Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the "Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on eEurope 2003 Final Report" (COM(2003) 66 final)
Date: 2003-06-18
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU action, Internet, information network, information policy, information technology

C 220/36

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

16.9.2003

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Communication from the
Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and
the Committee of the Regions on eEurope 2003 Final Report’

(COM(2003) 66 final)

(2003/C 220/08)

On 11 February 2003 the European Commission decided to consult the European Economic and Social
Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-
mentioned communication.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 5 June 2003. The rapporteur was
Mr Koryfidis.

At its 400th plenary session on 18 and 19 June 2003 (meeting of 18 June), the European Economic and
Social Committee adopted the following opinion, with 75 votes in favour and one abstention.

1.

Introduction

1.1.
In December 1999, the European Commission laun-
ched its initiative to build the digital Europe of the 21st century
with its Communication entitled ‘Europe — An information
society for all’.

The initiative was motivated by ‘the growing realisation
1.2.
that the application of digital technologies has become the key
factor for growth and employment, the evidence that a new
economy or e-economy is emerging, mainly driven by the
Internet, and the fact that, in spite of Europe’s lead in certain
digital technologies, e.g. mobile communications and digital
TV,
the uptake of computers and the Internet in Europe
remains comparatively low’.

1.3.
Accordingly, and after substantial discussions with the
European institutions, the eEurope 2002 Action Plan was
proposed by the Commission and approved by the Feira
European Council in June 2000. The Action Plan also formed
part of the Lisbon strategy.

1.4.
The Action Plan provided for 11 action areas in which
there were a total of 64 targets to be achieved before the end
of 2002.

1.5.
According to the present Commission Communi-
cation, progress towards achieving these targets has been
monitored regularly through the benchmarking exercise based
on a list of 23 sector- specific indicators, while intermediate
these indicators were presented in the
measurements of
Commission Communications
in
March 2001 and ‘eEurope Benchmarking Report’ of February
2002.

‘Impacts and Priorities’

1.6.
The present Final Report on the eEurope programme
‘highlights the achievements of eEurope and identifies remain-
ing obstacles to the full development of the information
society in Europe’.

1.7.
The new eEurope 2005 Action Plan, which follows on
from eEurope 2002, constitutes the next stage and is already
underway.

2. The Final Report

2.1.
According to the present report by the Commission,
‘in terms of realising the targets endorsed at the Feira European
Council, eEurope has been a major success. Most of the
64 targets have been achieved.
Its success is due to the
contributions of many actors in the European Institutions,
Member States, Industry and Social Partners’.

2.2.
In the words of the report, the success of eEurope
chiefly lies in the fact that it has ‘laid solid foundations’ for
achieving the prime objective of ‘a competitive knowledge
based economy’.

In this context it should be pointed out that achieving
2.2.1.
this prime objective will
require time, modernisation of
relevant practices, restructuring of economic conduct and
organisational changes if substantial benefit is to be derived
from the new technologies.

The specific results for each objective may be summar-

2.3.
ised as follows:

2.3.1. 1 s t o b j e c t i v e : a

c h e a p e r

a n d f a s t e r

I n t e r n e t — r e s u l t s

— The marginal costs of Internet access for a PC owner have

become small.

— GEANT has become the fastest research network back-
bone in the world, offering the widest geographical
coverage (32 countries).

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— The new regulatory framework for electronic communi-

3. General comments

cations is almost entirely in place.

2.3.2. 2 n d o b j e c t i v e :

i n v e s t i n g

i n p e o p l e

a n d s k i l l s — r e s u l t s

In its opinion on the eEurope Action Plan, the EESC

3.1.
made the following observations:

— More than 90 % of schools and 90 % of businesses are

now connected to the Internet.

— Over half of EU teachers have been formally trained in
the use of computers and four in ten in how to use the
Internet.

— The proportion of the working population receiving
computer training increased from 23 % to 29 % between
2000 and 2001 but this increase did not continue in
2002.

— ESDIS issued a recommendation for the European Com-
puter Driving Licence (ECDL) to be accepted as a Europe-
wide basic IT accreditation scheme.

— There has been an agreement reached by the social

partners on teleworking.

— About 8 % of EU citizens use public Internet access

points.

— The European Employment Strategy has already incorpor-
ated responsibility for achieving the goal of ‘an infor-
mation society for all’,
including policies to combat
e-exclusion, particularly of people with special needs.

2.3.3. 3 r d o b j e c t i v e : s t i m u l a t i n g t h e u s e o f

t h e I n t e r n e t — r e s u l t s

— The legal framework for developing e-commerce is almost
entirely in place, while non-legislative initiatives have
been taken to stimulate its use, such as the e-confidence
initiative, the e-commerce webpage etc.

— The Go Digital programme has already achieved consider-
able progress in getting SMEs online through the training
support it provides them, as well as financial assistance
for Internet connection and continued use thereof.

— Government on-line is a partial reality, with significant

differences between countries.

— All Member States have drawn up detailed plans to
implement information technology in the provision of
healthcare, while the majority (78 %) of EU general
practitioners are connected to the Internet.

Observation 1: ‘The ESC welcomes the eEurope initiative and
considers it to be the most important and ambitious effort by
the European Union to date to familiarise its citizens with and
adapt its businesses and its public bodies as rapidly as possible
to the new conditions created by the digital age and the new
economy. In the Committee’s view, this initiative is more than
a starting point for that familiarisation and adaptation process,
however; it is a buttress for the relevant processes that are
already developing, though slowly,
in the market and in
society’.

‘The ESC is adamant that all the measures
Observation 2:
relating to stimulating Internet use, establishing an information
society and achieving the Union’s new strategic goal should
focus on people and their needs,
the European citizen,
European society and the European economy. Provided it
serves that principle, the establishment of the information
society — as an antecedent to the knowledge-based society —
will acquire real significance’.

Observation 3: ‘The ESC is aware of the scale and number of
problems associated with the development of the action plan.
In particular, the Committee foresees difficulties in covering
the ground and gaps that have opened up as a result of
Europe’s tardy response to the new technological challenges’.

Observation 4: ‘For the ESC, the risk of individuals, groups or
entire regions being excluded from the overall initiative is great
and manifold, given that non-computerised access to universal
services will gradually become obsolete as the provision of
computer-based services develops. For this reason, the ESC
agrees with those who support the view that the programme
as a whole and the individual measures should include means
of combating these risks’.

Observation 5: ‘In the ESC’s view, in the final analysis, the
implementation of the action plan will be judged largely in
terms of organisation. It is precisely on this level that the ESC
agrees broadly with the Commission’s approach. It agrees in
principle with the objectives as they are set out, the means of
tying them in with the demands of the special European
Council in Lisbon, the definition of the measures and of the
operators with responsibility for carrying them out, and the
deadlines set’.

2.3.4.
The coordination and promotion of the eEurope
Action Plan has mainly been through the relevant Commis-
sion website: http://europa.eu.int/information–society/inde-
x–en.htm

3.2.
These and other observations by the EESC, in conjunc-
tion with the Final Report and other Commission documents
on the eEurope 2002 programme, have led the Committee to
the following conclusions:

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3.2.1.
Action Plan has largely achieved its objectives.

Despite the inherent difficulties it faced, the eEurope

3.2.2.
Of course, this does not mean that Europe has taken
full advantage of the new digital age. But it does mean that the
foundations are in place to reap the potential benefits, which
are clearly not just economic in nature.

3.2.2.1.
Therefore the prospects for reaping the benefits of
the digital age hinge on the choices and actions taken from
here on in, always as part of a process to achieve the EU’s
relevant strategic goal in the present decade.

3.2.2.2.
On this point, the EESC would reiterate its earlier
position, strongly emphasising the need to create more
favourable conditions for the development of eLearning at all
levels of education.

Based on the data given in the Final Report, the
3.2.3.
results mentioned under the 1st objective (cheaper, faster and
secure Internet) may be considered satisfactory. The doubling
of household Internet penetration, the new institutional frame-
work and the reduction of access costs are certainly positive
developments. Nevertheless, there is clearly a need for further
reductions in access costs, certainly in broadband network
environments.

3.2.3.1.
Equal public participation in the information
society is very closely linked with the existence of an advanced
network infrastructure, of a high quality, capacity and perform-
ance. It must be rationally developed and costed, in order to
provide easy, secure and continuous access to the international
knowledge- and business-based economy, at a reasonable
price, without false restrictions. There is an urgent need for
measures, therefore, to increase the possibility of access for
citizens, groups of citizens or regions of the EU which are
lagging behind to a significant degree.

3.2.4.
Particular attention should be focused on enhancing
the prerequisites for achieving the 2nd objective (investment
in people and skills). All the data points to an urgent need to
intensify efforts, both as regards education and human
resources currently at working age.

Brussels, 18 June 2003.

3.2.4.1.
The serious shortfall in the digital training of the
labour force (29 % in 2002) is already making it very difficult
to achieve the strategic goal by the end of the decade.

3.2.4.2.
Doubling the proportion of the labour force under-
going digital training may certainly provide new impetus for
achieving the above-mentioned goal. The social partners, and
particularly the business community, are undoubtedly a key
factor in promoting such a policy. But at the same time,
administrations at all levels have a fundamental responsibility
for the shaping and integrated development of the institution
of lifelong learning, which is increasingly bound up with the
EU’s broad objectives, especially that of sustainable develop-
ment.

3.2.5.
Stimulating the use of the Internet (3rd objective) is
essential if the new benefits of the digital age are to become
apparent. With considerable differences from country to
country and from north to south, it is fair to say that the
results achieved on the 3rd objective are unsatisfactory.

The EESC realises the difficulties involved and the
3.2.5.1.
importance of the time factor in promoting all these changes.
However,
it would emphasise the need to intensify efforts,
support and pressure on the Member States — particularly
those who are lagging behind — to speed up the pace of
the
development
preconditions for achieving the Lisbon strategic objective by
2010.

in the areas in question and to meet

3.2.6.
Aware of the difficulties involved in developing the
open method of coordination, the EESC stresses the need for
more detailed and more objective integrated and ongoing
benchmarking of the whole process.

3.2.6.1.
The preceding point is not intended to cast doubt
on the effort made by the Commission, which is, on the
contrary, commendable. Its purpose is to highlight the need
to create a more friendly and functional environment for
developing the open method of coordination.

3.2.6.2.
The EESC considers it a major omission that there
is no mention in the Report of the cost of the eEurope 2002
programme, even on an objective-by-objective basis. It would
emphasise that, in the interests of inter alia disseminating good
practice, this kind of benchmarking exercise should include a
record of both the amount of funding available for each
country and for each area of action, and the way Community
funds are managed.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger BRIESCH