Brussels, 24/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - "Europe is now only twelve months behind the United States as far as the frequency of Internet use is concerned" - such was the announcement made by Erkii Liikanen, Information Society Commissioner, as he spoke at the "Alpbach Forum", held since 16 August in the village of the same name, in Austria. The Forum traditionally brings together scientists, economists and politicians.
The Commissioner pointed out that "70% of SME and 33% of private households in Europe now have access to the Internet" but that, on the other hand, "a large number of SMEs were not aware of the advantages that Internet would bring them for trade". Mr Liikanen said "a company that refuses to work on the Internet will inevitably disappear in the longer term". He also noted that "the countries of Eastern Europe, except Estonia, were on average lagging two or three years behind the EU as far as the frequency of Internet connections is concerned".