WRITTEN QUESTION P-0268/02 by Giles Chichester (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Preparation for the European Council meeting in Barcelona.
Date: 2002-02-01
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Council, access to information, communications policy, information, information technology, new technology, public service, transmission network

18.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 172 E/171

The Action Plan identifies key measures in 11 priority areas. Targets in the field of education are covered
by the priority area ‘European youth into the digital age’.

The follow-up of the implementation of the eEurope targets is based on the benchmarking of national
progress according to a set of indicators agreed by the Council of Ministers. Indicators related to ‘youth in
the digital age’ focus on the level of penetration and usage of computers and the Internet in schools.

The data are collected via annual Eurobarometer sample surveys in the 15 Member States. Two
Eurobarometer surveys were carried out in this context between February and May 2001, covering
headteachers and teachers respectively. The main results are presented in a Communication on eEurope
2002 benchmarking which was adopted by the Commission on 5 February 2002 (1). A more in-depth
analysis of benchmarking results in the field of education can be found in a Commission staff working
document of 2 October 2001 (2).

The 2001 surveys pointed at a diversity of situations and approaches regarding the development and usage
patterns of computers and the Internet from one Member State to another. However, the surveys suggested
that the development of new technologies is a priority in all Member States. Furthermore, overall figures
were encouraging, suggesting that Member States were in a position to meet the eEurope target of
providing all schools in the Union with access to the Internet and multimedia resources by the end of
2001.

The situation regarding access to multimedia resources in May 2001 was as follows:

0 almost all Union schools (94 %) used computers for education: 12 Member States were above 90 % of

schools equipped with computers for educational use;

0 about nine out of 10 Union schools (89 %) had an Internet connection: 10 Member States were above

90 % of on-line schools;

0 however, pupils did not have access to the Internet in all schools that were on-line: they had access to

on-line computers in 80 % of Union schools.

Updated figures will be made available by the Spring of 2002 based on a second series of surveys to be
carried out in February 2002.

(1) COM(2002) 62.
(2) SEC(2001) 1583.

(2002/C 172 E/180)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0268/02

by Giles Chichester (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 February 2002)

Subject: Preparation for the European Council meeting in Barcelona

The 2000 Lisbon European Council called on ‘the Member States to ensure generalised electronic access to
main basic public services by 2003’. Does the Commission believe this target will be met, and what
evidence can it point to to support its view?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(4 March 2002)

Commission and Council integrated this call and the other requests made by the European Council in
Article 11 of the Presidency conclusions of Lisbon (on 23-24 March 2000), into the eEurope 2002 action
plan (1). The action plan was subsequently adopted at the Feira European Council (on 19-20 June 2000)
and contained 64 targets with clear deadlines, such as the one quoted in the Honourable Member’s
question.

C 172 E/172

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

To determine whether this target can be met, first of all the term ‘main basic public services’ had to be
defined. The Commission therefore proposed a list of 20 basic public services, 12 for citizens and eight for
businesses, which was approved by the Internal Market Council in November 2001. As a follow-up, an
open call for tenders has been launched to measure the availability of these public services online. The
terms of reference for this call stated explicitly that a four-stage-model, developed by the Dutch Economic
Institute, had to be used to assess the degree of online sophistication. Level 1 is information only; stage 2
is when forms can be downloaded and submitted online; stage 3 full processing of forms including
authentication and stage 4 secure online transactions. These are translated into percentages and averages
across the 20 services.

First results of this survey have been presented by the consultants at the eGovernment conference of
29-30 November 2001 in Brussels, which was organised jointly by the Commission and the Belgian
Presidency. The consultants have drawn a representative sample of more than 10 000 local, regional and
federal administrations of which 7 400 had a web site and were surveyed. Results for each of the
20 services can be found in the full report (2). The survey showed that about a half of basic public services
is already made available online, although this mostly only means that forms can be downloaded from
websites. It also indicated that services provided by a single administrative unit have higher levels of online
service delivery whereas services provided by decentralised local agencies are less well developed.

The Commission concluded from this that good progress has been made in Member States with regard to
the target. However, more needs to be done to achieve a higher level of interactivity and eventually full
electronic delivery of the service. This will require important back office reorganisation to deal with
complex transactions at a single-entry point for citizens and businesses. Provided this happens, the
Commission believes that the target set was an ambitious one, but that Member States overall are on track
with the realisation of the target.

(1) COM(2000) 330 final.
(2) http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/news_library/documents/bench_online_services.doc.

(2002/C 172 E/181)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0272/02

by Roger Helmer (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 February 2002)

Subject: Preparation for the European Council meeting in Barcelona

The 2000 Lisbon European Council called on the Council and the Commission, together with the Member
States where appropriate to ‘take steps to remove obstacles to the mobility of researchers in Europe by
2002 and to attract and retain high-quality research talent in Europe’. What steps have been taken? Will
this target be met? How is the Commission monitoring progress?

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(14 March 2002)

Following the Lisbon European Council of 23-24 March 2000, the Commission convened a High Level
Group consisting of representatives of the Member States from July 2000 to April 2001. In its report (1),
the Group identified the main obstacles likely to hinder the intra-European and international mobility of
researchers as well as a series of good practices implemented in the Member States to remedy this. The
Group also identified specific lines of action to be taken in the short and medium term. On the basis of
this work, the Commission adopted in June 2001 a mobility strategy for the European Research Area (2)
which it presented to Parliament and the Council. This strategy is aimed at creating a favourable
environment for the mobility of researchers through a series of practical initiatives. It was endorsed by the
Council in its resolution of 10 December 2001 (3).