INFORMATION SOCIETY : EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TACKLES DIGITAL DIVIDE, WITH A FEMININE TOUCH.

The European Parliament has come out in favour of the principle of bringing together all Directives on information and communication technologies in order to narrow the digital divide affecting disabled people, the poor, rural communities and the aged. MEPs made that quite clear in adopting a report by Finnish Social Democrat Reino Paasilinna on 14 March in response to the Commission's Communication on i2010, an information society for growth and jobs.

Much of the debate focused on women's place in the information society. The European United Left (GUE) added three amendments on gender equality. Although in favour of the report, the EPP dismissed these amendments as unnecessary following a compromise with the Socialists. The PES backed the use of ICTs in companies and services, although French SocialistaCatherine Trautmann warned 'there can be no competitiveness without power-sharing'. The Liberals slammed paltry spending levels in the EU, estimated at just 80 per...