Ljubljana, 17 October 2003

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6th Business and Government Executive Meeting on
Cross-border eCommerce Development in the Region
Reinhard Büscher, European Commission,
Enterprise Directorate General
Ljubljana, 17 October 2003
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eEurope 2005 Benchmarking Indicators The
e-Business Index
All enterprises (simulation)
Use of ICT by businesses
Adoption of ICT by businesses
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The European e-Business Index
eEurope 2005
European Commission
Enterprise Directorate General
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e-Business Readiness Index
eEurope 2005
European Commission
Enterprise Directorate General
The European eBusiness Index (2002 data,
simulation)
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eEurope 2005 Benchmarking Indicators The
e-Business Index
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Online selling and buying
Diffusion of e-commerce in EU companies,
1993-2003 Computed based on questions on the
starting time of online selling / procurement
activities. Values for 2003 are 3/2003 and may be
higher by the end of the year.
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Online selling and buying, amongst SMEs
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Correlation between change in labor productivity
and use of online procurement
Correlation 0.33
Average annual percentage change in labor
productivity, 1995-2000
Percentage of companies purchasing goods or
services online
Source e-business w_at_tch sector database 2002.
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e-Business W_at_tch European e-Business
Think-tank
Secondary sources - market research - OECD,
Eurostat, ... - studies, surveys - databases
Industry Associations - sector statistics -
reports - interviews
Network of experts 10-15 experts from different
fields, countries and sectors

• Survey
• 10 sectors
• 28 countries
• - case studies

e-Business Market Watch Function
Ad hoc Services (to DG Enterprise) -
Forecasts - Short term data retrieval -
Background information
Synthesis Reports (1000 copies each) Pocketbook (
with indicators) Web Site (internal,
public) Dissemination (events, conference)
Database e-biz indicators per sector,
country, company size
Sectoral Impact Reports -
sectoral implications - economic
implications - policy implications
(paper and electronic)
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e-Business W_at_tch European e-Business
Think-tank

• Improving the understanding
• Structural changes at macro- / micro-level by
  e-business adoption
• Takes more than numbers and statistics to assess
  economic and sectoral impact
• New indicators
• Enhancing policy formulationto increase
  competitiveness in the digital economy andto
  achieve excellent e-business performancein
  light of the Lisbon goal.

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The EU legal framework for e-business has been
widely established...

• but
• some important changes are still to come ?
  public e-procurement
• many enterprises are not aware of the existing
  e-legislation ? the statistical evidence
• EU legislation does not solve all practical
  problems ? examples e-invoices e-signatures
• new online business practices create new
  challenges ? example online auctions

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How to remove existing "trust" barriers in
e-business? The enterprise policy response

• Raising awareness and improving information ? the
  European E-Business Legal Portal
  
  www.ebusinesslex.net
• Identifying the real problems ? the online
  consultation on legal barriers for e-business
  http//europa.eu.int/comm/enterpri
  se/ict/policy/b2b-con2003/index.htm
• Promoting self-regulation ? Communication on
  "Fair trade in B2B"
• Reviewing existing legislation and assessing the
  role of new technologies
• Conference on "E-business without frontiers the
  challenges ahead" in April 2004

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For more information
reinhard.buescher_at_cec.eu.int http//europa.eu.in
t/comm/enterprise/ict/index.htm http//www.ebusine
ss-watch.org http//www.ebusinesslex.net/index.asp