For many people today it seems difficult to live without the internet, however a decreasing, but still non-negligible, part of the EU population has never used it. In the 27 EU Member States, almost three quarters of households had access to the internet in the first quarter of 2011, compared with almost half in the first quarter of 2006. The share of households with broadband internet connections more than doubled between 2006 and 2011, to reach 68% in 2011 compared with 30% in 2006. During the same period, the share of individuals aged 16-74 in the EU27 who had never used the internet decreased from 42% to 24%.

The Commission is reflecting on the development of a European Accessibility Act containing measures to improve the accessibility of goods and services in the European market. This consultation is part of the preparatory data collection that will underpin the assessment of the impact of the measures. The consultation – itself fully accessible –is aimed at gathering views from businesses, people with disabilities and the general public and will remain open until 29 February 2012.

Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda, will welcome the formal endorsement of legislation needed to make radio spectrum available for wireless broadband by 2013, at the EU's Council of Telecoms Ministers meeting in Brussels on 13th December. In addition Vice-President Kroes will present to the Council the Connecting Europe Facility and an Open Data Strategy for Europe due to be adopted next week. During lunch the Ministers will discus the concept of universal service ensuring that the EU-wide rules play their proper part in bringing the benefits of the digital economy to people in Europe. Neelie Kroes will urge Ministers to adopt the new Roaming Regulation before the current Regulation expires at the end of June 2012. She will underline the importance of introducing structural measures to enhance competition as the best way to drive down prices in a durable way, while maintaining retail caps as a safety-net. Vice-President Kroes will also call for a strong European response on Internet security – one that is based on close co-operation between Member States and the EU level. She will also inform Ministers of the new strategy that will be put forward in the third quarter of 2012.

Vice President Kroes has called on teachers and education administrators to end their apathy to technology in the classroom and the education system, or risk being "guilty of a grand failure: a failure to give our children the best chance in life." Kroes said that from South Korea to the slums of Nairobi technology often plays a larger role in education than in Europe and this needs to change. "We need every teacher digital, and every student digital. Right from the very start of formal education." "Why, here in Europe, do most of our classrooms still feel like they did when I was at school?" "Let technology support and enhance learning…When digital media can be combined to create interactive rich content to help teaching: why are we still based on blackboards, textbooks and a uniform approach for everybody?" Kroes said many teachers do see the point and achieve great results: "These technologies are routinely and readily available." In particular such technology helps to tailor learning: "It can help people learn at their own pace, in their own way, wherever they are, and throughout their lives."

28 leading companies have come together to form a new Coalition to make a better and safer internet for children. Put together by the Commission, founding Coalition members are: Apple, BSkyB, BT, Dailymotion, Deutsche Telekom, Facebook, France Telecom-Orange, Google, Hyves, KPN, Liberty Global, LG Electronics, Mediaset, Microsoft, Netlog, Nintendo, Nokia, Opera Software, Research in Motion, RTL Group, Samsung, Sulake, Telefonica, TeliaSonera, Telenor Group, Tuenti, Vivendi, Vodafone. Priority actions include making it easier to report harmful content, ensuring privacy settings are age-appropriate, and offering wider options for parental control, reflecting the needs of a generation that is going online at an increasingly young age.

EU Law: Commission acts to ensure that European legislation is fully and properly implemented

The European Commission has written to sixteen Member States which have failed to fully implement new EU telecoms rules into national law, six months after the deadline to do so (25 May 2011). Partial implementation of the EU Telecoms rules limit consumers' rights in these 16 Member States. The new rules give EU customers new rights regarding fixed telephony, mobile services and Internet access. For instance, the right to switch telecoms operators in one day without changing their phone number and the right to clarity about data traffic management practices employed by Internet Service Providers. There is now also better protection of privacy and personal data online.

The European Commission today announced there is currently no need to change the basic concept, principles or scope of EU rules on Universal Service to include mobile telecommunications services and broadband connections at EU level. The Commission has come to this conclusion on the basis of a public consultation and its third periodic review of the scope of this service.

The European Commission has just launched a public consultation on the introduction of technical harmonisation measures at EU level in the terrestrial 2 GHz band (1900-1980 MHz, 2010-2025 MHz and 2110-2170 MHz). The use of this band in the EU is currently restricted only to UMTS, whereby parts of it remain largely unused. The collected feedback will be assessed in the process of preparing a Commission Implementing Decision in 2012, supported by an Impact Assessment. The consultation closes on 18 January 2012.

Results from a study just released by the European Commission show that parental control tools tested have become more effective at blocking adult content and other harmful content since the first tests conducted last year. However the tools are less efficient at filtering content related to racism and self-harm (sites promoting anorexia, suicide or self-mutilation). In general, the tools cannot filter all the different kinds of user generated content on the internet – while they can block access to things like social networks and streaming services, only very few tools are able to filter contacts in applications such as Skype and MSN.

The European Commission is pleased that its initiative to improve Internet Governance resulted in the introduction of a number of its suggested changes by the US Government for the post-March 2012 Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) contract. The Commission welcomes the publication by the US Government of tender documents for the contract to manage the naming and numbering systems that keep the global Internet running smoothly. The new tender will be subject to a competitive bidding process and its specifications will strengthen the transparency, independence and accountability of the next IANA contractor within the Internet's multi-stakeholder governance ecosystem.

A research project funded by the European Commission has launched an online survey to see how immmigrants use new information and communication technologies. Participants are asked how they use the Internet and mobile phones to talk with friends, to find information, to get a job, and to participate in the local community and wider society. The survey takes 15 minutes to complete, and one in ten respondents will receive 15 minutes of free phone calls as a reward.

The European Commission's 2011 "EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard" shows that R&D investment by top EU companies recovered strongly in 2010, with a 6.1% rise following a 2.6% decrease in 2009. However, data for the world's top 1400 companies show EU companies as a whole lagging behind major competitors from the US and some Asian economies on R&D growth. There was a general positive trend in 2010, as global R&D investment increased by 4%, a robust up-turn after the 1.9% drop observed in 2009. The global top 50 in terms of total R&D investment includes 15 EU companies, 18 US firms and 13 from Japan.

The European Commission has requested Hungary to abolish specific turnover tax on telecoms operators which were introduced in October 2010. The Commission considers this tax is illegal under EU telecoms rules because revenue from the taxes is used for the Government's central budget and not for meeting the specific costs of regulating the telecoms sector. Hungary has also failed to comply with its obligation to consult interested parties in an appropriate manner on any amendments of charges applied to telecoms operators. The Commission's request to Hungary to abolish the telecoms tax takes the form of a 'reasoned opinion' under EU infringement procedures.

The European Commission has decided to formally request Denmark to comply fully with EU rules regarding the financing of basic telecoms services provided to consumers, known as "universal services". In particular, the Commission has asked Denmark to remove maritime emergency services from the list of services which the telecom sector has to bear the cost of providing. The Commission's request to Denmark to amend its universal service rules takes the form of a 'reasoned opinion' under EU infringement procedures.

How Member States are implementing EU Recommendations ensuring children can enjoy the digital world confidently and safely are reviewed by the European Commission in a report presented today. Member States and industry are increasingly making efforts to implement EU Recommendations dating from 1998 and 2006 on the protection of minors using audiovisual and online services. But the measures taken have been insufficient overall.

The European Commission has sent requests for information to twenty EU Member States which have not yet notified measures to implement in full new EU telecoms rules into national law. The deadline set by the European Parliament and the EU's Council of Ministers for implementing the new rules was 25th May 2011. The requests for information take the form of letters of formal notice under EU infringement procedures.

The views of telecoms operators, Internet service providers, Member States, national data protection authorities consumer organisations and other interested parties are being sought by the European Commission on whether additional practical rules are needed to make sure that personal data breaches are notified in a consistent way across the EU. The revised ePrivacy Directive (2009/136/EC), which entered into force on 25 May 2011 as part of a package of new EU telecoms rules, requires operators and Internet service providers to inform, without undue delay, national authorities and their customers about breaches of personal data that they hold. The Commission wants to gather input based on existing practice and initial experience with the new telecoms rules and may then propose additional practical rules to make clear when breaches should be reported, the procedures for doing so, and the formats that should be used. Contributions to the consultation are welcome until 9th September 2011.

A proposal for a long-term solution to the continued high cost of using mobile phones and other mobile devices whilst travelling in the EU (roaming) has been presented by the European Commission. The directly binding Regulation proposed would for the first time introduce structural measures to boost competition by allowing customers from 1 July 2014, if they so wish, to sign up for a cheaper mobile roaming contract, separate from their contract for national mobile services, whilst using the same phone number. The proposal would also give mobile operators (including so-called virtual mobile operators, who do not have their own network) the right to use other operators' networks in other Member States at regulated wholesale prices, and so encourage more operators to compete on the roaming market.

Only two social networking sites (Bebo and MySpace) tested on behalf of the European Commission have default settings to make minors' profiles accessible only to their approved list of contacts and only 4 sites ensure minors can be contacted by default by friends only (Bebo, MySpace, Netlog and SchuelerVZ). However, a majority of 14 social networking sites tested do give minors age-appropriate safety information, respond to requests for help and prevent minors' profiles from being searched via external search engines. The number of minors using social networking sites in the EU is growing - currently 77% of 13-16 year olds and 38% of 9-12 year olds who use the Internet.