Proceedings of 8th European Assembly on telework (Telework2001)

39Delegations from 24 <strong>European</strong> parliamentary assemblies <strong>of</strong> the EU and accessing countriesparticipated in the EPRI meeting. They welcomed the many initiatives in the advancement<strong>of</strong> the information society such as eEurope and eEurope+ Action Plans. The concerns <strong>of</strong> theparliamentarians are: 1) to further strengthen parliamentary democracy, 2) to make greater use <strong>of</strong>electronic networks in <strong>European</strong> Governance and 3) to fully integrate democratic considerationsinto the eGovernment debate.The <strong>European</strong> Commission has recently published the White Paper on <strong>European</strong> Governance.It proposes improvements to the framework <strong>of</strong> institutions and for their interactions. The EPRIdelegateswere disappointed about how little attention was given to network opportunities.The EPRI meeting agreed that online access to the <strong>European</strong> legislative and decision-makingprocesses and documents can reduce the information gap and enable better involvement <strong>of</strong> the<strong>European</strong> citizens. The <strong>European</strong> institutions could also demonstrate best practices for otherlegislative institutions. The delegates suggested that the <strong>European</strong> Commission invite parliamentsthroughout Europe to contribute to a database <strong>of</strong> ICT facilities provided to parliamentarians andthe public.According to Backman, parliaments should be the forerunners in taking ICT into effective use tosupport decision-making processes and general use <strong>of</strong> information resources in the society. Webbasedinformation delivery systems and web-based interactive working methods <strong>of</strong> the parliaments,national governments and local authorities play a crucial role in increasing democracy. Parliamentsare the very core <strong>of</strong> democratic institutions. That is why it is very important to have possibilitiesto discuss political and social aspects in the information society, and a <strong>European</strong> model must befound for this.In his video presentation, Commissioner Erkki Liikanen highlighted the <strong>European</strong> vision on theinformation society. In Lisbon, the <strong>European</strong> Council has set a challenging strategic goal for theEU to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge–based economy in the world. Thevision is that the goal will be achieved by the next decade. For achieving the goal, a determinedpolicy, structural changes, skilled workforce and economic dynamism are needed.The information society has the potential to bring about significant improvements in the quality <strong>of</strong>life <strong>of</strong> its citizens. They will have flexible access to information and services, because easy-to-usecommunication means will be widely available. The ICT development affects the time andplace <strong>of</strong> work <strong>of</strong>fering new options for working practices. Work and communications can becarried out from anywhere at any time. However, under these circumstances, it is important tomaintain a proper balance between work, family and social responsibilities. The adoption <strong>of</strong> theICT-based innovations increases flexibility and dynamism in the economy giving a strong impetusto economic growth, which in turn will contribute to the creation <strong>of</strong> new job opportunities anda better social cohesion. This is the core pursuit <strong>of</strong> the Lisbon strategy. The network is the newparadigm <strong>of</strong> the information society. The more connections there are in the network, the moreinformation will be available.