Press Release: eEurope: Taking stock of results and setting priorities for the Barcelona European Council

A communication entitled 2002 'eEurope Benchmarking Report' was adopted by the European Commission on 12 February 2002. The report provides a detailed snapshot of the development of the European Information Society since the Lisbon Summit in March 2000. The eEurope Benchmarking exercise analyses data from across Europe on key indicators, ranging from the price of an internet connection to the number of connected schools. The findings are that the eEurope Action Plan has helped increase the number of connected households, schools and business, but that the rate of growth is slowing. Broadband uptake, moreover, is still sluggish, generally expensive and limited to two platforms. The growth of e-commerce is also slowing, while the number of security problems grows.