Rec to the EU Council Europe and the GII -- sorry for the format but .... djf

[David Farber <farber () linc cis upenn edu>]

                    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
       installed.