This Communication concerns the final evaluation of the multiannual Safer Internet plus programme (2005-2008.) The programme ran over a four-year period from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2008 with a reference budget of EUR 45 million.

The report sets out in detail the findings of an independent evaluation. The evaluators found that the programme has been successful in achieving its objectives. It has contributed to achieving a safer Internet through a range of interventions.

Considerable achievements : not only has it continued to keep the issue of safer Internet high on the agenda of policy makers across Europe and beyond, but it has also become a driver for action outside the European context. The programme's experiences and best practices are seen as very helpful by other countries which are confronted by similar challenges. The very broad international membership of INHOPE is also a testament to the standing of the programme in the wider internet community. In addition,:

the networking opportunity provided by the programme is highly valued by many stakeholders, who emphasize the fact that the programme enables sectors to work together who would otherwise not have joined forces, for example major telecoms providers and NGOs; the expansion of the two networks to cover virtually the whole European area as well as countries further a field is an undoubted achievement. The INSAFE network has grown from coverage of 21 countries in 2006 to 34 countries in 2008. The INHOPE network has had a similar growth, with 13 members joining during the period of the programme, bringing the total membership to 33; successful work has been undertaken in encouraging the mobile phone industry in its efforts to adopt effective self-regulatory mechanisms on protecting minors; as regards the awareness activities, the Safer Internet Day has been an undoubted success.

However, the visibility of the programme would be enhanced by greater online and offline presence and promotion. A greater consistency in branding would assist in establishing the identity and credibility of the programme within different sectors, countries and regions.

The sustainability of the programme itself is robust. It is, however, important to monitor the function of the networks to ensure that the model is still the most appropriate one. In particular, the requirement for hotlines, awareness nodes and helplines to form combined nodes at the national level in order to increase effectiveness also raises the question of whether the two networks should be required to combine in a single organisation to coordinate all activities across Europe.

The report sets out some recommendations to be taken into account for future work: (i) promote and protect the rights and privacy of children, young people and other legitimate Internet; (ii) achieve active support and involvement for the Programme and individual projects on a national level from all relevant sectors; (iii) high priority should be given to co-operation and collaboration with third countries, on a policy and operational level, particularly with regard to identifying, tracing and eradicating illegal child abuse images; (iv) enhanced dialogue and cooperation should be established among the various EU initiatives with an intersection of interests or the potential for collaboration with the Safer Internet plus programme; (v) future solutions should continue to take into account national, cultural, linguistic and socio-demographic factors; (vi) the technical knowledge base of the Programme should be further strengthened; (vii) more proactive use should be made of the press and media across Europe; (viii) further knowledge enhancement activity could be conducted in two key areas: problematic, risky and criminal online behaviours on the part of children and young people themselves; the underlying reasons for the trends identified by INHOPE in respect of illegal content; (ix) the roles of the two networks (INHOPE and INSAFE) should be re-visited to ensure they offer the most appropriate mechanism for co-ordinating the work of national nodes; (x) a high priority should be given to raising the visibility of hotlines, which still suffer from low levels of public awareness; (xi) the Programme could engage more actively with industry.

The Commission invites the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions to:

take note that the programme has been successfully implemented; assist the Commission in its work of increasing the visibility of the Safer Internet programme and stimulate a continued dialogue on safer Internet issues.

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COM(2009)0064

This report has been prepared in accordance with Article 5 (3) of Decision 854/2005/EC establishing a multiannual Community programme on promoting safer use of the internet and new online technologies , referred to as the “Safer Internet plus” Decision. According to this Article the Commission is to report to the Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the actions, as set out in the Decision, by mid-2006. To recall, the budget for the multi-annual programme, covering the period 1 January 2005 – 31 December 2008 is EUR 45 million. For the year 2006 the budget stood at EUR 20.5 million.

The programme is divided into four main actions:

- The fight against illegal content.

- Tackling unwanted and harmful content.

- Promoting a safer environment.

- Raising awareness.

Coverage of the new programme extends to new online technologies including: mobile and broadband content, on-line games, peer-to-peer file transfer and all forms real-time communications such as chat rooms and instant messages. One of the main aims of the Decision is to improve the protection of children and minors. The programme does, however, cover other fields of illegal on-line activity such as racism and violence.

In September 2005, the Commission published the “Safer Internet plus” call for proposals. Of the 59 proposals received, 37 were selected following an evaluation period. This involved funding some EUR 11.79 million in total (of which EUR 9.21 million derived from the 2005 budget and EUR 2.58 million from the 2006 budget). Funding was distributed as follows:

- Hotlines: 1 network coordinator and 16 hotlines covering 15 countries;

- Awareness nodes and help lines: 1 network coordinator and 16 awareness nodes;

- User empowerment: 1 thematic network;

- Self-regulation: 1 thematic network;

- Media: 1 thematic network.

The Safer Internet Forum

The Safer Internet Forum was set up under the Safer Internet Action Plan to provide a focal point for discussion and to encourage action on illegal, unwanted and harmful content. It provides a platform for consensus- building, recommendations and guidelines. It also provides an opportunity to discuss ways in which industry can contribute to combating illegal content.

In 2005 the main topic discussed in the Safer Internet Forum was "Child safety and mobile phones". This focused on risk assessment, emerging solutions and national codes of conduct. In 2006, discussion with mobile network operators, child safety organisations, researchers and public bodies continued, with the objective of reaching an agreement on best practices on child protection and their implementation across Europe. In June 2006, two new topics were discussed in the Forum: children's use of new media and blocking access to child sexual abuse images.

Safer Internet Days

Safer Internet Day is a global drive to promote a safer Internet for all users, especially young people. In February 2005 and 2006, Safer Internet Days were organised under the patronage of Commissioner Viviane Reding by the European internet safety network INSAFE, which is co-funded by the Safer Internet Programme, with the participation of a broad number of organisations and countries from both within and outside of the EU. In 2006 the Commission intends to continue the above activities and to enhance their impact by:

- Consolidating and extending the geographical coverage of the hotlines and awareness-raising networks.

- Fostering closer cooperation between all stakeholders in Safer Internet activities.

- Offering practical advice on how to use the Internet more safely.

- Increasing the visibility of the Safer Internet plus programme among European citizens.

To conclude, the great number of reports received by the hotlines (over 534,000 in 2005 alone) shows the increasing need for programmes capable of fighting illegal on-line content. Safer Internet Day, with its broad national participation and media coverage, is increasingly recognized as a valuable communications tool. Awareness nodes are providing ever more targeted campaigns at children, parents and teachers.

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PURPOSE: to establish a multiannual Community Programme on promoting safer use if the Internet and new online technologies.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 854/2005/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of Ministers.

CONTENT: The Council adopted the Safer Internet Plus programme, which aims to empower parents and teachers with internet safety tools. The 4-year programme (2005–08) will have a budget of EUR 45 million to combat illegal and harmful internet content. The new programme also covers other media, such as videos, and explicitly addresses the fight against racism, and also “spam”. It will focus more closely on end users: parents, educators and children.

Activities under the four Safer Internet plus action lines will include:

- Fighting illegal content: hotlines that enable the public to report illegal content and which pass the reports on to the appropriate body for action. The programme will fund individual hotlines and network co-ordination, and will be extended to help lines for children worried by illegal and harmful content.

- Tackling unwanted and harmful content: funding for technology that enables users to limit the amount of unwanted and harmful content they receive, or that can be used to test the effectiveness of available filters. Funding will also be available for developing better filters and promoting exchanges of information and best practice on anti-spam enforcement.

- Promoting a safer environment: the EU supports self-regulation, which offers flexibility and understanding of needs in an area combining high technology, rapid change and cross-border activity. The Commission will provide a Safer Internet Forum for national co-regulatory or self-regulatory bodies to exchange experience.

- Awareness-raising: the Commission will support information exchange on safer internet use, particularly for personalised, interactive and mobile applications.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 11/06/2005.

Decision 2005/854
OJ L 149 11.06.2005, p. 0001-0013

03688/1/2004

SP(2005)239

CES1651/2004
OJ C 157 28.06.2005, p. 0136-0140

The European Parliament adopted the resolution based on the draft by Edith MASTENBROEK (PES, NL) and made some amendments to the Commission's proposal. Parliament voted for compromise amendments already agreed with the Commission and the Council:

- the Decision establishes a Community Programme for the period 2005-2008. In the implementation of the

Programme, the Commission must ensure that it is generally consistent with other relevant Community programmes, in particular the Community research and technological development programmes and the Daphne, eContent2 and Modinis programmes;

- the financial framework for period from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2008 is set at EUR 45 million, of which EUR 20,050 million is for the period until 31 December 2006. For the period following 31 December 2006, the amount will be deemed to be confirmed if it is consistent for this phase with the financial perspective in force for the period commencing in 2007;

- the Commission must report on the implementation of the action lines by mid-2006 at the latest. It must report on the consistency of the mount for 2007-2008 with the financial perspective. If applicable, the Commission should take the necessary steps within the budgetary procedures for 2007-2008 to ensure the consistency of the annual appropriations with the financial perspective;

- for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of hotlines, several indicators should be taken into account.

Qualitative and quantitative data must be collected on the establishment and operation of hotlines, the number of national nodes, the geographical coverage in the Member States, the number of reports received, the number and level of experience of staff of the hotlines, the reports forwarded for action to the public authorities and ISPs, and, to the extent available, actions taken as a result, in particular the number and kind of web pages withdrawn by internet service providers as a result of information provided by the hotlines. Those data should be made public if possible and should be forwarded to the competent authorities. For amendments made to the action lines and funding proportions, please see the committee report of 16/11/04.

T6-0072/2004
OJ C 208 25.08.2005, p. 0018-0038 E

Results of vote in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted the resolution based on the draft by Edith MASTENBROEK (PES, NL) and made some amendments to the Commission's proposal. Parliament voted for compromise amendments already agreed with the Commission and the Council:

- the Decision establishes a Community Programme for the period 2005-2008. In the implementation of the

Programme, the Commission must ensure that it is generally consistent with other relevant Community programmes, in particular the Community research and technological development programmes and the Daphne, eContent2 and Modinis programmes;

- the financial framework for period from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2008 is set at EUR 45 million, of which EUR 20,050 million is for the period until 31 December 2006. For the period following 31 December 2006, the amount will be deemed to be confirmed if it is consistent for this phase with the financial perspective in force for the period commencing in 2007;

- the Commission must report on the implementation of the action lines by mid-2006 at the latest. It must report on the consistency of the mount for 2007-2008 with the financial perspective. If applicable, the Commission should take the necessary steps within the budgetary procedures for 2007-2008 to ensure the consistency of the annual appropriations with the financial perspective;

- for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of hotlines, several indicators should be taken into account.

Qualitative and quantitative data must be collected on the establishment and operation of hotlines, the number of national nodes, the geographical coverage in the Member States, the number of reports received, the number and level of experience of staff of the hotlines, the reports forwarded for action to the public authorities and ISPs, and, to the extent available, actions taken as a result, in particular the number and kind of web pages withdrawn by internet service providers as a result of information provided by the hotlines. Those data should be made public if possible and should be forwarded to the competent authorities. For amendments made to the action lines and funding proportions, please see the committee report of 16/11/04.

T6-0072/2004

Debate in Parliament

PE350.049

A6-0033/2004

A6-0033/2004

The committee adopted the report by Edith MASTENBROEK (PES, NL) broadly approving the proposal, subject to a number of amendments under the 1st reading of the codecision procedure:

- the Commission should forward the results of its evaluations to Parliament and the Council before presentation of the EU's draft general budget for 2007 to 2009;

- the programme's budget should be cut by EUR 5 million (EUR 45 million rather than EUR 50 million as originally proposed). While agreeing that EUR 20.050 million should be allocated for the period up to 31.12.2006, MEPs said that, for the following period (i.e. 2007 to the end of 2008), the amount should only be deemed to be confirmed if it is consistent with the financial perspective for 2007-2008;

- Action line 1: Community funds should be used to raise public awareness of hotlines enabling members of the public to report illegal content. The effectiveness of such hotlines should be evaluated, e.g. by publishing data on the number and kind of web pages withdrawn by service providers as a result of information provided by hotlines. One amendment called for support for telephone help lines where children could raise concerns about illegal or harmful content on the Internet. The share of the budget allocated to Action line 1 should be 25-30% rather than 23-28% as originally proposed;

- Action line 2: the programme's limited financial resources should be used to finance those activities that the private sector is reluctant to invest in, and further development of filter software should not be a priority. However, funds could be used to help make filter technology more accessible, e.g. in languages not adequately covered by the market. Action line 2 should receive 10-17% of the budget rather than 16-23% as the Commission was proposing;

- Action line 3: the Safer Internet Forum should include a wide range of stakeholders, such as representatives of parent and teacher organisations, child protection groups, consumer protection bodies and "civil and digital rights organisations". Its remit should include encouraging service providers to draw up codes of conduct on issues such as Notice and Take Down procedures, information to users about safer use of Internet and the existence of hotlines. The share of the budget for Action line 3 should be increased from 5-9% to 8-12%;

- Action line 4: the Commission should use television and radio campaigns as a way of raising awareness among parents of the dangers and risks involved in Internet use by children. MEPs also suggested that information material should be distributed to schools and internet cafés. The budget for Action line 4 should be increased from 43-50% to 47-51%.

Pending the European Parliament's opinion, the Council agreed on a general approach regarding the proposal on establishing a multiannual Community programme on promoting safer use of the internet and new on-line technologies.

The Council suggested staying in line with the Presidency compromise proposal and considering it as a basis for negotiating with the Parliament, in particular as regards the budget amount. At this stage the Commission maintained its general reservation on the text agreed.

It is recalled that the proposed "Safer Internet Plus" programme responds to new challenges both in quantitative and qualitative terms and focusing on end-user, particularly on parents, educators and children. Four actions are provided for: fighting against illegal content, tackling unwanted and harmful content, promoting a safer environment and awareness-raising.

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