eEurope+ conference gets underway in Slovenia
A conference on the progress of the eEurope+ action plan in the EU candidate countries began in Slovenia on 3 June. The two-day event, hosted by Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen and Slovenian minister Pavel Ganfar, brings together around 40 ministers or deputies representing all 13 candidate countries, several EU Member States and the countries of south east Europe, as well as delegates from the private sector and academia. The eEurope+ action plan, launched by the Prime Ministers of the EU candidate countries at the Gothenburg European Council in June 2001, aims to support the enlargement process by modernising the economies of the Candidate States, and boosting competitiveness and social cohesion. A first progress report on the implementation of the eEurope+ action plan in the candidate countries will be presented at the conference. The European Commission says the report, based on data collected by the candidate countries, shows that clear commitments have been made to further develop the information society in these countries. At present, the candidate countries have high rates of telephone and mobile penetration rates and action is being taken to implement the relevant EU acquis, particularly in telecommunications and e-commerce. There are also ambitious programmes for computers in schools and progress has been made on e-government. However, the cost of Internet access still varies widely, PC costs are often prohibitive for home users and little data is yet available on areas such as e-commerce. The ministerial conference will examine these developments and look ahead to the next phase of eEurope+. It will also examine a number of key issues such as trust and security, participation for all, local services, the information infrastructure and the knowledge-based economy.