Upcoming Committee of the Regions meeting addresses "e-barriers"
Addressing "e-barriers" through improved interoperability of digital services at local, national and European levels will be among the main focus of debate at the next meeting of the Committee of the Regions' commission for education, youth, culture and research (EDUC). The EDUC meeting, to be held in Brussels on 21 November, will also discuss EU measures to promote an integrated approach to cultural heritage in Europe with a view to further reap the benefits of the cultural and creative sectors for local development.
The European Commission adopted last June a proposal for a new programme designed to help EU Member States to modernise their administrations and provide interoperable digital services at national and European level. This is essential as more and more citizens work and relocate, and more businesses trade and operate across the Union, meaning that they often need to interact electronically with the Member State's administrations. The new programme - ISA 2 - will take over from its predecessor, ISA (Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations), to ensure smooth electronic cross-border or cross-sector interaction between European public administrations.
The Rapporteur on the issue, Odeta Žerlauskienė (LT/ALDE), Member of Skuodas District Municipal Council, will present her draft opinion to EDUC members in which she welcomes the scope of the proposed ISA2 Programme, which will cover all levels of administration - European, local, regional and national - and commits to take into account their respective needs. She however calls for the Programme to be more open to non-governmental sectors, such as private individuals and businesses, to pay adequate attention to the development of multilingual solutions and that security of usage be explicitly mentioned as one of the general principles applying to all actions financed under the Programme.
EDUC members will also debate the proposed EU strategy to promote an "integrated approach to cultural heritage for Europe", on the basis of a draft opinion to be presented by György Gémesi (HU/EPP), Mayor of Gödöllő. The rapporteur welcomes the emphasis placed on the importance of cultural heritage not only as a factor in economic development and social integration, but also as a cornerstone of local, regional, national and European identity. While commending the fact that more resources are being made available to cultural and creative sectors under the EU's new structural funds and dedicated framework programmes, he recommends maximum synergy between them so as to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in implementing local and regional strategies for creative and innovative goals. M. Gémesi further calls for better integrating the cultural heritage sector into the revised Europe 2020 strategy and stresses the need to make cultural services accessible to all, also through promoting the digitisation of Europe's cultural heritage.
The meeting will take place at the Committee of the Regions' headquarters in Brussels on Friday 21 November, starting at 11.00 am. The meeting is public and open to the press.
See the meeting agenda for further details.
The Committee of the Regions' EDUC commission:
The EDUC commission is competent for issues including education, youth policy, culture, sport, multilingualism, information society, research and innovation, audio-visual industry and media. It gathers about 100 regional and local elected representatives from the 28 EU member states, and is chaired by Anton Rombouts (NL/EPP), Mayor of the City of 's Hertogenbosch.