Brussels, 20/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Telecommunications Council reached agreement on Thursday on launching the IDABC programme to develop pan-European on-line administration services. This new programme, which is based on previous programmes for the interchange of data between administrations (IDA), will concentrate in particular on businesses and citizens. The agreement was reached due to France and Portugal lifting their reservations on the total amount of its funding. The European Parliament has still to pronounce itself on this dossier at second reading.
The objective of the programme, which is set for 2005-2009, is to remove obstacles to electronic communication between public administrations on the one hand, and between public administrations, citizens and businesses on the other. To do this, the programme will help to fund and implement projects of common interest and cross-cutting measures (infrastructure) in all sectors involved. Open to the participation of countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the candidate countries, it will have a budget of 148.7 million EUR, 59.1 million of which will be for the period ending 31 December 2006. The sum covering the second period, from 2007 to 2009, will be confirmed depending on the financial perspectives and an assessment of the implementation of the programme, which the Commission will carry out in mid-2006.