INFORMATION SOCIETY: REPORT REVEALS DIGITAL DIVIDE ACROSS EUROPE.

• Position: Brief article

Europe is suffering from a digital divide stemming from differences in education and employment status, according to new figures released by Eurostat. While 85% of students used the internet during the first quarter of 2004, only 40% of the unemployed and 13% of the retired did so. With regard to education, 77% of respondents with a tertiary education had used the internet within this period, compared to 52% of those who had completed secondary education and 25% with a lower secondary education.

The figures come ahead of this week's World Summit on Information Society in Tunis, where the existence of a global digital divide is likely to be a hot topic of discussion. The report by Eurostat demonstrates that, even within developed countries...