European Information Society

The EIS and  European  Integration
The progression  and  increase  in  size  of  the  European  Information  Society  (henceforth  referred  to  as  EIS)  serves  the  interests  of  European  integration  and  those  of  anyone  who  stands  to  gain  from  an  increasingly  integrated  and  unified  Europe. By endeavouring  to  increase  access  to  the  internet  and  other  interstate  communication  channels,  the  intensity  of  its  usage  on  the  European  continent,  the  project  of  European  integration  becomes  greater  in  speed  and  scope  as  more  and  more  people(s)  are  brought  into  contact  together  on  a  pan-European  basis.

The EIS  project  was  initiated  and  improved  upon  in  the  wake  of  the  economic  successes  of  the  American  telecommunications  market  throughout  the  80s  and  the  90s  (George  1995),  and  perceived  European  regression  on  economic  and  technological  fronts. In seeking  to  bring  the  Information  Society  and  the  use  of  ICT  to  Europe,  the  European  Commission  has  had  been  instrumental  in  opening  access  and  improving  whatever  existing  individual  initiatives  have  had  been  made  by  other  parties  previously  (Commission  of  the  European  Communities, 2006),  and  its  reach  can  be  very  In  addition  to  that,  provision  of  structural  funds  (EU  Committee  of  the  Regions, 2006)  have  also  been  used  as  a  means  to  improve  that  same  access  to  communication  networks in backwater  regions  of  Europe  that  have  otherwise  been  less  integrated  into  the  pan-European  polity  than  their  more  interconnected  counterparts,  such  as  Germany  and  the  Scandinavian  nations.

The EIS: Origins  and  motives  for  integration
The European  Union  has  had  taken  interest  in  the  progress  made  by  the  American  economy  under  the  Clinton  presidency  of  1993-2001  which    featured  the  rise  of  Information  and  Communications  Technology  (ICT)  recognised  the  economic  uses  of  the  internet  and  saw  government  support  for  the development  of  e-commerce  (House  of  Lords,2000)  and  as  such,  it  subsequently  sought  to  emulate  that  same  strategy  itself. The Bangemann  Report  (1994,  Cap  1  Art  1)  calls  for  an  increased  role  of  ICT  in  the  EU  and  marks  it  as  an  integral  component  of  sustaining  the  Single  Market  and  providing  further  avenues  of  cultural  development  and  efficiency  (Layton  1969,  p  223).

To achieve  the  EIS,  the  Report  advocates  liberalising  the  telecommunications  market  to  give  precedence  to  the  private  sector  in  advancing  innovation  in  the  telecommunications  sector  (Bangemann  1994,  Cap  4)  and  eliminate  what  it  considers  in  its  own  terms  as  “non-commercial  burdens”  on  telecommunications  operators,  in  order  to  yield  “…lower  costs  and  better  relations  between  public  administrations  and  European  citizens.”  (ibid,  Ch  4  App  9). A further  step  towards  the  EIS  was  made  by  the  EU  in  2000  with  the  Council  of  Lisbon  (Danish  Technological  Institute  2005,  p  30)  and  the  adoption  of  what  was  then  later  known  as  the  Lisbon  Agenda  which,  among  other  things,  calls  for  the  establishment  of  a  sustainable  and  robust  k-based  economy  “with  more  and  better  jobs  and  greater  social  cohesion  (ibid,  p  18)”. To this  end,  in  concert  with  member-state  efforts  to  digitise,  the  Commission  has  also  sought  to  liberalise  telecommunications  as  a  means  of  speeding  up  the  transition  of  Europe  to  the  EIS,  alongside  the  provision  of  structural  funds  to  help  develop  this  sector  in  various  regions,  as  well  as  opening  new  points  of  access  to  EU  institutions  for  various  parties.

It is  expected  that  as  a  catalyst  of  integration,  the  EIS  is  expected  to  act  as  a  catalyst  to  integration  by  providing  the  infrastructure  for  the  foundation  of  a  common  European  social  area,  rather  than  transferring  away  power  from  the  member-state  governments  to  pan-European  institutions. Rather than  unite  people  together  as  a  single  supranational  entity,  Delhey  (2004,  pp  6-7)  says  that  European  integration  involves  connecting  all  European  peoples  into  a  new  social  space  where  whilst  they  maintain  their  native  nationalities  and  allegiances,  they  too  will  see  themselves  as  Europeans. Delhey also  adds  the  possible  means  by  which  this  European  social  space,  although  “empty  (ibid.,  p.  7)”,  would  become  increasingly  populated  and  socially  relevant  as  interstate  flows  of  people  pick  up,  via  business  contacts,  leisure  and  tourism,  and  the  like. All these  require  efficient  communications  networks  for  facilitating  coordination  and  interaction  between  states,  thus  the  EIS  would  possibly  be  an  invaluable  aid  if  not  sine  qua  non  to  European  social  integration.

The Lisbon Agenda: integrating the market
In accordance  with  the  Lisbon  Agenda,  the  EIS  also  serves  as  a  catalyst  of  European  integration  by  bringing  various  parties  together  to  transcend  national  geographical  and ideological  boundaries throughout  Europe. Apart from  the  diffusion  of  ICT  in  Europe,  the  Commission  has  also  played  a  part  in  enforcing  competition  in  the  telecommunications  market  (European  Commission,  currently  available  at:  http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/ecomm/todays_framework/competition/index_en.htm). At the  same  time,  the  Commission  has  stressed  the  role  that  the  EIS  would  play  in  Europe,  particularly  the  role  that  telecommunications  and  other  new  media  technologies  in  the  industrial  sector  as  a  source  of  revenue  and  employment  (European  Commission  2004,  currently  available  at:  http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/docs/communications/new_chall_en_adopted.pdf).

Before the  arrival  of  the  internet,  the  abilities  of  governments  and  public  agencies  to  inject  a  popular  element  into  policy  making  was  extremely  limited. The best  means  of  bringing  in  vox  populi  was  via  parliaments  or  legislatures  for  which  the  electorate  would  send  deputies  to  represent  them  and  negotiate  for  them  in  the  policy-making  process,  but  even  this  would  render  extremely  limited  access  for  citizens. By using  the  broad  reach  of  the  internet,  the  Commission  now  seeks  to  draw  in  more  people  into  the  policy  process  via  producing  new  avenues  of  access  and  new  means  of  policy  delivery  (Anon.  2001,  currently  available  at:  http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/01/519&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en)  as  well  as  the  dissemination  of  knowledge  and  information  which  it  itself  sees  as  vital  for  the  Single  Market  and  the  socio-economic  life  of  the  EU. Secondly, inter-region  networks  such  as  EUROCITIES  are  another  means  of  political  integration  as  allowing  cities  to  work  with  each  other  over  wide  geopolitical  reaches  gives  rise  to  common  goals  and  conflicts  which  will  further  necessitate  the  need  for  pan-European  brokering  to  resolve  these  aforesaid  conflicts  and  assist  in  counselling  and  setting  objectives  for  the  common  good  of  all  parties. Also, the  usage  of  IT  amongst  governmental  organisations  of  the  EU  and  its  member-states  also  allows  greater  coordination  of  cooperative  efforts  in  achieving  policy  outcomes. The EIS  helps  to  develop  and  sustain  these  lateral  networks  by  providing  infrastructure  and  avenues  of  discourse  by  which  European  citizens  and  institutions  alike  will  be  included  in  the  decision  making  process  (Borrás  2007,  p.3,  currently  available  at:    http://eiop.or.at/eiop/index.php/eiop/article/view/2007_001a/41).

In light  of  the  Commission’s  idealised  projection  of  European  industrial  competencies,  the  infusion  of  the  economic  life  of  Europe  is  also  seen  as  a  means  of  facilitating  integration  of  European  society  by  providing  better  means  of  control,  coordination  and  cooperation  amongst  business  units  involved  in  Europe-wide  operations. In theory,  a  cost-efficient  telecommunications  network  should  be  able  to  pass  on  benefits  to  corporate  users  by  facilitation  of  communications  and  collaboration  amongst  firms  and  workers  alike  (Bangemann,  1994,  Ch.  9,  currently  available  at:  http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/infosoc/backg/bangeman.html). The EC  is  of  the  opinion  that  apart  from  being  a  viable  economic  sector  worthy  of  development,  the  availability  of  trans-European  networks,  whether  by  cellphone  or  internet,  now  means  that  more  and  more  companies  will  now  be  able  to  be  integrated  together  as  trans-European  or  even  pan-European  entities,  depending  on  the  nature,  scope  and  location(s)  of  these  aforesaid  entities. Large corporate  companies  such  as  Colt  Pte. Ltd. and Italy’s  Tiscali  (based  in  Sardinia!)  are  all  further  evidence  of  the  EIS  at  work  in  increasing  the  economic  integration  of  European  markets  and  economic  zones  together.

Political and  economic  entities  aside,  ICT  is  also  seen  as  a  means  of  integrating  otherwise  diverse,  divided  and  dissociated  (and  sometimes  disenfranchised)  European  individuals  and  groups  into  one  single  society. Since the  Single  Market  (as  defined  under  the  Single  European  Act)  is  reliant  on  the  theoretical  free  movement  of  persons  within  the  European  economic  sphere  (The  Single  European  Act  1986,  currently  available  at:  http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/emu_history/documents/treaties/singleuropeanact.pdf),  some  efforts  have  been  made  to  help  various  groups  and  societies  using  cyberspace  as  a  means  of  reaching  out  to  a  larger  audience. The EC  is  well  aware  of  the  Eurosceptic  sentiments  felt  by  some  sectors  of  European  society,  and  the  apathy  or  a  lack  of  awareness  of  EU  activities  amongst  citizens  in  European  countries  themselves  (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2006/com2006_0035en01.pdf). The means  of  achieving  this  may  include  supply-side  reforms  to  make  the  internet  more  accessible  to  the  public  at  large  (Bangemann),  and/or  directly  improving  the  ability  of  independent  bodies  such  as  academic  institutions  to  cooperate  with  each  other  on  the  pan-European  level  (Commission  of  the  European  Communities, 2006). Such use  of    networks  are  aimed  at  changing  the  attitude  of  the  public  towards  what  is  seen  as  an  impersonal  if  not  “faceless”  (ibid)  entity  that  seems  to  play  little  or  no  significant  role  in  their  daily  lives

It appears  that  support  for  the  EIS  is  one  of  the  Commission’s  means  of  introducing  European  integration,  but  via  a  “soft”  approach  by  encouraging  what  Delhey  calls  “social  integration”  in  contrast  to  “political  integration”. True to  this  indeed,  the  somewhat  radical  positioning  of  the  Commission  since  the  Bangemann  Report  on  how  the  EIS  should  be  implemented  has  since  petered  out,  due  to  opposition  to  its  agenda  then  from  the  member-states  and  the  populace  therein. Nonetheless, the  cost-saving  measures  achieved  by  the  EIS  in  the  field  of  communications  is  indeed  consolidating  the  integration  of  Europe  as  a  whole,  be  it  as  an  engine  of  integration  by  itself  or  aiding  others  along  the  way. Delhey’s work  (2004)  suggests  that  rather  than  looking  at  integration  as  convergence  towards  a  monolithic  pan-European  state,  the  process  of  European  integration  should  be  seen  as  a  process  of  socialising  Europeans  with  a  sense  of  unity  and  familiarity  with  each  other  via  interaction  with  one  another. As interaction  gives  rise  to  informal  networks  and  causes  for  social  interdependence  and  concern,  it  also  garners  support  for  further  steps  towards  political  integration  as  the  degree  of  interconnectedness  amongst  Europeans  increases.

Whither the EU?
Ultimately, the  EIS  and  usage  of  pan-European  networks  as  a  new  means  of  integrating  Europe,  which  is  seen  as  a  crucial  step  towards  what  the  Commission  calls “mass”  (European  Commission  (b),  currently  available  at:  http://ec.europa.eu/education/doc/official/keydoc/lb-en.pdf)  in  order  for  Europe  and  the  European  nations  to  obtain  a  new  geopolitical  role  of  relevance  in  an  increasingly  globalised  world. While it  is  very  true  that  the  efforts  in  creating  this  new  form  of  networked  government  have  had  their  origins  in  the  presence  and  influence  of  the  EC,  the  Commission’s  spearheading  the  creation  of  a  EIS  should  not  be  interpreted,  though,  as  a  transfer  or  even  an  attempt  at  the  usurpation  of  power  from  member-states  to  the  pan-European  polity,  but  rather  that  the  EC  is  naturally  trying  to  preserve  itself  as  a  going  concern  within  the  European  polity. Consolidating the  process  of  integration  via  the  EIS  and  the  development  of  further  networks  to  enfranchise  the  common  citizen  will  increase  the  relevance  and  need  for  the  EC  within  the  boundaries  of  the  geopolitical  landscape  of  European  society  by  creating  new  areas  of  regulation  which  then  generate  new  roles  and  responsibilities  for  the  EC  in  this  new  Europe  which  it  itself  seeks  to  create  and  sustain.