Information society discussed at Joint Industry/Telecommunications Council
The Joint Industry/Telecommunications Council met for the first time on 28 September 1994. The Joint Council was established in response to the suggestion made by the European Council in Corfu that each Member State designate a person responsible for the information society.The Council examined the Commission's action plan for the information society, as outlined in the Commission communication of 19 July 1994, and adopted conclusions on the importance of future structural changes.The Ministers discussed the social and cultural aspects of the information society, and, in particular, the possibility of accelerating the liberalization of the telecommunications infrastructure. Mr. Bangemann warned against a two-speed Europe, where countries lagging behind in telecommunications infrastructure would attract fewer private investments and less Community funding due to a lack of innovative projects. The Commission agreed to present a first part of the Green Paper on the principles of liberalization before 1 November 1994, enabling the Council to agree on the time-scale for liberalization at its next meeting on 17 November 1994.The Commission informed the Council on the state of preparation of the G7 conference on the information society, which will take place on 25-26 February 1995 in Brussels. The conference will discuss the problems highlighted in the Bangemann report, as well as aspects concerning the regulatory framework, competition, the development of infrastructure, and social and cultural elements.The Council discussed the Commission's annual report concerning information and telecommunications technologies, and electronics. This report has already been favourably received by the Ministers for Industry in the 12 Member States.