Blair declares Lisbon summit a euro-policy revolution

NEWS UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has declared the Lisbon Summit, where European heads of state have gathered to discuss the future of ecommerce, a "sea-change in European Union thinking". The summit was used as a discussion forum to set the agenda for all future ecommerce policy-making. Among the conclusions of the summit - which ended today - are plans to boost the so-called Information Society by adopting a legal framework for ecommerce by the end of the year. Also decided upon were complete telecommunications liberalisation by the end of 2001 and a reduction in local Internet access costs by the end of 2000. Participants also set targets to link education sectors across nation states and to safeguard against social exclusion of the poorest nations and citizens. Blair summarised what he called a "sea-change" in policy making as a move away from regulation towards benchmarking, best practice and peer review. More information about the summit's full conclusions can be found at the Portugese presidency Web site, http://www.portugal.ue-2000.pt/ .