Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on Promoting broad public access to the European digital library
Date: 2008-02-13
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: access to information, consultation of information, cultural transmission, digital technology, dissemination of information, information system

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Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on Promoting broad public access to the
European digital library

(2008/C 162/11)

On 16 February 2007 the European Economic and Social Committee, acting under Rule 29(2) of its Rules
of Procedure, decided to draw up an own-initiative opinion on

Promoting broad public access to the European digital library

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 23 January 2008. The rapporteur
was Ms Pichenot.

At its 442nd plenary session, held on 13 and 14 February 2008 (meeting of 13 February), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 153 votes to four, with five abstentions.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

As the 2008 launch of the European digital
the Committee's opinion aims

library (1)
1.1
approaches,
to offer broad
support to this plan to make part of our cultural, scientific and
technical heritage accessible on line. It therefore underpins the
European institutions' work on setting up a portal
for the
general public, a tool for disseminating organised knowledge in
the digital era.

institutions set

the joint efforts of

The Committee recognises

the
1.2
Commission and the Member States and welcomes the coordi-
nation of cultural
in motion by the CENL
(Conference of European National Librarians) in order to estab-
lish a foundation to group together all those institutions willing
to make their digitalised collections available. It calls on civil
society organisations at European, national and regional level to
join this far-reaching European project so as to ensure the
public is well-informed.

1.3
Civil society involvement in the development of the EDL
will prove decisive for four main reasons, justifying EESC invol-
vement:

— it will help to define relevant criteria for choosing the

content to be digitalised;

the Member States during successive presidencies. It endorses
the recent European Parliament report (2), which summed up
progress made and the next steps. The Committee has chosen to
focus this opinion on the need for civil society to get involved,
by encouraging its members to take part in the launch of the
EDL and in future developments. The emphasis should be on
user expectations and needs, so as to achieve the goal of broad
public access.

1.4.1 With regard to civil society organisations, the EESC
recommends:

— becoming involved in informing the European public as of

2008;

— devoting attention to the need to monitor user groups
testing the common portal for relevance, user-friendliness
and eAccessibility (3) for people with disabilities;

— organising a broad debate on content, in consultation with

neighbourhood libraries;

— prompting a debate in the information society on the adjust-
ment of the legal framework to make it compatible with the
digitalisation of modern intellectual, artistic and scientific
property.

— it will secure public support for the requisite funding;

1.4.2
EESC recommends:

As regards the Member States and the Commission, the

— it will encourage the participation of and new ideas from all
the stakeholders in the publishing chain and other cultural
bodies;

— establishing a steering committee for the project, open to

dialogue with civil society;

— it will promote an inclusive information society.

1.4
The Committee is aware of all that has already been
achieved by the Commission with stakeholder involvement in

(1) The European Digital Library (EDL) is a provisional name for the Euro-
pean project aimed at digitalising documents from museums, archives,
audiovisual centres and libraries, etc.

— securing financial commitments from the Member States to
enable large-scale digitalisation from a wide range of back-
grounds and media by 2010;

(2) Report on ‘i2010: towards a European digital library’ (2006/2040(INI),

by Ms Marie-Hélène Descamps, MEP, July 2007).

(3) EESC opinion on Future eAccessibility legislation (rapporteur: Mr
Hernandez Bataller), OJ C 175 of 27.07.2007; EESC opinion on Equal
opportunities for people with disabilities (rapporteur: Mr Joost), OJ C
93/08 of 27.4.2007.

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— establishing national digitalisation plans following consulta-
tion, with reference to a common document-policy charter
and with support from skills centres;

— carrying out a Community-level search for solutions to the
technical problems of multilingualism and interoperability
and with a view to working out common guidelines to
secure eAccessibility for people with disabilities;

2.1.2
This project, provisionally termed the European Digital
Library (EDL), is called a library for the sake of convenience, but
even in its communication (5), the Commission defined a broad
framework for digitalisation, calling on all institutions to take
part. The project therefore encompasses cultural, scientific and
technical knowledge, and concerns all sorts of written docu-
ments, books, sheet music, maps, sound recordings, audiovisual
recordings, magazines, photographs, etc.

— surveying user expectations, needs and practices (especially
for people with disabilities), and involving the EESC in that
process;

regard

— drawing conclusions from the analysis of national practice
with
in Directive
2001/29/EC (4) and extending the search for solutions to fill
legal
loopholes (orphan works, out-of-print works, docu-
ments of digital origin, etc.).

exceptions

contained

to

1.4.3
tions, the EESC wishes to encourage them to:

As regards economic operators and cultural

institu-

— promote broad access to recent or contemporary digital
content, accessible on the European digital library portal;

— draw up models for putting copyrighted work on-line at an

affordable price;

— take part in the digitalisation of their collections through

public-private partnerships;

— be prepared to use sponsorship to promote digitalisation;

— promote the role of public libraries in making dematerialised
content available by means of local access in situ or within
closed circuits (intranets).

2. Improving public

society in the development of
digital library (EDL)

information and involving

civil
the future European

2.1.3
The Committee agrees with the Member States in their
unanimous conclusions to the November 2006 Council meeting
that this EDL project is a flagship project, designed to promote
participation for all in the information society, and to assist the
public in their understanding of the European identity.

2.1.4
The project's second goal is to make the future EDL a
multilingual access point for all, not just a source of interest for
scientific or artistic communities, by means of a common
portal. With this in mind, the EESC invites the Commission to
improve public information so as to encourage people to get
involved with the start-up of the digital library, in particular by
providing multilingual documentation. A communication plan
should be drawn up for all the European institutions and the
Member States, starting as of the launch in November 2008.

2.1.5 Mass digitalisation will be a milestone in the history of
humanity. The debate ought therefore to cover the selection and
organisation of content and knowledge at European level. The
EESC believes that a broad debate on the conditions for mass
digitalisation should cover certain financial, technical and legal
aspects, necessary if there is to be progress towards a knowl-
edge-based society open to all:

— the financial resources needed for the digitalisation of public
assets, i.e. how to strike the right balance between the digita-
lisation of rare or fragile documents and the mass digitalisa-
tion expected by the general public;

— financial support for the publishers carrying out the digitali-
sation of their current collections and agreeing to make
them accessible on-line;

2.1 Improving public information on the future European digital

lisation and dissemination;

library

— financing from the private sector and sponsorship for digita-

2.1.1
In 2010, the on-line accessibility in Europe of cultural
assets from libraries, archives and museums will give Europeans
and people elsewhere in the world access to six million digital
documents to use for recreational, educational, professional and
research-related purposes. This quantitative goal will mark the
first stage in a large-scale digitalisation process.

— the preservation, without differentiation, of intellectual prop-

erty rights until 70 years after the death of the author;

— transparency and a collegial system for the selection for digi-
talisation of cultural content of all kinds (text, audiovisual
material, museum pieces, archives, etc.)
from the public
domain;

(4) Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights
in the information society.

(5) Communication of 30 September 2005 on i2010: Digital Libraries,

COM(2005) 465 final.

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— the need for a ‘European document policy charter’ listing the
main areas of knowledge for digitalisation; this presupposes
a Europe-wide inventory of the on-line accessibility of mate-
rial that has already been digitalised;

heritage. The involvement of civil society organisations is crucial
for four main reasons: to define common content selection
criteria,
those
to encourage all
financial support,
involved and to promote an inclusive information society.

to offer

— the possibility for authors of out-of-print works that have
not been re-published to opt for digital publication under a
simpler licence (6);

— the benefits of setting up an interactive file to assist in the
search for the holders of copyright on orphan works (7);

— the processing of scientific information (8);

— issues associated with the accessibility of Internet portals
and digitalised material for people with disabilities, particu-
larly disabilities affecting sight.

2.2 Involving civil society in the European cultural agenda in the era

of globalisation

Discussion of

2.2.1
the project so far has been the sole
preserve of specialists, reflecting the keen interest of stake-
holders (cultural
librarians, etc.)
institutions, authors, editors,
and their effective participation in the high-level group set up
by the Commission. When, in 2005, the Commission launched
its consultation, entitled ‘i2010: Digital libraries’ (9), only 7 % of
responses came from private individuals and only 14 % from
universities. There is nothing surprising about this lack of invol-
vement on the part of the general public; particularly since the
debate was launched suddenly at the end of 2004 after the
announcement of a massive digitalisation project by Google,
and since the questionnaire targeted the economic interest
groups likely to be affected by a digitalisation project.

financing from advertising,

Given the commonplace nature of free access to infor-
2.2.2
mation on the Internet, the cost of which is hidden in substan-
tial
the public is likely to be
confused when it comes to the services offered by digital
libraries. Civil society therefore has a major responsibility, parti-
cularly towards the younger generations, to take part in an
information and education campaign on the value of intellectual
and artistic work and the need to ensure it is given due respect.

To do this, the EESC recommends opening a public
2.2.4
forum in March 2008, to coincide with the launch of the proto-
to lend a voice to the associations, and educational,
type,
cultural,
family-related and socio-occupational bodies repre-
senting future users. Civil society initiatives will prove useful in
the various phases following the launch in November 2008 and
in subsequent phases of development.

The debate

should complement

2.2.5
the 2007-2010
roadmap set out in the annex to the Council conclusions and
extend it so as to ensure digitalisation continues and that better
use is made of it. The EESC welcomes with interest the invita-
tion to contact
the Civil Society Platform for Intercultural
Dialogue, which is forming a citizens' network in connection
with the digital libraries.

After

2.2.6
Intercultural
the 2008 European Year of
Dialogue, the debate may grow and lead on to a new consulta-
tion in 2009. That should enable civil society to play a part in
deciding on the longer term stages, taking into account the
European cultural agenda in the era of globalisation (10).

2.3 Encouraging the development of the future library

The EESC endorses the proposal made in the European
2.3.1
Parliament report (11), calling for the establishment of an EDL
steering committee made up of the cultural institutions involved
in EDLnet. It will oversee the project and the coordination of
national digitalisation plans. A fruitful dialogue must begin
between this steering committee and organisations representing
users, notably the EESC.

2.2.3
The EESC calls on the Commission and the Member
States to do everything within their power to involve civil
society in future developments in the digitalisation of cultural

(6) A simplified licence, such as for instance the ‘Creative Commons’

(www.creativecommons.org).

(7) High Level Expert Group Report on Digital Preservation, Orphan

Works and Out-of-Print Works (April 2007).

(8) Communication of 14 February 2007 on Scientific information in the
digital age: access, dissemination and preservation, COM(2007) 56
final.

(9) Communication of 30 September 2005 on i2010: Digital Libraries,

COM(2005) 465 final.

The EESC recognises the major guiding role of the
2.3.2
CENL,
leaning on international codification standards (biblio-
graphic notes) and the head-start made in the digitalisation of
written material. It would urge other national cultural institu-
tions, at regional and national level as well as European level, to
become involved in the coordination of EDLnet for archives,
national museums and audiovisual centres, more specifically
within the foundation set up in November 2007.

(10) Communication of 10 May 2007 on A European agenda for culture in

a globalising world, COM(2007) 242 final.

(11) Report on ‘i2010: towards a European digital library’ (2006/2040

(INI), by Ms Marie-Hélène Descamps, MEP, July 2007).

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2.3.3
On this key issue, the EESC supports the application of
Directive 2001/29/EC, which protects copyright and related
rights in the information society, particularly when it comes to
the reproduction and distribution of works. Nevertheless, in the
digital age, there are elements missing from this directive with
regard to the treatment of orphan works, procedures for digital
preservation, the status of ‘digital born’ work that originated on
the web and the absence of solutions for out-of-print work that
has not been republished.

This directive makes exceptions

for
2.3.4
specific reproductions made by libraries accessible to the public
or to educational establishments, museums or archives and for
use for the benefit of people with disabilities. As these excep-
tions are optional, use of them varies from one Member State to
the next.

in particular

2.3.5
Alongside this legal situation, the Committee recog-
nises that other issues of a technological nature contribute to
the complexity of the project. In this area, it welcomes the work
done by the Commission over a number of years to resolve the
technical aspects.
It supports the initiatives taken under the
seventh R&D framework programme and the ‘eContentplus’
programme, especially the research into interoperability and
digitalisation skills centres. Interoperability and multilingualism,
the mechanisms
through which the content of museums,
libraries and archives will be accessible on a single site, will be
among the main factors in the EDL's success.

2.3.6
National- and regional-level civil society organisations
and in particular national economic and social councils are
called upon to support the necessary investment in digitalisation
in each Member State, so as to reach a critical mass of content
and guarantee diversity. The Committee recommends that the
Member States draw on Structural Fund financing; Lithuania can
provide a good example of this.

3. Promoting broad access to the EDL by supplying

historic and contemporary well-organised content

It is rare for non-readers to be converted to reading past adoles-
cence. The challenge for the information society when it comes
to broad public access to the digital library is to make these
non-readers and occasional readers into users.

The digitalisation of cultural works and particularly of
3.1.2
scientific information (14) carries considerable potential
for
access to knowledge in the light of the concept of
lifelong
learning (15). One implication of this objective will be the need
to adapt initial and ongoing teacher training (16) to cater for this
new setting for knowledge transmission.

The expected knock-on effect of

3.1.3
this mechanism
demands research into users' expectations and practices. In the
current phase, priority has been given to written content (manu-
scripts, books, reviews and reference books) for which three
main uses have been identified: full text searches, on-line consul-
tation and off-line reading (a virtual personal library). New uses
should be tested, such as collaborative tools, platforms for anno-
tation, the hypertext enrichment of content and even multi-
media input (sound, video or animation). These new functions
serve as useful tools, not only for the dissemination of ideas but
first for the development of the thought processes behind them.

For other non-written documents, the Michael portal (a
3.1.4
inventory of European cultural assets) has since
multilingual
to various digital collections of
2007 been giving access
museums,
libraries and archives previously dispersed around
Europe. A number of local, regional and national cultural insti-
tutions have thus made their collection descriptions available.
The project initially covered the United Kingdom, France and
Italy but will eventually take in 15 other Member States, offering
new cultural tourism services. This portal, known as ‘Michael
Culture’, is part of a foundation set up in November 2007 to
bring together and manage all the cultural institutions involved
in the project.

The EESC recommends setting up a ‘usage observatory’
3.1.5
to study the full range of possibilities and practices. The attrac-
tion of the EDL will lie not just in its wealth of content, but
also in the dissemination of new practices for
intellectual
exchange and in openness to research themes. The Committee
hopes to become involved in the work of the EDLnet users'
working group.

3.1 Taking into account the expectations and needs of users (12)

3.2 Promoting an all-inclusive digital society, in particular by making

arrangements for people with disabilities (17)

The EESC believes that this exceptional juncture in the
3.1.1
digitalisation process must be used as a powerful
to
promote social and territorial cohesion (13). More specifically,
the Committee recommends taking account of the expectations
of
the different generations in digital supply and means of
access so as to facilitate links and the passing-on of information.

tool

(12) The user is not just a passive client, but views him or herself as an
active user with a role in defining the service expected and its evalua-
tion.

(13) EESC opinion on Future eAccessibility legislation, OJ C 175 of

27.7.2007, p. 91.

3.2.1
In line with the ministerial declaration made in Riga in
June 2006 on new technologies in an inclusive society, care
should be taken to ensure that the EDL does not increase differ-
ences between average Internet use and Internet use by older

(14) European Council Conclusions on scientific information.
(15) EESC opinion on the Proposal for a Recommendation of the European
the Council on key competences for lifelong

Parliament and of
learning (rapporteur: Ms Herczog), OJ C 195 of 18.8.2006.

(16) EESC opinion on Improving the quality of

teacher education
(rapporteur: Mr Soares), adopted on 16 January 2008 (CESE 1526/
2007 fin).

(17) Commission awareness-raising campaign submitted to the Council on
inclusiveness in the information society: ‘e-Inclusion, be part of it!’.

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people, people with disabilities or vulnerable people. In recent
exploratory opinions, the Committee set out some measures
designed to secure e-accessibility, not least involving the Euro-
pean Social Fund.

sought to reduce the ‘black hole of the 20th and 21st centu-
ries’ (18) in relation to the issue of copyrighted works. It drew up
proposals in April 2007 to facilitate access to orphan works
and out-of-print works and to promote digital conservation.

The digitalisation and on-line availability of documents
3.2.2
from libraries, archives and museums across Europe are unparal-
leled tools for
the accessibility of people with disabilities.
However, a complicated design, inappropriate format or inade-
quate protection measures could prevent that access.

3.2.3
The 2001 directive states explicitly that exceptions to
the principles of copyright may be allowed for people with
disabilities (e.g. the blind and partially sighted, and people with
physical or mental disabilities).

Achieving the objective of mass digitalisation accessible
3.3.4
to the general public means inventing a new economic model,
ensuring fair distribution between authors, publishers and
service providers. Internet surfers have the right to expect access
to a reasonably priced pay-service. The Committee would
in the publishing chain to
encourage economic operators
actively negotiate and secure solutions (19). Publishers, authors
and booksellers have a responsibility to make consumers an
attractive offer, so as to nurture this new market and avoid the
risk of pirating and counterfeit, while respecting the positions of
the various players.

To give access to this cultural heritage, the Internet
3.2.4
portal of the future EDL and the associated national portals
must be designed from the outset in such a way as to be acces-
sible to disabled people by means of specific technical mechan-
isms.

3.2.5
Although technological protection mechanisms against
pirating can often be circumvented by those in the know, they
are nevertheless effective barriers to ordinary users. To this end,
the EESC recommends that technological protection measures
take issues of accessibility and interoperability into account
from the design stage, so as to enable the reading tools used by
people with disabilities, such as voice synthesisers, to be used to
read digital texts.

3.3.5
They advise that with regard to works covered by copy-
right, subject to agreement with copyright holders, users could
be enabled to access short extracts or to flick through books
virtually by means of specialist sites. Beyond that, to access the
copyrighted document in its entirety, the web surfer would be
directed towards private operators,
including the traditional
library network, where various options would be proposed at
an affordable price, recognising the need to recompense copy-
right holders. The Committee would encourage copyright
holders to sign up to these new formulae.

In order to encourage this pay-service at an affordable
3.3.6
price, it is important that Member States extend reduced VAT on
books and other publications to publications in an electronic
format.

3.3 Broadening the supply of content already available with contem-

porary or recent documents

3.3.1
In autumn 2008, a portal will appear with two million
works, photographs or maps, copyright-free, accessible on line
and downloadable free of charge. This will make a priceless
contribution, particularly for documents that are rare, precious
or out of print. However,
in the long run, access cannot be
limited to the supply of such historic documents with no rele-
vance to the modern day.

3.3.2
The EDL's original brief was also to offer users contem-
porary or recent documents that are still in copyright, on the
same portal as documents not subject to copyright.

A high level expert group was set up by the Commis-
3.3.3
sion to look into ways of providing access to recent works. This
committee, made up of representatives from publishing houses,
national libraries, audiovisual sector professionals and archives,

3.3.7 With a view to promoting more open licences and
thus adding to the contemporary content available, a recent
Committee opinion (20)
recommends that proper protection
should be granted at Community level for authors and artists
who opt for a simpler licence. While making their work acces-
this should also give them guarantees
sible free of charge,
rights and offer protection against
concerning their moral
abusive commercial use.

3.3.8
The Committee recommends that the Commission take
the initiative and devise new licences so as to eventually
decouple digital publication rights from rights collected for
publication on paper.

(18) This expression was used by Commissioner Viviane Reding when

speaking to the EESC on 12 December 2007.

(19) Study by Denis Zwirn, Numilog (April 2007) with a view to devising
an economic model for the participation of publishers in the European
Digital Library.

(20) EESC opinion on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parlia-
ment and of the Council on rental right and lending right and on
certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property
(codified version), OJ C 324 of 30.12.2006, pp. 7–8.

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In 2007,

3.3.9
the Commission conducted an in-depth
comparative study (21) of national rights regarding the transposi-
tion of the directive on copyright and related rights (22). The
the conclusions
Committee will be taking a close look at
reached by this report with a view to improving European
harmonisation.

3.5.2
The EESC recommends that in the post-2010 develop-
ment phase of the EDL each Member State should donate a
selection of its works of literature in other languages, so as to
contribute to the promotion of a European cultural identity and
respond to diversity.

3.4 Responding to the need for organised knowledge

4. Promoting and modernising the role of public libraries

within an on-line accessibility system

3.4.1
As we begin the 21st century, faced with a torrent of
Internet information with no specific references and of uncer-
tain authenticity, the European project's trump card will be to
select content so as to secure objectivity and plurality, orga-
nising and classifying knowledge, and offering standard format
in order to retain clarity in the profusion of information. The
ability to respond with finesse, quality and relevance to users'
questions and their searches will depend on the development of
search engines, in conjunction with improved coordination of
digital knowledge at European level.

3.4.2
For access to organised collections, the EESC would
stress the potential benefit of testing the prototype launched in
March 2007 as a joint endeavour between institutions in France,
Hungary and Portugal. This European matrix, validated by
experts, is the basis for a European digitalisation corpus, contri-
buting to the next stage in the EDL. Furthermore, this prototype
is open to all search engines and should make searches easier by
using standard questionnaires to enable surfers to express and
target their requests.

3.5 Securing cultural and linguistic diversity

4.1
The EESC recommends supporting the role of public
libraries, as a means of securing local access in a globalised
system. The circulation of cultural assets has taken on a world-
wide, multimodal dimension, which works well
if the public
have the material means necessary to access this considerable
resource. Public libraries are local cultural facilities that still offer
equal access to the greatest number. Libraries must retain a role
in making dematerialised content available, with a view to social
inclusion.

4.2
In the chain that leads from the author to the reader via
the bookseller, lending libraries and multimedia libraries have
proved their worth in passing on organised knowledge and
offering the public access to cultural products. These local facil-
ities must continue to fulfil this role for dematerialised content.
It
is therefore appropriate to promote specific contracts or
licences that encourage these establishments in their dissemina-
tion task without creating imbalances (24).

4.3
It is a matter of importance that the digitalisation of the
public domain of national cultural institutions should take place
in consultation with local
libraries and archive centres. The
lending library users, a non-specialist public,
expectations of
must be taken into account when decisions are made regarding
content exempt
for
public diversity.

from copyright, demonstrating respect

3.5.1
The EESC would stress the unique role on the world
stage of this multilingual library (23) as a fundamental tool for
preserving and harnessing cultural diversity. With its exceptional
cultural heritage and major output of content, Europe must play
a key role in the digitalisation of knowledge at world level, in
accordance with the UNESCO convention on cultural diversity.
Thanks to the dissemination of European languages worldwide,
accessibility will be useful
to both Europeans and non-
Europeans seeking access to world heritage and the sources of
their own culture in Europe.

(21) Study on the transposition and effect on the legislation of the Member
States of Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of certain
aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society
(ETD/2005/IM/DI/91).

(22) The duration of copyright has been extended to 70 years following the

death of the author and 50 years for related rights.

(23) EESC opinion on the Communication from the Commission to the
Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions — A New Framework
Strategy for Multilingualism, OJ C 324 of 30.12.2006, p. 68.

4.4 Devising economic models for the purchase and availability to the

public of digitalised contemporary works

4.4.1
Lending libraries buy materials (books, CDs, sheet
music, language learning material, etc.) and make them available
to their users free of charge or for a minimal sum, for a limited
time, ensuring that money does not systematically obstruct
access to them. A new economic model
for dematerialised
content is needed to respond to the expectations of library and
multimedia library users and must be tailored to their practices.
In addition,
lending libraries are major buyers of current
content, and have a direct grip on up-to-date information and
cultural and technical products. They must be involved in
defining this new economic model.

(24) See Recital 40 of the 2001 Directive on copyright in the information

society.

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The spread of dematerialised content,

4.4.2
in particular
when it is the product of digitalisation, must not be allowed to
prevent lending libraries from pursuing their educational role.
Economic and technical models for the circulation of digitalised
content must therefore take into account the role of lending
libraries and enable them to continue in that role, in the context
of closed circuits (intranets) and as part of the lending service to
library members.

4.5 Ensuring service users have local access

Lending libraries

4.5.1
should be able to supply their
members with local access to dematerialised content through
in the same way as for material
closed circuits (intranet)
content;
i.e. with computer work stations, printers, software,
high-speed connections, assistance and coaching. The initial and

on-going training given to librarians and the organisation of
their work must from now on take dematerialised content into
account.

4.6 Organising events and coaching for access to digitalised and

dematerialised content for the general public

In the absence of training and information, the general
4.6.1
public tend to view PCs, which are increasingly common fixtures
in homes, as sources of multimedia recreation, unaware of the
cultural, educational, teaching and information resources avail-
able on the Internet. In the same way that lending libraries use
events to offer all ages an active interface with books and
reading, they must take responsibility for coaching and events
on dematerialised content.

Brussels, 13 February 2008.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on an Energy mix in transport

(2008/C 162/12)

In a letter dated 19 March 2007 the European Commission asked the European Economic and Social
Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to draw up an explora-
tory opinion on an:

Energy mix in transport.

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 18 December 2007. The rapporteur
was Mr Iozia.

At its 442nd plenary session, held on 13 — 14 February 2008 (meeting of 13 February), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 130 votes to 11 with 8 abstentions.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

— promoting environmental

sustainability and combating

climate change.

1.1
The Committee is pleased to respond to the request from
the Commission Vice-President and Commissioner responsible
for Transport, Jacques Barrot, to draw up an opinion on the
energy mix in transport, being convinced of the need to build
up an on-going dialogue between the Commission and the
Committee, representing organised civil society.

The Committee agrees with the conclusions of the spring

1.2
Council, which highlighted the following priorities:

— increasing security of supply,

— ensuring the competitiveness of European economies and

the availability of affordable energy,

1.3
Guideline policies for the most appropriate energy mix
must, therefore, be based on these priorities, as already put into
practice by the Commission in its communication on fuel
targets 2001-2020.

1.4 While believing that oil will remain the main transport
fuel for many years to come, and that natural gas — also a non-
renewable resource — will be able to supplement and partly
replace oil-based products, the EESC considers a sharp increase
in funding for research into the production and use of hydrogen
therefore
and second-generation agro-fuels

to be vital.

It