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Subject: Rec to the EU Council Europe and the GII -- sorry for the format but ..
.. djf
RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL
EUROPE AND THE GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY
_________________________________________________________________
Members of the High-Level Group on the Information Society
Martin Bangemann
Enrico Cabral da Fonseca
Peter Davis
Carlo de Benedetti
Pehr Gyllenhammar
Lothar Hunsel
Pierre Lescure
Pascual Maragall
Gaston Thorn
Candido Velazquez-Gastelu
Peter Bonfield
Etienne Davignon
Jean-Marie Descarpentries
Brian Ennis
Hans-Olaf Henkel
Anders Knutsen
Constantin Makropoulos
Romano Prodi
Jan Timmer
Heinrich von Pierer
_________________________________________________________________
EUROPE AND THE GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY
RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL
In its Brussels meeting of December 1993, the European Council
requested that a report be prepared for its meeting on 24 - 25 June
1994 in Corfu by a group of prominent persons on the specific measures
to be taken into consideration by the Community and the Member States
for the infrastructures in the sphere of information.
On the basis of this report, the Council will adopt an operational
programme defining precise procedures for action and the necessary
means.
Brussels, 26 May 1994
_________________________________________________________________
Contents
Chapter I: The information society - new ways of living and working
together
* A revolutionary challenge to decision makers
* Partnership for jobs
* If we seize the opportunity
* A common creation or a still fragmented Europe ?
* What we can expect for...
* The social challenge
* Time to press on
* An Action Plan
* New markets in Europe's information society
Chapter II: A market-driven revolution
* A break with the past
* Ending monopoly
* Enabling the market
* Towards a positive outcome
Chapter III: Completing the agenda
* Protection of intellectual property rights (IPR)
* Privacy
* Electronic protection (encryption), legal protection and security
* Media ownership
* The role of competition policy
* Technology
Chapter IV: The building blocks of the information society
* The opportunity for the Union - strengthening its existing
networks and accelerating the creation of new ones
* New basic services are needed
* Blazing the trail - ten applications to launch the information
society
Application One: Teleworking
Application Two: Distance learning
Application Three: A network for universities and research
centres
Application Four: Telematic services for SMEs
Application Five: Road traffic management
Application Six: Air traffic control
Application Seven: Healthcare networks
Application Eight: Electronic tendering
Application Nine: Trans-european public administration network
Application Ten: City information highways
Chapter V: Financing the information society a task for the private
sector
Chapter VI: Follow-up
An Action Plan - summary of recommendations
_________________________________________________________________
This Report urges the European Union to put its faith in market
mechanisms as the motive power to carry us into the Information Age.
This means that actions must be taken at the European level and by
Member States to strike down entrenched positions which put Europe at
a competitive disadvantage:
* it means fostering an entrepreneurial mentality to enable the
emergence of new dynamic sectors of the economy
* it means developing a common regulatory approach to bring forth a
competitive, Europe-wide, market for information services
* it does NOT mean more public money, financial assistance,
subsidies, dirigisme, or protectionism.
In addition to its specific recommendations, the Group proposes an
Action Plan of concrete initiatives based on a partnership between the
private and public sectors to carry Europe forward into the
information society.
_________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 1
THE INFORMATION SOCIETY -
NEW WAYS OF LIVING AND WORKING TOGETHER
A revolutionary challenge to decision makers
Throughout the world, information and communications technologies are
generating a new industrial revolution already as significant and
far-reaching as those of the past.
It is a revolution based on information, itself the expression of
human knowledge. Technological progress now enables us to process,
store, retrieve and communicate information in whatever form it may
take - oral, written or visual - unconstrained by distance, time and
volume.
This revolution adds huge new capacities to human intelligence and
constitutes a resource which changes the way we work together and the
way we live together.
This revolution adds huge new capacities to human intelligence
and.... changes the way we work together and the way we live
together.
Europe is already participating in this revolution, but with an
approach which is still too fragmentary and which could reduce
expected benefits. An information society is a means to achieve so
many of the Union's objectives. We have to get it right, and get it
right now.
Partnership for jobs
Europe's ability to participate, to adapt and to exploit the new
technologies and the opportunities they create, will require
partnership between individuals, employers, unions and governments
dedicated to managing change. If we manage the changes beforeus with
determination and understanding of the social implications, we shall
all gain in the long run.
Our work has been sustained by the conviction expressed in the
Commission's White Paper, Growth, Competitiveness and Employment,
that "...the enormous potential for new services relating to
production, consumption, culture and leisure activities will create
large numbers of new jobs...". Yet nothing will happen
automatically. We have to act to ensure that these jobs are created
here, and soon. And that means public and private sectors acting
together.
If we seize the opportunity
All revolutions generate uncertainty, discontinuity - and
opportunity. Today's is no exception. How we respond, how we turn
current opportunities into real benefits, will depend on how quickly
we can enter the European information society.
In the face of quite remarkable technological developments and
economic opportunities, all the leading global industrial players are
reassessing their strategies and their options.
A common creation or a still fragmented Europe?
The first countries to enter the information society will reap the
greatest rewards. They will set the agenda for all who must follow.
By contrast, countries which temporise, or favour half-hearted
solutions, could, in less than a decade, face disastrousdeclines in
investment and a squeeze on jobs.
Given its history, we can be sure that Europe will take the
opportunity. It will create the information society. The only
question is whether this will be a strategic creation for the whole
Union, or a more fragmented and much less effective amalgam of
individual initiatives by Member States, with repercussions on every
policy area, from the single market to cohesion.
The only question is whether this will be a strategic creation for
the whole Union, or a more fragmented and much less effective
amalgam of individual initiatives by Member States.
What we can expect for...
* Europe's citizens and consumers:
A more caring European society with a significantly higher
quality of life and a wider choice of services and entertainment.
* the content creators:
New ways to exercise their creativity as the information society
calls into being new products and services.
* Europe's regions:
New opportunities to express their cultural traditions and
identities and, for those standing on the geographical periphery
of the Union, a minimising of distance and remoteness.
* governments and administrations:
More efficient, transparent and responsive public services,
closer to the citizen and at lower cost.
* European business and small and medium sized enterprises:
More effective management and organisation, access to training
and other services, data links with customers and suppliers
generating greater competitiveness.
* Europe's telecommunications operators:
The capacity to supply an ever wider range of new high
value-added services.
* the equipment and software suppliers; the computer and consumer
electronics industries:
New and strongly-growing markets for their products at home and
abroad.
The social challenge
The widespread availability of new information tools and services
will present fresh opportunities to build a more equal and balanced
society and to foster individual accomplishment. The information
society has the potential to improve the qua-lity of life of Europe's
citizens, the efficiency of our social and economic organisation and
to reinforce cohesion.
The information society has the potential to improve the quality
of life of Europe's citizens, the efficiency of our social and
economic organisation and to reinforce cohesion.
The information revolution prompts profound changes in the way we
view our societies and also in their organisation and structure. This
presents us with a major challenge: either we grasp the opportunities
before us and master the risks, or we bow to them, together with all
the uncertainties this may entail.
The main risk lies in the creation of a two-tier society of have and
have-nots, in which only a part of the population has access to the
new technology, is comfortable using it and can fully enjoy its
benefits. There is a danger that individuals will reject the new
information culture and its instruments.
Such a risk is inherent in the process of structural change. We must
confront it by convincing people that the new technologies hold out
the prospect of a major step forward towards a European society less
subject to such constraints as rigidity, inertia and
compartmentalisation. By pooling resources that have traditionally
been separate, and indeed distant, the information infrastructure
unleashes unlimited potential for acquiring knowledge, innovation and
creativity.
Mastering risks, maximising benefits
Thus, we have to find ways to master the risks and maximise the
benefits. This places responsibilities on public authorities to
establish safeguards and to ensure the cohesion of the new society.
Fair access to the infrastructure will have to be guaranteed to all,
as will provision of universal service, the definition of which must
evolve in line with the technology.
A great deal of effort must be put into securing widespread public
acceptance and actual use of the new technology. Preparing Europeans
for the advent of the information society is a priority task.
Education, training and promotion will necessarily playa central
role. The White Paper's goal of giving European citizens the right to
life-long education and training here finds its full justification.
In order best to raise awareness, regional and local initiatives -
whether public or private - should be encouraged.
Preparing Europeans for the advent of the information society is a
priority task. Education, training and promotion will necessarily
play a central role.
The arrival of the information society comes in tandem with changes
in labour legislation and the rise of new professions and skills.
Continuous dialogue between the social partners will be extremely
important if we are to anticipate and to manage the imminent
transformation of the work place. This concerted effort should
reflect new relationships at the work place induced by the changing
environment.
More detailed consideration of these issues exceeds the scope of this
Report. The Group wishes to stress that Europe is bound to change,
and that it is in our interest to seize this opportunity. The
information infrastructure can prove an extraordinary instrument for
serving the people of Europe and improving our society by fully
reflecting the original and often unique values which underpin and
give meaning to our lives.
At the end of the day, the added value brought by the new tools, and
the overall success of the information society, will depend on the
input made by our people, both individually and in working together.
We are convinced that Europeans will meet this challenge.
Time to press on
Why the urgency? Because competitive suppliers of networks and
services from outside Europe are increasingly active in our markets.
They are convinced, as we must be, that if Europe arrives late our
suppliers of technologies and services will lack the commercial
muscle to win a share of the enormous global opportunities which lie
ahead. Our companies will migrate to more attractive locations to do
business. Our export markets will evaporate. We have to prove them
wrong.
Tide waits for no man, and this is a revolutionary tide, sweeping
through economic and social life. We must press on. At least we do
not have the usual European worry about catching up. In some areas we
are well placed, in others we do need to do more - but this is also
true for the rest of the world's trading nations.
The importance of the sector was evident by its prominence during the
Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations. This importance is destined to
increase.
We should not be sceptical of our possibilities for success. We have
major technological, entrepreneurial and creative capabilities.
However, the diffusion of information is still too restricted andtoo
expensive. This can be tackled quickly through regulatory reforms.
Public awareness of the technologies has hitherto been too limited.
This must change. Political attention is too intermittent. The
private sector expects a new signal.
Political attention is too intermittent. The private sector
expects a new signal.
An Action Plan
This Report outlines our vision of the information society and the
benefits it will deliver to our citizens and to economic operators.
It points to areas in which action is needed now so we can start out
on the market-led passage to the new age, as well as to the agents
which can drive us there.
As requested in the Council's mandate, we advocate an Action Plan
based on specific initiatives involving partnerships linking public
and private sectors. Their objective is to stimulate markets so that
they can rapidly attain critical mass.
In this sector, private investment will be the driving force.
Monopolistic, anticompetitive environments are the real roadblocks to
such involvement. The situation here is completely different from
that of other infrastructural investments where public funds are
still crucial, such as transport.
This sector is in rapid evolution. The market will drive, it will
decide winners and losers. Given the power and pervasiveness of the
technology, this market is global.
The market will drive ... the prime task of government is to
safeguard competitive forces....
The prime task of government is to safeguard competitive forces and
ensure a strong and lasting political welcome for the information
society, so that demand-pull can finance growth, here as elsewhere.
By sharing our vision, and appreciating its urgency, Europe's
decision-makers can make the prospects for our renewed economic and
social development infinitely brighter.
New markets in Europe's information society
Information has a multiplier effect which will energise every
economic sector. With market driven tariffs, there will be a vast
array of novel information services and applications:
* from high cost services, whose premium prices are justified by
the value of benefits delivered, to budget price products
designed for mass consumption;
* from services to the business community, which can be tailored to
the needs of a specific customer, to standardised packages which
will sell in high volumes at low prices;
* from services and applications which employ existing
infrastructure, peripherals and equipment (telephone and cable TV
networks, broadcasting systems, personal computers, CD players
and ordinary TV sets) to those which will be carried via new
technologies, such as integrated broadband, as these are
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