Brussels, 18/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - Opening up the information society for all without exclusion or discrimination - such is the next stage of the e-Europe action plan, which should be agreed by the Heads of State and Government in Barcelona next month. This was confirmed by Spanish Labour Minister Juan Carlos Aparicio, during the European Conference on new technologies and the disabled, held early February in Madrid. Participants included: Ana Burulès, Spanish Minister for Science and Technology; Robert Verrue, Director General at the DG Information Society at the European Commission; and José Maria Arroso, President of the ONCE Foundation (Spanish national association for the blind). We recall that some 38 million Europeans suffer from a disability, 46% of whom are today slightly disabled and 24% of whom are employed. By learning how to use new technologies, disabled people have a real chance of participating fully in the education system and the labour market in a way that has never before been possible.