Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, on Wednesday unveiled far-reaching plans to transform Europe into a computer-savvy society in which every European would have access to the Internet.
Prodi said the initiative–dubbed “eEurope”–would focus on 10 priority areas ranging from education to healthcare in an effort to modernize the European economy and create a true “Information Society.” He said he wanted every citizen, home, school, business and administration to be hooked up to the Internet
He listed in a statement the Commission’s priorities as: adapting education to the digital age, lowering the cost of Internet access, putting e-commerce rules in place, providing fast Internet access for researchers and encouraging the use of smart cards.
Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for the Information Society, said the EU needed to emulate the United States where Internet-related companies had created 2.3 million direct jobs and build on its own strengths, which he referred to as mobile communications and digital TV.
The eEurope plans are due to be definitively approved at a special EU meeting on employment to be held in Lisbon in March 2000.
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