One of the challenges lies in the fact that interoperability considerations are currently not sufficiently "wired into" new public services. Furthermore, digital matters are still too often addressed too late in the policy making process.

This situation results in unintended costly and time-consuming administrative burden for administrations, citizens and companies until this day.

The EU’s digital ambition for 2030 and the remaining gaps in the actual uptake and implementation of interoperability have showed the necessity of creating a reinforced and more strategic interoperability policy with strengthened cooperation between the Member States and the EU Institutions on public sector interoperability. have showed the necessity of creating a reinforced and more strategic interoperability policy with strengthened cooperation between the Member States and the EU Institutions on public sector interoperability.

The Road towards an Interoperable Europe

The Interoperable Europe Act aims to solve these challenges by creating the setup and tools for interoperability within public administrations on a Union-wide scale and remove the unnecessary legal, organisational, semantical and technical obstacles. This way, in analogy with trans-European Transport and Energy Networks, a "network of networks" of sovereign, interconnected public administrations (at all levels of government) across the EU will emerge.

Win-win for all

EU Member States have stressed the need for strengthening the European interoperability cooperation. Among others, the ministerial declarations signed in 2017 in Tallinn and 2020 in Berlin attest to this urgency. Likewise, EU citizens from the Conference on the Future of Europe made the call to facilitate cross-border interoperability. 

Facilitating public sector interoperability is a fundamental prerequisite for enhancing and completing all the existing facets of the Digital Single Market. Public administrations that cooperate cross border can become as interoperable as trains crossing borders, or energy flows between national networks. The road towards it provides important opportunities for public sector efficiency, economic growth, customer satisfaction and innovation. Several case studies also show that interoperability positively affects other public values , such as improving trust from citizens in their governments. 

 

Next- steps

This proposed Act has been designed in cooperation with the Expert Group on interoperability of European public services, which consists of the representatives from all EU member states and observatory countries. Next to their recommendations, the Act strongly takes in regard the results of a public consultation, and three independent studies that have been conducted by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS). These three studies evaluated the implementation of the ISA² programme and the EIF, and assessed the impact of the new interoperability strategy on specific stakeholder groups and on the functioning of the Single Market.the new interoperability strategy on specific stakeholder groups and on the functioning of the Single Market.

With the Commission adoption of the proposal (planned in the fourth quarter of 2022), the Council of the EU and the European Parliament will start the process of deciding on the definitive legislative adoption of the act. While previous interoperability activities in the past were funded via ISA² Programme, the new initiative is funded by the Digital Europe Programme.

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