Council Resolution on industrial aspects of the Information Society
The Council of Ministers of the European Union has adopted a Resolution on the industrial aspects for the EU in the development of the Information Society. The Council considers the challenge of the Information Society as a major political priority for the Union. In its Resolution, the Council stresses that meeting the challenge effectively will help create employment, improve the quality of life, increase the competitiveness of Europe's production system and increase economic and social cohesion in the Union. In particular, the Council underlines the importance of information and communication technologies for the competitiveness of economic activities. The Council notes that the expansion of information and communications technologies in the Information Society will depend on developments in the following areas: - New applications; - Public communications networks; - Business communications; - Supplying of users. It, therefore, calls on the European Commission to: - Promote the development of information and communications technologies in industry, with particular attention to SMEs, when drawing up policies, strategies and actions, as well as when implementing the R&D framework programme; - Conduct a study of the effects of the Information Society on the competitiveness of the various sectors of economic activity; - Propose appropriate initiatives to contribute to improving the position of European industry in the world context and consider such initiatives as part of a policy accompanying the liberalization of telecommunications in the Union; - Pursue initiatives which contribute to promoting the content industry and the new information services, taking account of their implications for industry in general; - Examine the various pilot projects and other experiments, already under way at European and Member State level, on the development of the Information Society, and encourage the dissemination of their results and of best practice; - Take account, in current and future R&D framework programmes, of priorities based on the results of studies carried out in this context, and which promote industrial development to the greatest extent; - Consider the potential offered by joint action at the European and Member State level for encouraging closer cooperation between European enterprises, especially SMEs, and increasing work on standardization to facilitate the rapid introduction of new services and access to and exchange of information; - Continue to analyze the obstacles and legal and regulatory implications connected with the development of an open competitive environment. The Council has further requested the Commission to report, during 1996, on the actions it envisages to take at European Union level in order to respond to the challenge of the Information Society.