WRITTEN QUESTION E-2229/99 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Internet advertising trends.
C 26 E/4 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 26. 1. 2001 However, it does recognise the possibility, as pointed out by the Honourable Member, that, in certain circumstances, specific grounds of historical and artistic protection should also be taken into consideration by the national authorities, while of course meeting the criteria of non-discrimination, necessity and proportionality, in accordance with the Court of Justiceís consistent case law on the free movement of services. In the light of these considerations and the keen interest shown by the public in these infringement proceedings, the Commission will seriously consider the suggestion made by the Honourable Member that a document be prepared in the near the interested parties future to clarify, (users, operators and national authorities), the scope and effects of Article 49 with regard to the use of satellite dishes. the benefit of for It should also be noted that the Commission recently adopted a communication on the strategy for Europeís internal market which did in fact stress the outlook for the digital era and the promotion of consumersí economic interests (2). IP/99/281 of 3 May 1999. (1) (2) COM(1999) 624 final. (2001/C 26 E/004) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2226/99 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission (1 December 1999) Subject: Internet access What is the percentage of households in each Member State which have access to the Internet at the most recent date, and what was the similar percentage one year, two years and three years previously? If it is possible to indicate what proportion of households have access at home and what proportion through their place of work, please do so. (2001/C 26 E/005) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2229/99 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission (1 December 1999) Subject: Internet advertising trends What is the amount spent on advertising on the Internet in each Member State, and what was spent one year, two years, and three years before? Joint answer to Written Questions E-2226/99 and E-2229/99 given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (19 January 2000) There are no official consolidated Community figures available, either for styles of Internet access or for Internet advertising revenues. This is due to the very dramatic growth in the level of Internet usage and to the speed of change in the form of usage. There are figures available from a variety of other sources which provide an idea of the growth and geographical distribution of Internet usage. The different sources however often provide quite different estimates even when referring to the same country. Even from the same source the figures may not indeed even be comparable year to year because the methodologies are changed and as what is being monitored continues to change constantly. 26. 1. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 26 E/5 The ITU (www. itu. int) has produced figures that underline the impressive growth at the global level: Compound annual growth rate 1990-1998 (%) Telephone lines Mobile subscribers Internet hosts 6 52 81 Years taken to reach 50 million users Years Telephone Radio PC Television WWW 74 38 16 13 4 Nua Ltd. in Ireland (www. unua. ie) provides a useful consolidation of various industry estimates related to the Internet. They provide estimates for usage and for advertising revenue, from a number of sources. GlobalReach in California (glreach. com) gives Internet usage figures in terms of the distribution between countries. However it is interesting to note that they give prominence in their analysis to linguistic groupings rather than national boundaries (i. e. to French-speakers rather than France, to Portuguese- speakers rather than Portugal). GVU (www. gvu. gatech. edu) has various figures related to the primary place of access to the Internet ü workplace, home, etc. ü in Europe. (2001/C 26 E/006) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2412/99 by Cristina GutiØrrez-Cortines (PPE-DE) to the Commission (16 December 1999) Subject: The Murcia region and the ERDF By Decision C(94) 2586/3 the Commission approved the operational programme for tackling the specific problems of the Murcia region, with the intention of making its economy more competitive by setting up development areas which would allow the economic fabric to be modernised and diversified and attract investment, while guaranteeing the protection of the environment. Will the Commission supply full details of 1. all the subsidies and funding made available pursuant to this Decision in the field of education and training, and 2. all the recipients of these monies? Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission (21 January 2000) The global grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the operational programme (OP) for the Murcia region for the programming period 1994-1999 (1) is € 542,74 million