Strasbourg, 17/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - On 12 February, the European Parliament adopted the report by Bashir Khanbhai (EPP-ED, United Kingdom) on the Commission's communication regarding the impact of the e-economy on European business. The communication, which was adopted by the European Commission on 29 November 2001, pronounces itself in favour of stepping up the pace of reform, and proposes focussed action to allow European businesses to get as much as possible out of the e-economy.
By adopting the British conservative Khanbhai's report, the European Parliament has judged that excessive regulation of the electronic commerce sector is to be avoided. Most MEPs feel that the Commission should focus on small businesses and reduce the legal and administrative burden. The Parliament also considered it necessary to tackle on-line security issues by strengthening the functional security and reliability of networks and the e information used by businesses. The result of the vote also emphasises the need to create a climate favourable to ICT via an increased freeing-up of the telecommunications markets, promoting competition and supporting capital investments in infrastructure. The Parliament also considers access to ICT as essential for all EU citizens. This could be achieved through every citizen of the EU possessing a personal computer and a portable telephone, but also via training. To this end, the Parliament insists that efforts are to be made in the field of education to improve the citizens' ICT skills, at school and university level as well as in business.