Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council of 17 December 1999 on the employment and social dimension of the information society
12. 1. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 8/1 I (Information) COUNCIL RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL AND OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL of 17 December 1999 on the employment and social dimension of the information society (2000/C 8/01) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE REPRESEN- TATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBERS STATES MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL, (1) RECALLING that the Community has among its tasks the promotion of a high level of employment; (2) RECALLING that the extraordinary European Council meeting on employment of 20 and 21 November 1997, which launched the Luxembourg process, requested the Commission to report back to it before the end of 1998 on the results obtained and on the prospects for electronic commerce, the development of open networks and the use of multimedia for education and training; (6) RECOGNISING that these representatives have exchanged national strategies on the information society within this forum, and received contributions from social partners, information society industries and the disability forum, thereby providing the basis for a fruitful dialogue which has allowed for the clarification of important actions to be undertaken in a timely manner; (7) RECALLING also that the Member States, in drawing up their national action plans for employment for 1999, included exploitation of the new possibilities opened up by information and communication technologies for job creation, employability, more flexible and adaptable forms of work organisation and progress on equal opportunities; (8) CONSIDERING that the Member States are responsible for their teaching and the organisation of the content of educational systems; (3) RECALLING that the Vienna European Council of 11 and 12 December 1998 paid particular attention to fully exploiting the potential of the service sector and industry- related services, in particular information technology and the environmental sector; (9) RECOGNISING that economic competitiveness is based on innovative use of human skills and on environmentally and socially sustainable development and that technology can be an excellent tool for making this happen; (4) RECALLING that the Cologne European Council of 3 and 4 June 1999 noted that the jobs of the future would be created by innovation and the information society, that Europe has to take a leading role in the information society, and particularly that all schools must be given access to the Internet as soon as possible; (10) CONSIDERING that organisational change and new work organisation methods need to accompany technological and innovation in order economic growth, and that knowledge is a major factor of performance, to generate employment CALL ON MEMBER STATES: in the the Commission communication Job (5) RECALLING that called for information societyí opportunities concerted action at all levels to address this challenge, proposed a timetable for monitoring and benchmarking progress made to ensure that the EU derives the full potential of the information age and established a forum of high-level representatives of the Member States; I. To maximise the job potential of the information society, in particular: (a) Learning and research in the information society C 8/2 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 12. 1. 2000 1. To promote álearning to learní with technology and learning to use information, to communicate and to innovate by facilitating student access to the Internet by the end of 2002, and where this is consistent with national priorities and practices to: working arrangements suited for the information society, which promote innovation and productivity whilst securing employment and a high level of social protection. (i) provide possibilities for teachers to gain an insight into the new ways of working and learning that are being created by information technology; and 7. To help organisations and their workers, especially micro and small enterprises facing major changes the in their business information society including e-commerce, and gain full and socially sustainable advantage from the technology available in the information society. environment, to enter (ii) broaden the integration of information tech- nologies in educational curricula. (c) Public services in the information society 2. In the field of education, training and research, to increase collaboration between educational insti- tutions and research institutes, and the linkages between them and the world of work, social partners and governments. 3. To exploit fully the potential of information tech- nology in promoting life-long learning at work including álearning by doingí by encouraging together with the social partners the emergence of álearning organisationsí with human resource devel- opment at their centre. (b) Work in the information society In collaboration with the social partners, to make an effort: 4. To set up new human resources policies, including the necessary research work, which better prepare current and future workers and management to meet the challenges of the information society so as to secure and create employment and which utilise new technologies to enable disabled people to participate to the fullest extent in working life. technology, telecommunications literacy, 5. To provide basic readiness concerning information as and (both computer employed and unemployed) as possible; and to update training and qualifications to close the existing skills gap so as to take account of new job opportunities in the information society. for as many workers such 6. To develop, within an appropriate framework for rights flexible which guarantees workers and obligations employers, their new, and the to in order 8. To develop the use of information society tools in to everyday relations with citizens, efficiency and quality of public increase and deliver services, services when and where citizens want and need them and set-up as a matter of urgency, citizen- friendly Internet pages with clear site maps providing information about entitlements, social, services and offering employment and cultural links to the relevant public services. information public 9. To support entrepreneurship and job creation through administrative and procedural efficiency by using information and communication technol- ogies, prioritising access to public information, on-line transactions and payments with adminis- trations, procedures whilst ensuring the necessary data protection. procurement digital and 10. To make all public services electronically available, wherever possible, while reinforcing the human interface and ensuring the availability of public by on-site Internet local information society literacy training in all communities. access points supported (d) Sustainability in the information society 11. To take advantage of information technologies in developing production and consumption methods which protect the environment and strengthen sustainable ecological development while generating related services and employment. II. To confirm and further strengthen social cohesion in the information society, in particular: 12. 1. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 8/3 12. In order that all citizens can benefit equally from opportunities offered by the information society, to raise the awareness and capability of all groups in low- society, in particular long-term unemployed, elderly, skilled workers, the illiterate, and other disabled, disadvantaged groups. the and vulnerable minorities the 13. To promote an equal opportunities approach between men and women in the use of information society tools in schools and in all levels of training and education. 14. To support the economy, especially micro and SMEs, as well as non-profit and voluntary organi- sations, from the information society, whilst also gaining from the modernisation of work organisation so as to maximise the job potential and quality of working life. to benefit entrepreneurship, 15. To release the innovative capacity in Europe, through education, economic and environmental sustainability and through the in promotion peripheral and less favoured regions. Releasing the human innovative capacity is a key element for job creation and a base for social cohesion. particularly creative skills, of CALL ON THE COMMISSION: 1. To favour the social and labour market dimension of the the European information society across all priorities of Social Fund. 2. Using information and communication technologies, to such as European the (EURES) and information at in services increase employment European level. transparency services 3. To support innovation through the fifth framework programme for research, technological development and demonstration activities particularly in the application of new technologies and innovative forms of work organi- sation in the creation of new products and services thus leading to new jobs. 4. In collaboration with the forum of high-level representatives of Members States, and working together with social partners, information society industries and other groups, in the to report on strategies information society, extraordinary in Lisbon, which will meeting of focus on this subject by putting high on the European agenda the goal Employment, economic reforms and social cohesion - for a Europe of innovation and knowl- edgeí. the European Council for maximising jobs in advance of the 5. To inform the Council on the consultations with the social partners at European level concerning telework. COUNCIL RESOLUTION of 17 December 1999 on the promotion of the free movement of persons working in the cultural sector (2000/C 8/02) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the first report of the Commission of the European Communities of 17 April 1996 on the consideration of cultural aspects in European Community action, Having regard to the Council Resolution of 20 January 1997 on the into Community actions (1), cultural aspects integration of (1) OJ C 36, 5. 2. 1997, p. 4. Having regard to the report of the high-level panel on the free movement of persons of 18 March 1997, the action plan for the single market of 4 June 1997 issued on the basis of the report, the more specific action plan for the free movement of workers of November 1997, and the Commission communi- cation on the follow-up to the recommendations of the high-level panel on the free movement of persons of 1 July 1998, Having regard to the Commission communication on the first European Community framework programme in support of culture (2000 to 2004) of 6 May 1998 and the Commission orientation decument on the explicit integration of cultural aspects into community action,