DECISION 2004/387/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 21 April 2004

on interoperable delivery of pan-European eGovernment services to public administrations, businesses and citizens (IDABC)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first paragraph of Article 156 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the Opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

(1) In accordance with Article 154 of the Treaty, to help achieve the objectives referred to in Articles 14 and 158 thereof and to enable citizens of the Union, economic operators and regional and local communities to derive full benefit from the setting-up of an area without internal frontiers, the Community contributes to the establishment and development of trans-European networks.

(2) Facilitating the mobility of businesses and citizens across European borders contributes directly to removing the obstacles to the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital as well as to the free establishment of nationals of a Member State in the territory of another Member State.

(3) In accordance with Article 157 of the Treaty, the Community and the Member States are to ensure that the conditions necessary for the competitiveness of the Community's industry exist.

(4) By Decisions No 1719/1999/EC (4) and No 1720/1999/EC (5) the European Parliament and the Council adopted a series of actions, horizontal measures and guidelines including the identification of projects of common interest, with regard to trans-European networks for the electronic interchange of data between administrations (IDA). As those Decisions will expire on 31 December 2004, it is necessary to provide for a framework for the follow-up of the IDA programme as set up by those Decisions.

(5) The IDABC programme will build on the successes of the preceding IDA programmes, which have improved the effectiveness of cross-border cooperation between public administrations.

(6) In establishing and implementing the IDABC programme, which is the follow-up to previous IDA programmes, due account should be taken of the achievements of those programmes.

(7) Work completed under the IDABC programme is likely to form the basis for further work. This, combined with the fast pace of technological change, will require the programme to be adaptable to future developments.

(8) The European Council, meeting in Lisbon in March 2000, adopted conclusions aimed at preparing the transition of the European Union by 2010 to the world's most competitive, dynamic, and knowledge-based economy, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.

(9) The European Council, meeting in Brussels in March 2003, drew attention to the importance of connecting Europe and so strengthening the internal market and underlined that electronic communications are a powerful engine for growth, competitiveness and jobs in the European Union and that action should be taken to consolidate this strength and to contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon goals. To this end, the development and establishment of pan-European eGovernment Services and the underlying telematic networks should be supported and promoted.

(10) The elimination of obstacles to electronic communications between public administrations at all levels and with businesses as well as with citizens contributes to improving the European business environment, lowering the administrative burden and reducing red tape. It may also encourage businesses and citizens of the European Union to reap the benefits of the information society and to interact electronically with public administrations.

(11) Enhanced delivery of eGovernment services enables businesses and citizens to interact with public administrations without special Information Technology (IT) skills or prior knowledge of the internal functional organisation of a public administration.

(12) The deployment of trans-European telematic networks to interchange information between public administrations, Community institutions and other entities, such as European agencies, services and organisations devoted to furthering the Community's interests, should not be considered as the end, but as the means to achieve interoperable information and interactive eGovernment services at the pan-European level, building on and extending to citizens and businesses the benefits resulting from the cooperation between public administrations across Europe.

(13) The Commission undertakes and will update, as appropriate, comprehensive consultations involving all stakeholders in order to carry out a study, involving all relevant sectors, focusing on the needs of and benefits for citizens and businesses, with a view to preparing a list of necessary and beneficial pan-European eGovernment services that could be implemented within the whole duration of this Decision.

(14) Pan-European eGovernment services permit public administrations, businesses and citizens to interact better with public administrations across borders. The delivery of these services requires the availability of efficient, effective and interoperable information and communication systems between public administrations as well as interoperable administrative front and back office processes in order to exchange in a secure manner, understand and process public sector information across Europe.

(15) For the delivery of pan-European eGovernment Services it is necessary to take into account the provisions of, in particular, Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (6) and Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (7).

(16) It is important that, in the context of the national efforts in support of eGovernment, due consideration be given to the priorities of the European Union.

(17) It is essential to maximise the use of standards or publicly available specifications or open specifications for information exchange and service integration to ensure seamless interoperability and thereby increasing the benefits of pan-European eGovernment services and the underlying trans-European telematic networks.

(18) The establishment of pan-European eGovernment services and the underlying telematic networks of which the Community is a user or a beneficiary is incumbent on both the Community and the Member States.

(19) It is essential to ensure close cooperation between the Member States and the Community and, where relevant, the Community institutions and stakeholders.

(20) Actions at Community level should stimulate the successful development of eGovernment services at the pan-European level and the associated measures required at all appropriate levels, taking due account of the linguistic diversity of the Community.

(21) While the participation of all Member States in actions in support of pan-European eGovernment services provided by public administrations to businesses and citizens should be encouraged, actions comprising several Member States can be initiated and Member States not participating should be encouraged to join at a later stage.

(22) Cross-fertilisation with relevant national, regional and local initiatives and delivery of eGovernment services within the Member States should be ensured.

(23) The Action Plan for eEurope 2005, endorsed by the European Council meeting in Seville in June 2002, in particular the chapter on eGovernment, underlines the importance of the IDA programme in fostering the establishment of pan-European eGovernment services in support of cross-border activities thus complementing and providing a framework for initiatives regarding eGovernment at all appropriate levels.

(24) In order to make efficient use of the Community's financial resources, it is necessary to share the cost of pan-European eGovernment services and the underlying telematic networks between the Member States and the Community on an equitable basis.

(25) Productivity, responsiveness and flexibility in the establishment and operation of pan-European eGovernment services and the underlying telematic networks can best be achieved by embracing a market-oriented approach and thus selecting suppliers on a competitive basis in a multi-vendor environment, while ensuring, whenever appropriate, the operational and financial sustainability of measures.

(26) Pan-European eGovernment services should be developed in the context of specific projects of common interest and specific horizontal measures. Other horizontal measures should be put in place to support the interoperable delivery of these services by establishing or enhancing infrastructure services.

(27) The IDABC programme should consequently also be open to participation by the countries of the European Economic Area and the candidate countries, and cooperation with other third countries should be encouraged. International entities may take part in the implementation of projects of common interest and horizontal measures at their own costs.

(28) In order to ensure the sound management of the financial resources of the European Union and to avoid needless proliferation of equipment, repetition of investigations and diversity of approach, it should be possible to use services developed under the IDA programme or the IDABC programme in the framework of the common foreign and security policy and police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, in accordance with Titles V and VI of the Treaty on European Union.

(29) Since the objective of establishing pan-European eGovernment services cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale and effects of the action, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

(30) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (8).

(31) This Decision lays down, for the entire duration of the programme, a financial framework constituting the prime reference, within the meaning of point 33 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the Council and Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure (9), for the budgetary authority during the annual budgetary procedure,

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Scope

This Decision establishes, for the period 2005-2009, a Programme for Interoperable Delivery of pan-European eGovernment Services to European Public Administrations, Community institutions and other entities and to European Businesses and Citizens (hereinafter the ‘IDABC programme’).

Article 2

Objective

1. The objective of the IDABC programme is to identify, support and promote the development and establishment of pan-European eGovernment services and the underlying interoperable telematic networks supporting the Member States and the Community in the implementation, within their respective areas of competence, of Community policies and activities, achieving substantial benefits for public administrations, businesses and citizens.

2. The programme aims also to:

(a) enable the efficient, effective and secure interchange of information between public administrations at all appropriate levels, as well as between such administrations and the Community institutions or other entities as appropriate;

(b) extend the benefits of the interchange of information as specified under (a) in order to facilitate the delivery of services to businesses and citizens taking into account their needs;

(c) support the Community decision-making process and facilitate communication between the Community institutions by developing the related strategic framework at the pan-European level;

(d) achieve interoperability, both within and across different policy areas and, where appropriate, with businesses and citizens, notably on the basis of a European Interoperability Framework;

(e) contribute to the efforts of Member State public administrations and the Community in terms of streamlined operations, prompter implementation, security, efficiency, transparency, service culture and responsiveness;

(f) promote the spread of good practice and encourage the development of innovative telematic solutions in public administrations.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) ‘Telematic network’ means a comprehensive data-communication system, comprising the physical infrastructure and connections as well as the related services and application layers, thus enabling the interchange of information electronically between and within public administrations as well as between public administrations and businesses and citizens;

(b) ‘Pan-European eGovernment services’ means cross-border public sector information and interactive services, either sectoral or horizontal, i.e. of cross-sectoral nature, provided by European public administrations to European public administrations, businesses, including their associations, and citizens, including their associations, by means of interoperable trans-European telematic networks;

(c) ‘Project of common interest’ means a project in the policy areas identified in Annex I, which is undertaken or continued under this Decision, and which concerns the establishment or enhancement of pan-European eGovernment services;

(d) ‘Infrastructure services’ means services provided to meet generic requirements, comprising technology and software solutions, including a European interoperability framework, security, middleware and network services. Infrastructure services underpin the delivery of pan-European eGovernment services;

(e) ‘Horizontal measure’ means an action as identified in Annex II, which is undertaken or continued under this Decision, and which concerns the establishment or enhancement of horizontal pan-European eGovernment services, infrastructure services or strategic and support activities;

(f) ‘Interoperability’ means the ability of information and communication technology (ICT) systems and of the business processes they support to exchange data and to enable information and knowledge to be shared.

Article 4

Projects of common interest

In order to achieve the objectives laid down in Article 2, the Community shall, in cooperation with the Member States, implement projects of common interest specified in the rolling work programme referred to in Article 8(1), in accordance with the principles laid down in Articles 6 and 7.

Projects of common interest shall, whenever possible, make use of the horizontal pan-European eGovernment and infrastructure services and contribute to the further development of these services.

Article 5

Horizontal measures

1. In order to achieve the objectives laid down in Article 2, the Community shall, in cooperation with the Member States, in support of projects of common interest, undertake horizontal measures as identified in Annex II and specified in the rolling work programme referred to in Article 8(1), in accordance with the principles laid down in Articles 6 and 7.

2. Horizontal measures shall provide, maintain and promote infrastructure services for public administrations in the Community on the basis of a maintenance and access policy defined in the framework of the IDABC programme. They shall also provide the management of horizontal pan-European eGovernment services as well as establish strategic and support activities to promote pan-European eGovernment services, perform strategic analysis of related developments in the Community and Member States, and ensure the management of the programme and the spread of good practice.

3. In order to be able to identify the horizontal measures to be undertaken, the Community shall establish a description of horizontal pan-European eGovernment and infrastructure services. The description shall include aspects such as the necessary management, organisation, related responsibilities and cost-sharing as well as a strategy to be used in the development and implementation of the horizontal pan-European eGovernment and infrastructure services. The strategy shall be based on an assessment of project requirements. The description shall be reviewed on a yearly basis.

Article 6

Implementation principles

1. In implementing projects of common interest and horizontal measures, the principles set out in paragraphs 2 to 10 shall apply.

2. This Decision is the legal basis for the implementation of horizontal measures.

3. The implementation of a project shall require a sectoral legal basis. For the purposes of this Decision, a project shall be considered to fulfil this requirement when it supports the delivery of pan-European eGovernment services to public administrations, to businesses or to citizens in the framework of the implementation of a sectoral legal basis or any other relevant legal basis.

This paragraph shall not apply to projects of common interest that support the delivery of eGovernment services between Community institutions and European Agencies.

4. Participation of the largest possible number of Member States in a project in support of pan-European eGovernment services provided by public administrations to businesses, including their associations, or by public administrations to citizens, including their associations, shall be encouraged.

5. Projects of common interest and horizontal measures shall encompass all actions necessary for the establishment or enhancement of pan-European eGovernment services.

6. Projects of common interest and horizontal measures shall include, whenever appropriate, a preparatory phase. They shall comprise a feasibility phase, a development and validation phase, and an implementation phase to be implemented in accordance with Article 7.

This paragraph shall not apply to strategic and support activities as defined in Part C of Annex II.

7. Results achieved by other relevant Community and Member States activities, in particular the Community research and technological development programmes and other Community programmes and policies, such as eTEN (10), eContent (11) eInclusion, eLearning (12) and MODINIS (13) shall be taken into account, whenever appropriate, in the definition of projects of common interest and horizontal measures in order to avoid duplication and to speed up the development of eGovernment services. Projects in the planning or the development phase shall also be taken into account.

8. Projects of common interest or horizontal measures shall be technically specified with reference to European standards or publicly available specifications or open specifications for information exchange and service integration and shall comply with the infrastructure services, as appropriate, in order to ensure interoperability and accessibility between national and Community systems within and across administrative sectors and with businesses and citizens.

9. Projects of common interest and horizontal measures shall, where appropriate, take due account of the European interoperability framework provided, maintained and promoted by the IDABC programme.

10. A post-implementation review of each project of common interest or horizontal measure shall be carried out within one year following the end of the implementation phase.

A review shall include a cost-benefit analysis.

In the case of projects of common interest the review shall be carried out in coordination with the Member States in conformity with the rules governing the sectoral policy and presented to the relevant sectoral committee.

Conclusions and recommendations resulting from the review of projects of common interest shall be presented to the committee referred to in Article 11(1) for information.

In the case of horizontal measures the review shall be carried out within the framework of the committee referred to in Article 11(1).

Article 7

Additional principles

1. In addition to the principles set out in Article 6, the principles set out in paragraphs 2 to 8 shall apply.

2. The preparatory phase shall lead to the establishment of a preparatory report comprising the objectives, scope and rationale of the project of common interest or horizontal measure and in particular the anticipated costs and benefits, as well as the achievement of the necessary commitment and understanding among the participants through appropriate consultation, including an indication of the committee competent to follow the implementation of the project or measure.

3. The feasibility phase shall lead to the establishment of a global implementation plan, which shall cover the development and implementation phases and comprise the information contained in the preparatory report as well as:

(a) a description of planned organisational development and, whenever appropriate, the re-engineering of working procedures;

(b) objectives, functionalities, participants and technical approach;

(c) measures to facilitate multilingual communication;

(d) measures to ensure security and protection of data;

(e) the assignment of roles to the Community and to the Member States;

(f) a breakdown of the expected costs and a description of the expected benefits, including assessment criteria for measuring those benefits beyond the implementation phase and a detailed analysis of return on investment as well as milestones to be reached;

(g) a schema which defines an equitable sharing between the Community and the Member States and, whenever appropriate, other entities, of the operational and maintenance costs of the pan-European eGovernment and infrastructure services on conclusion of the implementation phase.

4. During the development and validation phase, the solution proposed may, if relevant, be constructed, tested, evaluated and monitored on a small scale, and the results shall be used to adjust the global implementation plan accordingly.

5. During the implementation phase, the fully functional services concerned shall be established in accordance with the global implementation plan.

6. The preparatory report and the global implementation plan shall be established by making use of methodologies prepared as a support activity in the framework of the IDABC programme.

7. The initiation and implementation of a project of common interest, the definition of its phases and the establishment of preparatory reports and global implementation plans shall be carried out and controlled by the Commission acting in accordance with the relevant sectoral committee procedure.

Where no sectoral committee procedure applies, the Community and the Member States shall set up groups of experts to examine all relevant issues.

The conclusions resulting from sectoral committees and, where applicable, from groups of experts shall be reported by the Commission to the committee referred to in Article 11(1).

8. The initiation and implementation of a horizontal measure, the definition of its phases and the establishment of preparatory reports and global implementation plans shall be carried out and controlled by the Commission acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 11(2).

Article 8

Implementation procedure

1. The Commission shall establish a rolling work programme for the whole duration of this Decision for the implementation of projects of common interest and horizontal measures. The Commission shall approve the work programme and, at least once a year, any modification thereof, taking into account, as the case may be, the budget breakdown per project of common interest and horizontal measure.

The procedure referred to in Article 11(2) shall apply in respect of the approval by the Commission of the rolling work programme and any modifications thereof.

2. For each project of common interest and for each horizontal measure, the work programme referred to in the first paragraph shall, where appropriate, include:

(a) a description of the objectives, scope, rationale, potential beneficiaries, functionalities and technical approach;

(b) a breakdown of past expenditure and milestones reached, as well as the costs and benefits anticipated and the milestones to be reached;

(c) a specification of the horizontal pan-European eGovernment and infrastructure services to be used.

Article 9

Budgetary provisions

1. Without prejudice to Article 8, the procedure referred to in Article 11(2) shall apply in respect of the approval by the Commission of the budget per project of common interest or horizontal measure, as necessary, to cover, subject to the applicable budget rules, the rolling work programme and any modifications thereof, in accordance with Article 8(1).

2. Funds shall be released on the basis of the reaching of specific milestones in accordance with the procedure applicable to the relevant sectoral committee for projects of common interest and to the committee referred to in Article 11(1) for horizontal measures. For the initiation of the preparatory phase the milestone shall be the inclusion of the project of common interest or horizontal measure to be undertaken in the rolling work programme. For the initiation of the feasibility phase the milestone shall be the preparatory report. For the initiation of the subsequent development and validation phase the milestone shall be the global implementation plan. Milestones to be reached during the development and validation phase as well as the implementation phase shall be included in the rolling work programme in accordance with Article 8.

3. The procedure referred to in Article 11(2) shall also apply in respect of proposals for any budgetary increase of more than EUR 100 000 per project of common interest or horizontal measure within a year.

4. The programme shall be implemented on the basis of the rules of public procurement. The technical specifications of the calls for tender shall, for contract values in excess of EUR 500 000, be defined in coordination with the Member States in the framework of the relevant sectoral committee or the committee referred to in Article 11(1).

Article 10

Community financial contribution

1. In the implementation of projects of common interest and horizontal measures, the Community shall bear costs in proportion to its interest.

2. The financial contribution of the Community for each project of common interest or horizontal measure shall be determined in accordance with paragraphs 3 to 7.

3. For a project of common interest or a horizontal measure to receive a financial contribution from the Community, concrete plans for financing the maintenance and operational costs of the post-implementation phase shall be required, with a clear assignment of roles to the Community and to the Member States or to other entities.

4. In the preparatory and feasibility phases, the Community contribution may cover the full cost of the necessary studies.

5. In the development and validation phase and in the implementation phase, the Community shall bear the cost of those tasks which are assigned to it in the global implementation plan of that project of common interest or horizontal measure.

6. Community funding of a project of common interest or a horizontal measure concerning the delivery and maintenance of infrastructure services shall, in principle, cease after a maximum period of four years from the start of the preparatory phase.

7. The financial resources provided for under this Decision shall not be assigned to projects of common interest and horizontal measures or phases of projects of common interest and horizontal measures which benefit from other sources of Community funding.

8. By 31 December 2006, mechanisms to ensure the financial and operational sustainability of infrastructure services, whenever appropriate, shall be defined and agreed in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 11(2).

Article 11

Committee

1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee called the Pan-European eGovernment Services Committee (PEGSCO).

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.

3. The PEGSCO shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 12

Annual report

The Commission shall report annually to the PEGSCO on the implementation of this Decision.

Article 13

Evaluation

1. The Commission shall, in coordination with the Member States, carry out a final evaluation of the implementation of this Decision at the end of the programme.

2. Moreover, the Commission shall, in coordination with the Member States, carry out an evaluation of the implementation of this Decision by mid-2006 at the latest. This evaluation shall also assess, inter alia, the effectiveness and efficiency of the IDABC activities as well as include a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of performance against the work programme. In the context of this evaluation the Commission shall report on the consistency of the amount for 2007-2009 with the financial perspective. If applicable, the Commission shall take the necessary steps within the budgetary procedures for 2007-2009 to ensure the consistency of the annual appropriations with the financial perspective.

3. The evaluations shall establish the progress and current status of the projects of common interest and horizontal measures identified in Annexes I and II respectively and in particular how the intended pan-European eGovernment services are developed, implemented and used.

The evaluations shall also examine, in the light of the expenditure incurred by the Community, the benefits yielded by the pan-European eGovernment and infrastructure services to the Community for the advancement of common policies and institutional cooperation as far as public administrations, businesses and citizens are concerned and identify areas for potential improvement and verify synergies with other Community activities in the area of pan-European eGovernment and infrastructure services.

4. The Commission shall forward the results of its quantitative and qualitative evaluations to the European Parliament and the Council together with any appropriate proposals for the amendment of this Decision. The results shall be forwarded before presentation of the draft general budget of the European Union for the years 2007 and 2010 respectively.

Article 14

International cooperation

1. The IDABC programme may be opened, within the framework of their respective agreements with the Community, to participation by the countries of the European Economic Area and the candidate countries.

2. Cooperation with other third countries, in implementing projects of common interest and horizontal measures, shall be encouraged, notably with public administrations in Mediterranean countries, the Balkans and eastern European countries. Particular attention shall also be given to international cooperation in support of development and economic cooperation. Related costs shall not be covered by the IDABC programme.

3. International organisations or other international entities may take part in the implementation of projects of common interest and horizontal measures at their own cost.

Article 15

Other networks

1. With regard to the establishment or enhancement of other networks which are not projects of common interest or horizontal measures (hereinafter referred to as ‘other networks’), Member States and the Community shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Community legislation governing the implementation of those networks, ensure compliance with paragraphs 2 to 5.

2. Subject to paragraph 3, horizontal pan-European eGovernment and infrastructure services provided by the Community within the framework of this Decision may be used by other networks.

3. Each of the other networks shall be technically specified with reference to European standards or publicly available specifications or open specifications for information exchange and service integration, as appropriate, in order to ensure interoperability between national and Community systems within and across administrative sectors and with businesses and citizens.

4. By 31 October 2005, and at yearly intervals thereafter, the Commission shall forward to the PEGSCO a report on the implementation of paragraphs 1 to 5. In that report, the Commission shall specify any relevant user requirements or any other reason that prevents other networks from making use of the services under paragraph 2, and discuss the possibility of upgrading these services in order to extend their use.

5. The horizontal pan-European eGovernment and infrastructure services developed within the Community framework under the IDA or the IDABC programme may be used by the Council with regard to the establishment or enhancement of activities in the framework of the common foreign and security policy and police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters in accordance with Titles V and VI of the Treaty on European Union respectively.

The use of such services shall be decided upon and financed in accordance with Titles V and VI of that Treaty.

Article 16

Financial framework

1. The financial framework for the implementation of the Community action under this Decision for the period from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2009 is hereby set at EUR 148,7 million, of which EUR 59,1 million is for the period until 31 December 2006.

For the period following 31 December 2006, the amount shall be deemed to be confirmed if it is consistent for this phase with the financial perspective in force for the period commencing in 2007.

2. The annual appropriations for the period from 2005 to 2009 shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limit of the financial perspective.

Article 17

Entry into force

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2005 until 31 December 2009.