1996 - European Telework Week

Telework 96
individuals to pay for non-performative use of media (e.g. games) is essential. It is only
through pilot tests that these two types of needs may be identified, and that implicit
demand (i.e. non formalised by individuals) may become an explicit demand for the use
of media.
THE LINKAGE WITH ECONOMIC GROWTH AND TRADE PERFORMANCE
Advanced communication is enabling radical changes in the world economy, and its
impact will increase dramatically as it becomes more widely used. These changes are a
threat and an opportunity for Europe.
Advanced communications is a two-edged sword. On the one hand it presents Europe
with an opportunity to stimulate innovation and trade, improve efficiency and increase
economic integration; but on the other it can destroy jobs through an acceleration of
import penetration and re-engineering in larger corporations. The net result of these
creative and destructive processes will be determined by the way in which Europe adopts
advanced communications, and this, in turn, can be significantly influenced by national
and supra-national policy decisions.
We maintain that if the right environment is created for advanced communications in
Europe then the net impact on employment and prosperity can be positive. However, the
prerequisites for such an environment are not currently in place. The policy options for
rectifying Europe’s structural weaknesses are limited in the current economic
environment. Industrial policy interventions are constrained by the availability of funds,
by competition and trade law, and by concerns over the effectiveness of past actions.
Fiscal and monetary policy is constrained by the discipline of the global markets. As the
1993 Delors White Paper emphasised, the traditional remedies are now discredited, and
policy makers must search for new directions.
‘Creative processes’:
• Advanced communications increases the ability of European businesses to project
themselves into global markets, particularly in the main centres of new growth such as
Asia. Europe has competitive strengths in many service sectors which have been
difficult to exploit outside domestic markets until now.
• Advanced communications is enabling the exploitation of these advantages through
trade and direct investment.
• Advanced communications is accelerating the development of the EU Single Market,
leading to efficiency gains for the European macro-economy and competitiveness
improvements for individual enterprises.
• Advanced communications could significantly improve the effectiveness of education
services, welfare services and healthcare services, which would bring important
indirect social and macro-economic benefits. These effects are complex and not yet
clearly proven.
‘Destructive processes’:
• Advanced communications enables business activities to be conducted on a global
basis by considerably reducing the risks and costs of widely distributed operations.
Firms can exploit cost advantages, market opportunities and financial opportunities on
a global basis rather than on a national or regional basis. The true competitiveness of
labour forces and individual enterprises is thus exposed, as markets become more
contestable. In many sectors, Europe is not competitive in global terms, particularly
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