European Union News - Information Society

The European Investment Bank (EIB) launched a report on the role of mobile financial services to address financial exclusion in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. The report underlines that financial services are accessible to only a small part of the region’s population unlike mobile phones which have high penetration rates.

The European Commission published a decision that makes mandatory for Member States to open the radio spectrum by 30 June 2014 at the latest, and lays down harmonised technical conditions to allow coexistence between different technologies. On this basis the EU will enjoy up to twice the amount of spectrum for high speed wireless broadband as in the United States, namely around 1000 MHz.

The next global Internet Governance Forum conference will be held in Baku (Azerbaijan) between 5th and 9th November. The European delegation will be headed by Commissioner Neelie Kroes, who will make a strong defence of the Internet as an essential element in freedom of speech.

Ministers reached a political agreement at the meeting held on 29 October on the new regulation on the tachograph used in road transport. One delegation, however, it is not supporting the text because it would have liked to see a wider exemption from the obligation to use the tachograph for small and medium-sized enterprises. The aim of the new draft legislation is to make fraud more difficult and to reduce the administrative burden by making full use of new technologies and introducing a number of new regulatory measures.

The use of collection procedures to support European citizen initiatives require certified on-line solutions which may bring the required guarantees to the process. Given the difficulties reported by some organizations to have this type of on-line collection systems, the European Commission offered the possibility to host them in its own servers. Fraternité 2020 is the first initiative to enjoy this solution in Commission's servers.

According to a report published the Joint Research Centre, digital spending - the acquisition of media products in digital format - tripled from 2006 to 2010 worldwide. However, worldwide, industries only saw their revenues rise slightly up until 2010. The digital success of the music sector contrasts other media and content industries, which are moving at a slower pace towards digital with distribution.

The European Commission sent a statement of objections which does not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation, informing Microsoft of its preliminary view that Microsoft has failed to comply with its commitments to offer users a choice screen enabling them to easily choose their preferred web browser.

The European Commission presented an action plan that includes a series of initiatives over the next two years aimed at clarifying the regulation of online gambling and encouraging cooperation between Member States.

The European Commission proposed to update the Radio Equipment Directive to make sure all market players comply with the rules regarding the avoidance of interference. The Commission also proposes to clarify and simplify the Directive, to facilitate its application and to eliminate unnecessary burden ultimately increasing all stakeholders' confidence in the regulatory framework.