§ The Earl of Northeskasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their response to recent comments by Andrea Servida, head of sector for the information society unit at the European Commission, that the two main enablers for guaranteeing delivery of European and national objectives for Information and Communications Technology by 2004 are broadband and security. [HL2945]
§ Lord Sainsbury of Turville:The Seville European Council last June endorsed the objectives of the Commission's e-Europe 2005 Action Plan. This aims to "stimulate secure services, applications and content based on a widely available broadband infrastructure". This February, the Commission produced a paper on addressing perceived weaknesses in the telecoms markets called The Road to Knowledge Economy. Its overall conclusion was that no new EU-level action is required, as long as there is full, timely and effective implementation of both the new 175WA regulatory framework and the e-Europe 2005 Action Plan, as well as the adoption by the end of 2003 of effective national strategies for broadband in each member state. The UK fully supports this position. The UK national strategy for broadband was first set out in UK online: the broadband future published in February 2001. Since that time it has continued to evolve, drawing on the advice of the Broadband Stakeholder Group. Security and broadband are key components to realising e-Europe and form an essential part to realising the Lisbon strategy of making the European Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy with improved employment and social cohesion by 2010.