The Information Society will affect most aspects of our lives, so European policies range from the regulation of entire industrial sectors to the protection of each individual's privacy.

i2010: Europe's policy framework for the Information Society

The policies are grouped as follows:

• Regulating the Market: Europe's Information Society has grown partly due to European initiatives such as the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector, the Single Market, the Television Without Frontiers Directive, the GSM standard and more.
• Stimulating the Information Society: rolling out new technologies, products and services is not just a matter of research and development - policies are required to overcome obstacles ranging from copyright to security.
• Exploiting the Benefits: ensuring that Europe exploits the possibilities offered by the Information Society in areas as diverse as health, safety and education.

Today, Europe's Information Society policies are brought together under the i2010 Initiative: the EU framework for addressing the main challenges and developments in the information society and media sectors in the years up to 2010. The initiative promotes an open and competitive digital economy, research into information and communication technologies, as well as their application to improve social inclusion, public services and quality of life.

The EU's international Information Society policies span all of these areas, and so are set out in the International Relations site.