Glossary of Institutions, policies and enlargement of the European Union
(Starting with "I")
©
European Communities, 1995-2007
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Information
Society
The information society is synonymous
with what is meant by "new information and communication
technologies" (ICT). Since the beginning of the 90s,
the new ICT have been booming. The universal use of
electronic exchanges of information, convergence towards
digital technologies, the exponential growth of the
Internet and the opening up of telecommunications
markets are all signs of this change.
The information society is revolutionising
many areas of everyday life, particularly access to
training and knowledge (distance learning, e-learning
related services), work organisation and mobilisation
of skills (teleworking, virtual companies), practical
life (e-health services) and leisure. It is also providing
new opportunities in terms of participation of citizens
by making it easier to express opinions and points
of view. However, these positive advances go hand-in-hand
with new concerns: mass use of the Internet means
that steps have to be taken against new criminal behaviour,
pirating, and questions of protection of personal
data and intellectual property. Moreover, the information
society may contribute to the marginalisation of certain
sections of society by emphasising social inequalities.
In the light of these potential benefits
and threats, the European Union has placed the information
society at the heart of its strategy for the 21st
century. Among other things it has launched a series
of support and promotion actions (eEurope action plan)
and adopted measures aimed at controlling and limiting
the risks associated with the development of the information
society such as an action plan aimed at promoting
safe use of the Internet and combating unlawful and
harmful messages.
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Institutional
balance
The principle of Community institutional
balance implies that each institution has to act in
accordance with the powers conferred on it by the
Treaties, in accordance with the division of powers.
The principle itself is not set out in so many words
in the Treaties but derives from a judgment by the
Court of Justice of the European Communities (Meroni
judgment of 1958). The principle of Community institutional
balance thus prohibits any encroachment by one institution
on the powers conferred on another. It is the Court's
responsibility to ensure that this principle is respected.
The relationship between the European
Commission, the Council of the European Union and
the European Parliament is governed by the idea of
the "institutional triangle". Their relationship and
the powers conferred on them by the Treaties have
changed radically over the years, particularly in
the case of Parliament, whose influence has increased
considerably. Despite the progress made by the Treaty
on European Union and the Treaty of Amsterdam, there
is still an imbalance between the legislative powers
of the Council and those of Parliament, since legislative
power is really shared by the two institutions only
in the areas covered by codecision.
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Intellectual
property
Like tangible goods, intellectual
creations can constitute property which is designated
"intellectual property". Intellectual property traditionally
covers two areas:
- industrial property which mainly
comprises patents, designs and models, manufacturers
and service brands and protected designations of
origin;
- copyright and related rights which
apply to all literary and artistic works.
This field covers cultural, social
and technological issues of great importance which
have to be taken into account when drawing up a coherent
policy in this area. Thus, on the question of industrial
property, Community regulations have endeavoured to
harmonise the conditions for the registration of trademarks
and extend to holders the protection conferred by
a single set of rules. A Regulation introducing a
Community design was also adopted in December 2001.
In order to encourage innovation, the Union is also
working on the creation of a Community patent.
On the question of copyright and related
rights, harmonised Community legislation was drawn
up in areas where legal uncertainty was likely to
dissuade holders from exploiting rights in certain
territories (computer programmes and databases, satellite
broadcasting and cable retransmission, rental right
and lending right and certain related rights). European
legislation was then adapted to take account of the
new challenges posed by technological progress and
the information society. Measures aimed at combating
counterfeiting and piracy have moreover been taken
at European level.
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Intergovernmental
Conference (IGC)
This term is used to describe negotiations
between the Member States' governments with a view
to amending the Treaties. Intergovernmental conferences
play a major part in European integration, since institutional
changes must always be the outcome of such negotiations.
These conferences are convened, at
the initiative of a Member State or the Commission,
by the Council of Ministers acting by a simple majority
(after consulting the European Parliament and, if
appropriate, the Commission).
The preparatory work is entrusted
to a group consisting of a representative of each
of the Member States' governments and, as a matter
of custom, a representative of the Commission. The
European Parliament is closely involved throughout
by means of observers and discussions with the President
of the Parliament. This group regularly reports to
the General Affairs Council. The final decisions are
taken by the heads of state and government at a European
Council. It should be noted that the preparatory work
for the 2004 IGC took a more unusual course, as it
was entrusted to a Convention and accompanied by a
wide-ranging public debate.
The most important IGCs in recent
years have resulted in the following treaties:
- The Single European Act (1986):
this introduced the changes needed to complete the
internal market on 1 January 1993.
- The Treaty of Maastricht (1992):
the Treaty on European Union was negotiated at two
separate IGCs, one on economic and monetary union
(EMU) and the other on political union, instituting
the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and
cooperation on justice and home affairs (JHA).
- The Treaty of Amsterdam (1997):
this is the result of the IGC launched at the Turin
European Council in March 1996. The task of the
Conference was to revise those provisions of the
Maastricht Treaty which gave rise to problems of
implementation and to prepare for future enlargement.
- The Treaty of Nice (2001): the
IGC preceding this was launched in February 2000
to address the issues not resolved by the Treaty
of Amsterdam, namely: the size and composition of
the European Commission, the weighting of votes
in the Council of Ministers, the possible extension
of qualified majority voting in the Council and
closer cooperation - included during the Santa Maria
de Feira European Council of June 2000.
- The Treaty establishing a Constitution
for Europe (2004).
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Ioannina
compromise
The Ioannina compromise takes its
name from an informal meeting of foreign ministers
in the Greek city of Ioannina on 29 March 1994. Among
the decisions taken at the meeting was a Council decision
concerning the specific question of qualified majority
voting in an enlarged 16-member Community. The decision
was later adjusted in the light of Norway's decision
not to join. The resulting compromise lays down that
if members of the Council representing between 23
votes (the old blocking minority threshold) and 26
votes (the new threshold) express their intention
of opposing the taking of a decision by the Council
by qualified majority, the Council will do all within
its power, within a reasonable space of time, to reach
a satisfactory solution that can be adopted by at
least 68 votes out of 87.
Following the re-weighting of votes
in the Council of Ministers, the Treaty of Nice puts
an end to the Ioannina compromise.
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i2010
Following its launch in June 2005,
i2010 -- A European Information Society for 2010 --
is the European Commission's new strategic framework
for the information and media society.
i2010 centres on three priorities:
- completing a single European information
space which will encourage an open, competitive
internal market for the information and media society;
- promoting innovation and investment
in research into information and communication technologies
(ICT);
- creating a European information
society based on inclusion and stressing better
public services and quality of life.
i2010 is the first initiative taken
by the Commission within the renewed Lisbon partnership
for growth and employment. This strategy follows on
from two action plans, eEurope 2002 and eEurope 2005,
which set out the steps to be taken to promote ICT
in Europe.
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