§ Mr. AllenTo ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to consider specific proposals stemming from the Commission's document "Europe's way to the information society", No. 15486.
§ Mr. Ian TaylorThe European Commission has already brought forward a number of proposals listed in the annexe to its communication "Europe's way to the information society"— COM(94)347 final. These are being considered closely by Government, and some are already under discussion in Brussels. I would expect the Commission to bring forward further proposals over the next 12 months, in line with the timetable set out in the annexe.
The UK has played a major role in co-ordinating two projects: global interoperability for broadband networks, building on the success of Super JANET; and government on-line, developing the CCTA's ideas for electronic communication within government.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what different forms of scrutiny by the United Kingdom Parliament will apply to the European Commission document 15486, "Europe's way to the information society".
§ Mr. Ian TaylorThe Commission communication in response to the Bangemann group report, "Europe's way to the information society: an action plan" was a depositable362W document and fell within scrutiny arrangements. I submitted a full explanatory memorandum to Parliament on 29 September 1994 and the document was scrutinised according to agreed procedures.