competition in the local access network.

It is the task of the Commission to monitor the effective application of the Regulation in the Member
States so as to ensure that it takes effect in a timely and efficient manner.

first and foremost,

the National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) have a significant role in the
But
implementation process. Their tasks and responsibilities are clearly listed in the Regulation and the
effective application of the Regulation is a top priority in the Member States. In addition, the complexity of
ensuring that the Regulation takes full effect should not be underestimated. The Commission recognises
this complexity, which requires careful consideration of all issues by the NRAs, and, while monitoring the
situation closely, the Commission does not expect its full effects to be immediate.