O debate da "Agenda Digital" na Comissão Europeia

As "Hearings of Commissioners-designate" para a Comissão Europeia estão a decorrer. Estes Comissários indigitados são convidados a reagir a diversas questões colocadas pelos deputados do Parlamento Europeu, pois aí será ratificada a proposta de uma nova Comissão. A pergunta nº 5 diz respeito a questões de política comunitária:
5. What are the specific legislative and non-legislative initiatives you intend to put forward, and according to what timetable? What specific commitments can you make regarding in particular the committees' priorities and requests attached hereto which would fall within your portfolio? How would you personally ensure the good quality of legislative proposals?

Em particular, a Comissão Parlamentar (Parlamento Europeu) de Indústria, Investigação e Energia elaborou uma lista de questões específicas sobre a "Sociedade da Informação" que a seguir se apresentam.

List of parliamentary Committee on Industry, Research and Energy priorities and requests on:

Information society

• Concrete measures to complete the single market for telecommunications: Commission action plan focusing, in particular, on roaming issues and the development of advanced ‘next generation’ networks
• Necessity of a legislative initiative on Net neutrality
• Intellectual property, privacy and security
• - new opportunities afforded by the worldwide web and the global information society, for example for the application of ICTs in health care, education and major infrastructure
• - the post-i2010 strategy for making Europe a true information society
• Digital society
• - 'spectrum agenda' and implementing measures
• - coordination and effective allocation of the 'digital dividend' in the Union
• - development of a spectrum single market
• Review of the Universal Service Obligation: proposals to deliver broadband to all without distorting the market or imposing high taxes on telecoms consumers or operators

A Vice-Presidente para a Agenda Digital, Srª Neelie Kroes (Holanda) respondeu o seguinte:

• My initial priorities are:
  
• (i) building the high speed networks of the future;
  
• (ii) making the online single market a reality;
  
• (iii) ensuring that all citizens participate in the information society; and
  
• (iv) generating more, better targeted support for ICT research and innovation. Both citizens and industry have a role to play in driving innovation, whether big or small, incumbent or challenger, blue-chip or start-up.
• We will vigorously pursue the twin goals of giving all Europeans access to basic broadband by 2013 and of stimulating the rapid and widespread upgrade to new generation networks over the next 5 to 10 years.
• There is much more to be done, on issues ranging from provision of digital content to reassuring consumers about electronic payments and their contractual rights.
• We must continue to improve the quality of online services in the public and private sector (such as eHealth, eGovernment, e-Inclusion). For this, we need effective ICT standards which promote notably interoperable solutions.
• I feel strongly that ICT research and innovation is the key to meeting some of Europe's most serious challenges – from the development a low-carbon green economy to caring for our ageing population, and so needs to be at the centre of many of our future policy initiatives. I will also review the operation of the existing Joint Technology Initiatives (Artemis and ENIAC) and prepare for new Public Private Partnerships in the ICT field.
• I intend to implement the Digital Agenda through both legislative and non legislative initiatives in the following three areas:
  
• (i) building the high-speed networks of the future (immediate action to set up the Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications (BEREC); the Commission is actively encouraging the Member States complete their digital switch over by January 2012 and to open up the 800 MHz band for the further development of wireless communication services).
• (ii) European digital content (examination of the licensing provisions that allow access to content, notably for out of print and orphan works, and for the establishment of a sustainable basis for the European Digital Library (Europeana) and large-scale digitisation of cultural works in Europe); and
  
• (iii) digital citizenship (European citizens should benefit from digital services also when they exercise free movement rights; proposals for a Regulation on the eCall vehicle safety system and for the development of our policy on ICT for Energy Efficiency).

Nem todas as medidas respondidas estão aqui explícitas. Para isso vale a pena consultar os documentos de que foram incluídas ligações (links). Mas, para já, estas merecem uma reflexão de todos nós. Em resumo não parece existirem propostas de medidas radicalmente novas ou diferentes, mas antes a continuação de uma política definida antes. As medidas melhor definidas estão mais relacionadas com a temática de serviços (a empresas e aos cidadãos), mas menos no domínio do desenvolvimento tecnológico e da sua implicação na esfera produtiva.