From 1 July till the end of the year, the presidency of the European Union (EU) is the responsibility of Holland, following the Irish mandate during the first semester of 2004.
In a year of substantial changes within the EU, considering the enlargement to 25 members, the adoption of the treaty establishing the Constitution for the EU and the take office of a new European Commission for a new 5-year term, the priorities of the Dutch Presidency reflect a concern with the enlargement, the Lisbon Strategy, the development of the area of freedom, security and justice, the further development of the Union?s external policy, as well as the financial perspectives for 2007-2013.
The electronic communications sector shall be enhanced since it represents a significant contribution to the materialization of the Lisbon Strategy?s objectives. In particular, the Dutch Presidency will pay special attention to the future development of telecommunications and communication and information technologies, between 2006 and 2010, as well as to network and information security, safe use of the Internet, radio frequency policy, introduction of digital television and preparation of the second session of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which will take place in 2005, in Tunes (Tunisia).
Priorities of the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the European Union
(The information provided belongs to European Commission)
Dutch Presidency official sitehttp://www.eu2004.nl/default.asp?CMS_ITEM=0A3E39C87BE84E86B38D6C42CCDA88F2X1X41319X14
Related Areas
European Unionhttp://europa.eu.int/
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)http://www.itu.int/wsis/index.html
