Article 157 of the Treaty establishing the European Community assigns the Community and the Member States the task of ensuring that the conditions necessary for the competitiveness of the Community's industry exist. Article 151 provides that the Community shall contribute to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States, while respecting their national and regional diversity and at the same time bringing the common cultural heritage to the fore.

The group must contribute to a shared strategic vision for European digital libraries.

The group must be made up of highly qualified experts with competence on digital libraries, appointed in a personal capacity.

The ‘High Level Expert Group on Digital Libraries’ therefore has to be set up and its terms of reference and structure detailed,