ICT-based education can be used as a driver to initiate economic growth and societal development in the knowledge based society. ‘Computer literacy’ is recognised as a key competence to manage the challenges of this technique driven society. Therefore the European Union gathers information about the framework and the use of computers and the Internet in the schools of their member states – also by using results of school assessment studies like PISA or PIRLS. This article shows that there are different patterns of computer equipment and use in the European Union which depend to some extent on the basic structures of the educational systems. It will be demonstrated that nations with sustainable reforms in the last decades to decentralised structures are more ‘modern’ than others in terms of computer equipment and use. The article enlightens also the differences between the three terms ‘computer literacy’, ‘digital literacy’ and ‘media competence’ and their ‘mixed use’ in political but also academic discussion. In summary it will be stated that the discussion about ‘computer literacy’ misses a clear conceptualisation and sustainable empirical investigation methods.