§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance is being received from the EU in pursuit of expanded broadband access in the UK. [45312]
§ Mr. AlexanderThe Lisbon Summit on Economic Reform in 2000 launched work on the eEurope Action Plan, which reprioritises all EU and national policies, assistance and support, in order to help increase access to the internet. The European Council meeting in Barcelona on 15–16 March concluded that the next phase of the eEurope strategy should give priority to the widespread availability of broadband networks throughout the EU. The ways in which the EU and the member states can368W support and assist this objective in the period to 2005 will be set out in a new eEurope Action Plan, to be presented to the Seville European Council in June.
The following websites of the European Commission set out the activities covered by the eEurope Action Plan, and list sources of EU assistance for information and communications technology:
http://www.europa.eu.int/informationsociety/eeurope/indexen.htm
http://europa.eu.int/informationsociety/programmes/indexen.htm