Contact: Peter Zimmermann
Deloitte
Managing Director, Public Sector, EMEA
+31 70 337 2330
The Hague, The Netherlands, April 30, 2004 — The European Union is being enlarged by 10 new member states, and now forms an economic entity of 25 states. The enlargement is one of the most important opportunities for the European Union at the beginning of the 21st century. Acceding countries include: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia.
Deloitte makes a significant contribution
As an advisor to government and business, the member firms of Deloitte are helping to support the transformational processes necessary to comply with EC regulations. These include financial, tax, legal and human resources-related issues, as well as the digital delivery of services to both citizens and consumers
"Good governance enhances productivity and each citizen's quality of life," says Hans Bossert, the chairman of Deloitte's Public Sector Group for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "For the new EU member states, the key driver of success is the effective implementation of information communications technology (ICT). eGovernment is increasingly impacting business productivity and people's quality of life. By Web-enabling and streamlining activities such as permitting, licensing and reporting, governments can significantly ease regulatory compliance burdens, which, in turn, help fuel economic competitiveness."
Financial services include the dissemination and control of EU Structural and Cohesion Funds, as well as the introduction of accrual accounting and budgeting. Deloitte also supports entrepreneurs in Western Europe who wish to expand their operations in to the east.
In addition, Deloitte's Tax practice and The Economist Intelligence Unit, the London-based business information arm of The Economist Group, have produced Country Snapshots. This series of reports provide an at-a-glance summary of key economic indicators, business and financing climates, tax regimes, trade and investment matters and the labour environment for 60 of the world's leading trading nations, including all EU acceding countries. The summarized reports, which are updated twice a year, are part of a more comprehensive set of Country Guides to business and human resources — available to Deloitte clients only.
With a view to the integration of the trans-European transportation networks, which will reduce congestion, improve accessibility and encourage intermodality, Deloitte provides financial advice to government and business, including cross-border projects. To help provide some answers and sharpen the planning skills of entrepreneurs, Deloitte's Tax group even hosted an international tax webcast, "Turning Point: EU Braces for Accession."
"The EU enlargement is the most significant event since the collapse of the communist regimes in the region," says Bob van Nes, chief executive officer for Deloitte Central Europe. "This event represents huge challenges but more importantly also great opportunities for Deloitte."
Some of the more interesting, comparative Eurostat statistics related to the accession include:
- The 10 new member states add 75 million citizens to the 378 million citizens of the EU15.
- Unemployment in the acceding countries is 15.1%, as opposed to 7.5% in the EU15.
- The economic production per capita is less than half of the economic production per capita in the EU15.
- The gross domestic product in the accession countries grew 2.4% in comparison with 1.5% in the EU15.
- In the new member states, 12% of citizens use Internet, as opposed to 36% in the EU15.
Deloitte builds bridges in the New Europe
The International Local and Regional Information Society conference, ISSS/LORIS, held in Hradec Kralove (Czech Republic) in March 2004, was the platform for associations of municipalities and big cities of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe to compare their eStrategies.
The event culminated in the eV4+/LORIS Declaration on joint action in developing the information society of local and regional authorities of Visegrad 4 countries and Slovenia prior to their EU accession. Some findings of the TeleCities-Deloitte eCitizenship for All Benchmark Survey 2003 were presented at this conference. Deloitte also will contribute to the 8th Cities on the Internet Conference in Zakopane, Poland, in June 2004. This event focuses on the modernisation of public administration through ICT and the expectations of citizens and businesses in the new member states from an all inclusive information society.
With a thorough understanding of the challenges faced by local authorities and business, the member firms of Deloitte hope to share their expertise developed in the west with regional and local authorities in the new member states. The aim is to contribute to the implementation of the all inclusive information society by building bridges in the "New Europe."
Deloitte and TeleCities launch the "eCitizenship for All" initiative
For 2004, in conjunction with the celebrations of the EU enlargement, TeleCities, EUROCITIES and Deloitte would like to welcome the participating city mayors in the 10 new member states. There are 21 members of EUROCITIES and TeleCities in all, including: Bratislava, Brno, Budapest, Gdansk, Katowice, Klaipeda, Koper, Krakow, Ljubljana, Lodz, Lublin, Nicosia, Ostrava, Prague, Riga, Szczecin, Tallinn, Vilnius, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Zagreb.
Furthermore, TeleCities and Deloitte are pleased to announce the launch of the 2004 edition of "eCitizenship for All," our initiative to support an all-inclusive information society at city level. eCitizenship for All stands for the right of all citizens and businesses to have effective access to public services, to participate in local public decision-making processes affecting the quality of life and to equally share the benefits from information society.
To help local authorities throughout the EU in their transformation to knowledge-based cities, TeleCities supports the European Commission in a fuller implementation of the eEurope 2005 action plan. The joint initiative of TeleCities and Deloitte entails an annual EU-wide benchmark survey into the state-of-the-art of eGovernment at city level. In support of a successful enlargement of the European Union, the eCitizenship for All European Benchmark Survey 2004 will focus especially on the cities in the new Member States.
Cities participating in the survey are also welcome to submit their best local projects for the eCitizenship for All Awards 2004 in one of the four categories: Re-engineering of local public administrations; eLearning and Inclusion; eSecurity; as well as eDemocracy and Community Building. The winners of the awards will be announced in Vienna November 10, 2004. For the benefit of eCitizenship in the New Europe, cities are warmly welcome to participate in the eCitizenship for All Survey and Awards 2004. Submissions can be made from May 1 through August 31, 2004.
About TeleCities
TeleCities is the major European network of cities committed to leadership in the Information and Knowledge Society. Established in 1993 in the framework of EUROCITIES, TeleCities is open to democratically elected city governments as well as to business and scientific partners. TeleCities provides a platform of more than 100 local authorities from 20 different European countries, sharing experience and developing practical solutions achieving an Inclusive Information and Knowledge Society, both at European and local level. Its aim is to promote eGovernment and eCitizenship at local level to ensure that all citizens can equally gain from the benefits of the Information and Knowledge Society.
About Deloitte
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is an organization of member firms devoted to excellence in providing professional services and advice. We are focused on client service through a global strategy executed locally in nearly 150 countries. With access to the deep intellectual capital of 120,000 people worldwide, our member firms (including their affiliates) deliver services in four professional areas: audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services. Our member firms serve over one-half of the world's largest companies, as well as large national enterprises, public institutions, and successful, fast-growing global growth companies.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is a Swiss Verein (association), and, as such, neither Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu nor any of its member firms has any liability for each other's acts or omissions. Each of the member firms is a separate and independent legal entity operating under the names "Deloitte," "Deloitte & Touche," "Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu," or other related names. The services described herein are provided by the member firms and not by the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Verein. For regulatory and other reasons certain member firms do not provide services in all four professional areas listed above.
