Activites

• 1997/04/14 Final act published in Official Journal
• 1997/03/11 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0083/1997 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr Wim van VELZEN (PSE, NL) on the Commission's Green Paper Parliament called on the Commission to draw up an action programme on the social impact of the information society which was as complete and balanced as possible. Taking the view that the Green Paper concentrated on work, jobs and the competitiveness of the economy and placed the human dimension of the information society in second place, the report considered that the convergence criteria and the stability pact made it particularly difficult to achieve a social equilibrium. It called therefore on the Commission and the Member States to draw up a framework for a reduction of working time and a better distribution of work and more scope for training. The Commission was called on to submit before the end of the year a proposal on teleworking and associated problems concerning social security, health and safety, privacy and taxation. It was also called on to intensify its efforts to draw up a European fiscal policy in order to reduce the current burden of tax on labour and to develop new forms of taxation in the light of the global information society. Parliament emphasized that access to the networks was of prime importance and that non-discrimination, interoperability, protection of privacy and non-impediment by language differences should be considered as basic principles. The report suggested the launching of a computer literacy campaign in which young people familiar with computers pass on their knowledge to the rest of the population, in particular young unemployed persons, immigrants, housewives and the elderly. The Commission and the Member States should consider the concept of a diploma with 'maintenance contract' enabling persons completing a course of study to update their know-how and skills at regular intervals. In general Parliament considered that a study should be undertaken on the impact of introducing new technologies into education for different age groups. �

• 1997/03/10 Debate in Parliament
• 1997/02/06 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0045/1997
• 1996/10/23 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• #1953
• 1996/10/08 Council Meeting
  • 1953
• #1948
• 1996/09/24 Council Meeting
  • 1948
• 1996/07/24 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(1996)0389 summary

    OBJECTIVE : This Green Paper is part of a series of four communications and proposals concerning the Information Society. Its purpose is to fuel the debate on the social issues raised by the transition to the Information Society by focusing on the key issues of organization of work, employment and social cohesion. SUBSTANCE: The Green Paper is largely based on the work of the two consultative bodies set up by the Commission last year, i.e. the High-Level Group of Experts and the Information Society Forum. Whilst acknowledging the job-creation opportunities presented by information and communication technologies (ICTs), it also recognizes that people are understandably worried and that action should be taken to respond to their concerns about the forecast changes. The Green Paper looks in particular at the way in which ICTs are going to reshape the organisation of work and production and how they are going to transform working life. If the new system of organizing work is to create jobs, it must be based on a combination of ICTs and education and training, the latter being an area which the Green Paper says needs to be substantially overhauled. Moreover, ICTs require new skills which the labour market has not delivered quickly enough. Investment in human resources must therefore be at the heart of employment policy. The Green Paper also indicates that ICTs can play an important role in regional and local development and help promote integration and empowerment. The Information Society should be about people and should not create inequalities between the information rich and the information poor. Moreover, local and regional authorities ought to play a part in the process through local and regional employment pacts to ensure a more employment-intensive and more human resource oriented cohesion policy. In view of this, the Commission takes the view that public policies should: - strengthen the capacity of the EU to create jobs, ensure that SMEs take full advantage of the Information Society and improve cohesion across the Member States and regions by using the potential of ICTs; - improve democracy and social justice by ensuring that citizens participate actively in building the Information Society; - incorporate more ambitious targets in equal opportunities policies, at work and in the home, by paying special attention to ICT training for young people; - remove the barriers which hinder disadvantaged social groups so that they have the opportunity to acquire a better command of ICTs; - support people with special needs so as to enable them to improve their quality of life; - improve the efficiency of public administration and overall service provision, e.g. in health care and education. The Commission invites interested parties to submit their comments on all these issues by 31/12/1996. �

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1996)0389
• Debate in Council: 1948
• Debate in Council: 1953
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0045/1997
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0083/1997

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)