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Michel Barnier, the Commissioner responsible for regional policy, today presented the results of an evaluation showing that the structural funds make a major contribution to promoting the information society. The study estimates that between 2000 and 2006 some Euro 10 billion, or 7.3% of the Structural Funds, will go to measures in this field. This means that the EU is making important contribution to the achievement of the objectives set by the Member States in Lisbon in 2000, especially the e-Europe initiative.

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The European Regulators Group (ERG) which is comprised of the Member States’ National Regulatory Authorities in the field of telecoms, held its third meeting on 28 March 2003 in Brussels. The Group is established by the New Electronic Communications Package that is due to be implemented by the Member States by end of July this year (see IP/02/259, IP/02/1553, IP/02/1171 and IP/03/119).

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A vacancy notice for the position of executive director of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (2004/c 79 a/01) on 30 March. Copies of this notice, an application form, and further information on the new Agency itself are available from the ENISA website.

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Requirements to make information and communication technology (ICT) goods and services accessible to elderly and disabled people should be laid down in public procurement contracts. So say 90% of the 500 respondents (public agencies, ICT goods and service suppliers, universities, business associations and user groups) to the Commission’s January 2005 public consultation on the need for “eAccessiblity” measures (see IP/05/14). Stakeholders also say that EU institutions should take the lead in proposing these measures (88%), that ICT goods and services need to be made more fully interoperable (74%), and that technical requirements should be harmonised within and beyond the EU for this purpose (84%). It is less clear how these requirements should be enforced. Although there is clear support for some form of product certification or a “labelling” scheme (72%), stakeholders are fairly evenly divided on whether this scheme should be voluntary, mandatory, and/or rely on self-certification with checks. Commission proposals will be set out in a Communication scheduled for September 2005.

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The European Commission published on 31 March a study which examines the scientific publication system in Europe. Scientific publication ensures that research results are made known, which is a pre-condition for further research and for turning this knowledge into innovative products and services. Scientific publication is also an important part of certifying the quality of the work done. Given the scarcity of public money to provide access to scientific publications, there is a strong interest in seeing that Europe has an effective and functioning system for scientific publication that speedily delivers results to a wide audience. The report, drawn up for the Commission by a panel of experts, makes a number of recommendations for future action, including improving access to publicly-funded research. All interested parties are invited to send feedback on the report’s findings to the Commission, to provide input for a conference on scientific publication to be held in autumn 2006.

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From the 1st of April 2006, Swiss film professionals will be allowed to participate in the MEDIA programme of the European Union. Swiss producers, distributors, sales agents, film training centres and festivals will apply to MEDIA funding under the same conditions as the other 29 participating countries. The MEDIA programme aims at strengthening the competitiveness of the European audiovisual industry through support to development, distribution, promotion and training. The current MEDIA programme runs until the end of this year and has a budget of 513 million euro. Switzerland will pay an annual contribution to the MEDIA programme. The European Commission had proposed to increase the budget substantially by granting € 1.055 billion to MEDIA between 2007 and 2013. The European Parliament and the Member States are currently negotiating a final budget for MEDIA.

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The 8th European Assembly on New Ways to Work

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European Grid Technology Day “Building a European Research Area for Grids and a Competitive Market Place for Grid services”, Brussels, 31 May 2005

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ETNO Third Annual Conference, Brussels, 31 May 2005

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An Information Day will be held for the second call for proposals of the eContentplus programme.

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The Safer Internet plus programme aims to promote safer use of the Internet and new online technologies, particularly for children, and to fight against illegal content and content unwanted by the end-user. A new call for proposals will be launched in 2006. The Work Programme 2006 and the call for proposals are now online as drafts. The provisional date for publication of the final versions is July 2006. The provisional deadline for receipt of proposals will 29 September 2006.

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Businesses, individuals and public administrations in Europe still underestimate the risks of insufficiently protecting networks and information. Security presently represents only around 5-13% of IT expenditure, which is alarmingly low.

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This public hearing on the Audiovisual Media Services Directive will take place in the European Parliament hemicycle in Brussels. The event is jointly organised by the parliamentary committees on industry, research and energy (ITRE), on internal market and consumer protection (IMCO), on economic and monetary affairs (ECON), on civil liberties, justice and home affairs (LIBE), on women’s rights gender equality (FEMM) and on culture and education (CULT).

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