eEurope+ Ministerial Conference on the Information Society "Connecting Europe" in Ljubljana (Published on: 03.06.2002) A two-day conference on the progress of the eEurope+ action plan in the EU Candidate countries begins in Slovenia on Monday. The conference is being hosted by Minister Pavel Ganfar and Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen on behalf of the Slovene Government and the European Union respectively. About 40 Ministers or Deputies representing all 13 candidate countries, several EU Member States, and the countries of South-East Europe, are expected to be among the 450 participants, who will also include delegates from the private sector and academia. The eEurope+ action plan aims to accelerate the reform and modernisation of the economies in the EU candidate countries, to encourage capacity and institution building, to improve overall competitiveness, and to enhance social cohesion. The Information Society is an important element in the further development of the economic integration, social cohesion, and cultural diversity of Europe. Furthermore, good co-operation between the EU and candidate countries on Information Society issues can help support the EU enlargement process and make relevant information and knowledge available to citizens and the private sector. A first progress report on the implementation of the eEurope+ action plan in the Candidate Countries will be presented at the conference. This report, based on data collected by the Candidate countries and written with the assistance of the European Commission, shows the Information Society is already present in the EU Candidate Countries and that clear and tangible commitments to develop it further have been put in place. National strategies and programmes have been developed in the Candidate Countries and implementation of relevant EU acquis (on telecommunications and e-commerce in particular) is well on track. In particular, telephone and mobile penetration rates are high, there are ambitious programmes for computers in schools, and significant progress has been made on e-Government. However, the cost of Internet access varies widely, PC costs are often prohibitive for home users, and little data is as yet available on areas such as e-commerce. The Ministerial conference will address these developments, look ahead to the next phase of eEurope+, and discuss specific issues such as trust and security, participation for all, emerging services at the local level, information infrastructure, and the knowledge-based society and economy. Commissioner Liikanen is also expected to meet the Prime-Minister of Slovenia and the Minister for European Integration in the context of the Conference. The progress report is available at: www.europa.eu.int/eeuropeplus The EU Candidate Countries countries agreed last year on the ambitious eEurope+ action plan, which recognises the importance of the objective set by the European Council in Lisbon: for Europe to become the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world. The eEurope+ plan was launched by the Prime-Ministers of the Candidate Countries at the Göteborg European Council. More info: Per HAUGAARD: 02-296.01.40 Ingeborg Gaspard: 02-295.22.10 Republic of Slovenia, Ministry of Information Society in co-operation with the European Commission, DG Information Society and DG Enlargement Contact info: gp.mid@gov.si Web: http://emcis.gov.si, http://www.europa.eu.int/eeuropeplus