Brussels, 05/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - According to the latest statistics published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Communities, 55% of households in the EU of 27 had access to the internet in the first quarter of 2007, compared to 40% in the first quarter of 2006, and 42% had broadband connection, compared to 30% in 2006. These data are the result of a survey carried out in 2007 on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by households and individuals in the member states of the EU, plus Norway and Iceland. More specifically, the highest percentages of households with internet access were to be seen in the Netherlands (83%), Sweden (79%) and Denmark (78%). The lowest were observed in Bulgaria (19%), Romania (22%) and in Greece (25%). It was also in the Netherlands (74%), Denmark (70%) and Sweden (67%) that the percentage of households with broadband connection was the highest in 2007. Among the activities carried out via the internet, individuals used search engines (57%), sent electronic mail with documents attached (50%), protected their computer from viruses (30%), took part in online discussions or chat forums (24%), made telephone calls using the internet (15%), exchanged films and music (13%) or created a web page (10%). Denmark, Estonia, Luxembourg and the Netherlands were the member states which recorded the highest percentages of individuals who had carried out these different activities using the internet. (I.L.)