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By Joey Gardiner, 22 February 2000 00:30

NEWS Over 50 MEPs are today launching a forum to help the European Commission legislate effectively for the Internet Society. The group called the European Internet Foundation (EIF) will advise the Commission on issues relating to ebusiness legislation and the management of social issues arising from technological advances. Although the group is made up primarily of parliamentarians, it has the backing of IT companies including Alcatel, BT, ICL and Siemens, and is funded independently of the Commission. James Elles, Conservative MEP and one of the founders of the EIF, said the group is needed because the rapid growth of the Internet means changes to the fabric of European society are occurring too fast for legislators to cope with. He said: "In the European marketplace, there is pressure for new legislation because of the pace of change. It is our job, as technology-sensitive MEPs, to communicate the benefits that these changes can bring to the people making those decisions." Elles said he hoped the EIF's recommendations will encourage legislators to take as light an approach as possible to Internet regulation. The foundation is comprised of MPs from all political affiliations and wants to be a "broad-based foundation" accommodating a spectrum of viewpoints. Elles acknowledged the lead taken by the US in global ecommerce markets, saying that at government level "there has been a void in Europe - with no political leadership so far". He added that the EIF will attempt to address that. One of the catalysts for the formation of the EIF was criticisms made by the US Internet Caucus - a group performing an equivalent think-tank role in the US - that there was no organisations to talk to on a European-wide level about Internet issues. The EIF has been welcomed by Diana Wallis, Liberal Democrat MEP and founder of an independent European discussion group that focuses on Internet issues (http://www.eping.org ), who said the two groups will work in parallel. The EIF encourages all interested parties to contact them via their Web site at http://www.EIFonline.org to help set the agenda for its first year.