O’Toole (PSE), rapporteur. – Mr President, I want to first talk about why this report is important and in doing so I picked at random a number of published authors: the works of Michel Tournier, Leonardo Sciascia, Italo Calvino and a man in my own country, Caryl Philips.

A couple of shelves at home house this work of rich linguistic diversity, of rich form, rich culture and rich history. They fashion the way in which I think about and look at the world. The canvas upon which I work has been painted by these authors who are enjoyed by many people. Books for me are principally about access to choice, access to ideas and access to opportunities. I grew up in a pretty humble background, in a poor area with impoverished expectations and poor prospects. But from the day that I entered a public library, books became my liberation as they have been to so many others. I am very grateful to the authors and publishers of those books for giving me that liberation and it is now my duty to ensure that experience is passed on to others.

What then is the report about? Quite simply, I want to ensure that as we fully enter the electronic age, the framework which operates in Member States for books, whether it be protecting intellectual property rights, tax regimes, the regulation of demand or grants, continues to operate in the new age. Books have always been recognised as more than simply a commodity and in an increasingly commodified world this is extremely important.

Electronic publishing covers four specific areas: electronic books, printing on demand, Internet bookshops and publishing on the Internet. We need to make sure that we have the policies to operate a fully comprehensive canvas on which all of these developments can take place.

So what do I want to see in this report? Firstly, we need to encourage the huge growth and development of these industries and the widespread use of electronic media in Europe. We need to have affordable access to these media for all Europeans and the educational provision to make this possible. We should continue to foster linguistic and cultural diversities through the use of electronic publishing and we should facilitate the easy transformation of traditional publishing industries into the e-publishing arena.

In order for this to happen, we need to ensure that the appropriate policies are in place to pursue this growth and to ensure that there is choice and access for all. Therefore, my report calls for a number of things. The EU institutions have a very important part to play in ensuring future growth. First of all, the Commission can establish a comprehensive policy to develop this sector. Secondly, we can all promote policies that develop and encourage literacy and combat the digital divide.

The Commission can and should develop training and vocational programmes and support mechanisms for SME development in this particular sector and we should work with Member States to build safeguards for the rights of authors and the interests of publishers, and ensure that workers in the industry have the opportunity to develop their capacity in the new age.

Member States should ensure that the current VAT rules applying to books be monitored and mirrored for electronic publication. All of this is within our grasp and with this I commend to the whole House, as it almost is, my report with the hope that it provides us with a route map that will allow everybody to enjoy the benefits and the fruits of the emergence of this new sector.

(Applause)