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[FYI] Commission concerned about preparations for the Millennium



CORDIS RTD-NEWS/c European Communities, 1998 

 Record Control Number : 11706 
                             Date : 1998-12-03 


Category : General policy

General Information : 

The European Commission has adopted a report which provides an
overview of current activities in Member States aimed at addressing
the Year 2000 Computing Problem, the so-called "Millennium Bug". The
report will be submitted to Heads of State at the Vienna European
Council later this month. 

The report focuses on initiatives concerned with raising awareness and
stimulating action, on the preparedness of central and local
administrations, and on work undertaken to secure the continuous
functioning of key cross-border infrastructures - transport, energy,
finance, and telecommunications. 

Substantial progress has been made throughout 1998, with most
governments establishing organisations to provide support to the
private sector and information to the public. Both the financial and
telecommunication sectors are demonstrating significant progress by
carrying out external testing, assisted by the efforts of important
international associations. Nevertheless, the decentralisation of
administrations and many national infrastructures and utilities has
tended to impede the central collection of information. The absence of
confirmation that matters have been investigated, rectified and tested
raises serious concerns. These concerns are greatest for local
administrations and the energy and transport sectors. The report aims
to draw the urgent attention of the Heads of State and Government to
this matter. 

The report indicates that those Member States that seem to be more
advanced in handling the problem consider their level of progress to
be less satisfactory, and have started to put in place contingency
plans to handle potential disruptions to normal operations. 

The Commission has proposed to the Council that it establish an ad-hoc
Working group to provide high level coordination. 

Data Source Provider : European Commission, Service du Porte-Parole

Document Reference : Commission press release IP/98/1054 of 2.12.98

Subject Index Codes : Industrial Manufacture; Electronics,
Microelectronics; Information Processing, Information Systems;
Telecommunications; Transport