91996E1779

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1779/96 by Abdelkader Mohamed Ali (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (3 July 1996)

Subject: Impact of the new information technologies on employment

The application of the new technologies in the future information society opens up enormous scope for professionals, business men and potential users. However, the speed of the introduction of these new media, whilst creating technical jobs, may have a substantial impact on employment.

Does the Commission intend to carry out a study on the impact of the new information technologies on employment, to ascertain the number of jobs created and the number lost, because of the replacement of people by machines?

Is the Commission taking account of the need to recycle highly qualified employees by means of specialized training programmes which would, as far as possible, enable men and women affected by the technological changes in their work environment not to be excluded from the process of renewal?

Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission (23 September 1996)

The Commission believes that the new information technologies in the information society will have an important effect, both quantitative and qualitative, on employment across the economy.

Several studies have already been launched to examine the relationship between employment and information technology.

This issue is equally at the core of the work of the information society forum set up by the Commission, and which includes representatives from all sectors concerned and which presented its first annual report to the public on 9 July 1996. Furthermore, a high level group of experts, set up by the Commission, submitted its interim report in January 1996 (Building the European information society for us all).

The Commission will use this work, as well as a series of other studies, to put together a green paper 'People first: living and working in the European information society'.

This document, along with other communications on the information society currently under preparation, will seek to clarify the impact on employment and will stress the challenges from these developments in the information society to education and training.

The Commission considers vocational training related to new technology a necessity. In the context of the structural funds such an approach is already followed, particularly under measures related to the adaptation to industrial change, for example under the European social fund's objective 4 and the Community initiative programme Adapt.