The move follows an initiative by France to create a European-led alternative to Google's project of scanning in books from libraries across the continent. The Commission is known to look favourably on the French initiative but would like to gather more input from stakeholders before adopting it for the EU. It has therefore launched an online consultation, the result of which will be presented in a recommendation to be published in June 2006, in parallel with a review of European copyright law.
As a first step to making European content available online, the Commission encourages member states to digitise the content of existing libraries. The Lund action plan, adopted in April 2001, already provides some guidance on this issue. The Commission also plans to set up an advisory body - a so-called high level group - on digital libraries.
Digital libraries have been declared one of the flagship initiatives under the i2010 programme. Under the sixth research framework (FP6), 36 million euro has already been put aside for research into digitisation. The Commission plans to allocate even more money under FP7. Additional funding will come from DG Infosociety's econtentplus programme.
