Legislative Observatory
European Parliament
Please fill in this field to find a procedure

Information society, eEurope: good practices and network security, MODINIS programme 2003-2005

2002/0187(COD)

This Communication provides the final evaluation of the eEurope 2005 Action Plan and of the Modinis programme. The Modinis Decision (Decision Number 2256/2003/EC) provides that, at the end of the programme, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the European Economic and Social Committee an evaluation report on the results obtained in implementing the actions referred to in the programme. Given the synergy between Modinis and eEurope, it was decided to carry out both evaluations simultaneously and to report jointly on their findings. Policy Support Programme).

Background

  • the eEurope Action Plan (2000-2002) was endorsed at the Feira European Council (June 2000) as the information society part of the Lisbon strategy of economic, social and environmental renewal. It defines a number of targets, which were monitored regularly through benchmarking indicators. However, by the end of 2002 there was little evidence to show that the success in getting Europe online had translated into new jobs and services. Because of this, the Barcelona European Council (March 2002) called on the Commission to draw up an eEurope Action Plan focussing on “the widespread availability and use of broadband networks throughout the Union by 2005 and the development of Internet protocol IPv6 and the security of networks and information, eGovernment, eLearning, eHealth and eBusiness”. The subsequent eEurope 2005 Action Plan was endorsed by the European Council of Seville (June 2002).
  • Modinis was adopted in 2003, as a "multi-annual programme for the monitoring of the eEurope 2005 Action Plan, dissemination of good practices and improvement of network and information security". It covered a three-year period (2003-2005). It was then extended to 2006 in order to ensure continuity before the entry into effect of the ICT Policy Support Programme (ICTPSP), part of the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP) adopted in 2006. It was implemented through annual work programmes. The first work programme, for 2004, had a budget of EUR 12.8 million (including EUR 5.1 million carried over from 2003). The budget was EUR 7.72 million for each of the 2005 and 2006 work programmes. The total budget for Modinis was EUR 28.2 million.
  • in June 2005, the Commission adopted the initiative ‘i2010: A European information society for growth and employment’. The successor to eEurope, i2010 is a comprehensive strategy for deploying all EU policy instruments to encourage the development of the digital economy. It builds on ICT policies, regulation, and research and innovation to contribute to the Lisbon goals. The key priorities of this policy are: a) promoting a supportive and competitive environment for electronic communications and media services; b) reinforcing research andinnovation in ICT and c) ensuring that an inclusive Information society brings benefits to all.

Much progress has been made in the past three years:

  • a new regulatory framework for audiovisual media services is in place;
  • the reform of the regulation of e-communications has been launched;
  • regulation to create a single market for mobile phone use across borders is in operation;
  • initiatives to boost online content in Europe have been adopted;
  • major new R&D and innovation funding initiatives are up and running;
  • ground-breaking public private partnerships (Joint Technology Initiatives) have been launched;
  • flagship initiatives on intelligent cars, European Digital Libraries and ICTs for sustainability are on track as are initiatives on eInclusion, eGovernment and eHealth.

Main conclusions and recommendations: the Commission considers that this is a positive report confirming both the effectiveness and the utility of the eEurope 2005 Action Plan and its main funding programme Modinis. Some weaknesses have been identified but these have not had a major effect on the overall programme implementation. They have been addressed in the follow-up initiative, i2010 and

one of its main funding instruments (ICT-PSP).

The communication also makes a series of recommendations which can be summarised as follows :

  • it is recommended to limit the role of the management committee in future similar programmes to adopting the work programmes and allocation of budget. It is, however, necessary for the Commission to improve the process of communication with the committee and to ensure that its role is defined properly;
  • it is necessary for the Commission to find ways of adopting the work programmes in time, and to match the budget year with the work programme in order to facilitate an effective budget spending;
  • the benchmarking indicators need to be continuously redefined and adapted to new developments and the entrance of possible new Member States into the Union. Efforts to define new indicators should be maintained and continued. Coherence and cooperation between the various working groups responsible for indicator definition needs to be ensured to avoid duplication of effort and maximise the quality of indicators for i2010;
  • the exchange of good practice should be strengthened under i2010, as new Member States and new themes require a joint effort in enhancing learning and coherence across the European Union;
  • the dissemination of good practice via conferences and studies seem today as being insufficient. The evaluation suggests that more efforts and resources be allocated to the dissemination of best practises, for example via searchable web based databases.