For this reason, the Commission, with BEREC, is currently looking into a number of issues that surfaced in the course of the consultation process, in particular, barriers to switching (for example, after how long, on average, a customer is permitted to break a post-paid contract, and what if any are the penalties), practices of blocking, throttling and commercial practices with equivalent effect, transparency and quality of service as well as the competition issues relating to net neutrality (e.g. discriminatory practices by a dominan ...[+++]t player).

(Return tabled) Question No. 70 Ms. Meili Faille: With regard to large information technology projects, and specifically the four pillars of the Shared Services Initiative: (a) has the government prepared a detailed plan accompanied by schedules to explain how it will proceed with the implementation of these major projects, (i) if so, what are the details of this plan, (ii) if not, what are the reasons for the non-existence of such a document; (b) for each of the pillars, (i) which departments are potential clients, (ii) what is the project’s estimated value (estimated minimum to estimated maximum), (iii) what is the description of each ...[+++] project, (iv) what are the key success factors, (v) what are the advantages and estimated costs, (vi) what is the department’s organizational capacity, (vii) what is the planned project launch date for the invitations to tender, (viii) will the contract be awarded to one supplier or several, (ix) for these long-term contracts, what means does the government have to change suppliers once the project is under way; and (c) with regards to the process for implementing major projects, (i) what are the details of the business plan that was used to justify the projects, (ii) was an independent review done on the business plan and, if so, which individuals or organizations were part of it, (iii) what are the details of the impact studies on the small and medium-sized businesses (SME) in the Ottawa-Gatineau region or elsewhere, (iv) what strategy was used to mitigate the impact on SMEs, (v) is there an impact study for these projects on the information technology industry and, if so, what are the details?

The market for sustainable products and processes will have to grow to meet the demands of a fast growing global ‘middle’ class, for consumer goods and services alongside environmental quality.

The market for sustainable products and processes will have to grow to meet the demands of a fast growing global ‘middle’ class, for consumer goods and services alongside environmental quality.

-on the importance of continuing to develop high quality standards with high levels of protection of health, safety, the environment and consumers; -on the importance of standards which have general acceptance throughout the Community taking into account the interests of all parties concerned, including consumers, employees and small and medium sized enterprises; -on the importance of transparency, independence and broad consensus in the standards making process; -that the Commission’s report is a valuable stimulus to considerat ...[+++]ion of the changing environment for standards and of further improvements which would enable standards to continue to play their important role; -on the need, in the light of the Commission’s report, for further reflection and discussion on standardisation issues in the Council, as well as in other appropriate fora, focusing in particular on:

5. The following priority aspects of development aid action must be taken into account: (a) promotion of local economic development through support for small and medium-sized businesses, cooperatives and the informal sector, and for agricultural, craft, industrial, and commercial production, with encouragement of access to credit, technical assistance and training, in particular for women and young entrepreneurs; (b) encouragement of vocational training closely linked with local economic potential in the context of local policies and sustainable policies and initiatives to boost employment; (c) promotion of action to reduce cases of insecurity and violence by improv ...[+++]ing the operation of public institutions in the context of the rule of law; (d) increased opportunities for all members of society - in particular, women, the young and disadvantaged groups - to participate in development action and the democratic process; (e) improvement of the operation of basic health services, preventive medicine and community health programmes and action designed to meet the priority health concerns of communities; (f) promotion of basic education and all educational initiatives and action to encourage communities to put down stronger roots; (g) promotion of methods for the economic exploitation of natural resources which can also have a positive impact on the environment and improve the quality of life of communities; (h) general and programmatic support for developing countries involved with the reintegration of returning migrants; (i) decentralized cooperation, particularly as part of long- term programmes, as a means of establishing the necessary lasting links between development aid and immigration policy.