Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the "Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on Interoperable Delivery of pan-European eGovernment Services to Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC)"
Date: 2003-11-20
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU programme, data transmission, electronic government, telematics, transmission network

C 73/72

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

23.3.2004

way to improve the climate for scientific innovation, particu-
larly as regards SMEs (1).

endorses the proposal for EU-wide IPR awareness and
1.19.
training activities for researchers and students, as long as these
additional activities can be provided on a voluntary basis.

Protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) for research processes and
specific technology areas

The Committee of the Regions

(1) CdR 328/2002 fin, point 13, p. 4.

Brussels, 20 November 2003.

Greater transparency in corporate reporting of investment in research

The Committee of the Regions

1.20.
suggests that the existing international guidelines for
assessment and reporting of intellectual capital should be
discussed in connection with corporate social responsibility
(CSR), and that recourse to the guidelines should be monitored
by the Dublin Foundation’s EMCC.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Albert BORE

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Proposal for a Decision of the European
Parliament and of the Council on Interoperable Delivery of pan-European eGovernment Services
to Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC)’

(2004/C 73/14)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission on Interoperable Delivery of Pan-European
eGovernment Services to Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC) (COM(2003) 406 final
— 2003/0147 (COD));

having regard to the decision of the European Council of 17 July 2003 to consult it on this subject, under
Article 156 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

having regard to the decision of its President of 19 June 2003 to instruct its Commission for Culture and
Education to draw up an Opinion on this subject;

having regard to its Opinion on the Evaluation of the IDA programme and a second phase of the IDA
programme (CdR 44/98 fin) (1);

having regard to its Opinion on the Trans-European data communications networks between adminis-
trations (CdR 48/94) (2);

having regard to its draft opinion (CdR 247/2003 rev.) adopted on 2 October 2003 by the Commission
for Culture and Education (Rapporteur: Mr Risto Koivisto, Mayor of Pirkkala (FI/PES),

unanimously adopted the following opinion at its 52nd plenary session, held on 19 and 20 November
2003 (meeting of 20 November).

(1) OJ C 251, 10.8.1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 217, 6.8.1994, p. 32.

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1. The Committee of the Regions’ views

The Committee of the Regions

considers the Commission proposal for a new IDABC
1.1.
programme to be of
importance and a key
the utmost
instrument for, inter alia, implementing the objectives of the
Lisbon strategy;

1.2.
is pleased that the Committee’s earlier views on the
important role of local and regional government in building
the European information society have been taken into account
in the proposed new programme and notes that Europe’s local
and regional authorities are prepared to participate in wide-
ranging cooperation to improve interoperability in public
administration and effectiveness in the delivery of public
services;

1.3.
points out that the good and practical achievements of
previous IDA programmes have made a significant contri-
bution to promoting interoperability in public administration
in Europe and agrees with the Commission that a key element
of the programme must be the further development of existing
products and services;

1.4.
stresses that local and regional government should not
be regarded primarily as users of pan-European eServices but
as a major provider of such services;

requests the Commission to take all necessary steps to
IDABC objectives with other

1.5.
further the coordination of
similar objectives across current Community programmes;

2. The Committee of the Regions’ recommendations

feels that, in view of the important and special role
1.6.
played by local and regional government, they must be allowed
a say in the political and strategic guidance of the programme
by, for example, ensuring that there is adequate expertise on
the management committee or the advisory board that might
be established by the Commission;

notes that

the programme must not

1.7.
increase the
isolation of public administrations in Europe from the world
around them and believes that the development of standards
for interoperability requires extensive international cooper-
ation;

underlines the key role played by local and regional
1.8.
government in the provision of public services that facilitate
the everyday life of citizens and businesses, making an
important contribution to, for example, the implementation
of objectives relating to free movement;

1.9.
draws particular attention to the need to ensure
that the more widespread application of information and
communication technology in public administration and fast,
economic, efficient and safe trans-European information
exchange involving the various regional levels not only leads
to improved services but also better productivity in public
administration;
improved interinstitutional
administrative cooperation must also be a key consideration
in deciding on projects to be launched within the framework
of the programme;

this aspect of

1.10.
considers it important for ensuring the effectiveness
of the programme that adequate resources be provided at all
levels of government for activities that are consistent with the
objectives of the programme and calls on the Commission to
see to it that an appropriate share of available Community
resources is used for the projects to improve productivity
mentioned in the proposal.

Recommendation 1

Article 3

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR amendment

e)

encourage interinstitutional cooperation between
the Community institutions as well as between
the latter and national, regional and local public
administrations,
including national and regional
parliaments;

e)

encourage interinstitutional cooperation between
the Community institutions as well as between
the latter and national, regional and local public
administrations,
including national and regional
parliaments, and national cooperation covering all
public administrations;

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Reason

IDA projects have been primarily projects between Member States. Although cooperation between the
Community and local and regional government is important, good cooperation nationally between all
levels of government is also a critical factor for the successful implementation of the objectives.

Recommendation 2

Article 11

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR amendment

1.

The Commission shall be assisted by a committee
called the Telematics between Administrations
Committee (TAC), composed of representatives of
the Member States and chaired by the representa-
tive of the Commission.

1.

The Commission shall be assisted by a committee
called the Telematics between Administrations
Committee (TAC), composed of representatives of
the Member States, one representative of regional
government and one representative of
local
government and chaired by the representative of
the Commission.

Reason

The presence on the committee of representatives from the Member States guarantees an adequate level
of expertise in so far as developing information transfer between the Commission and the Member States
is concerned. However, a key goal of the IDABC programme is to develop pan-European services. Public
services in Europe are provided mainly by local and regional authorities and it is these services which are
important for the daily life and free movement of businesses and citizens. The expertise of local and
regional government on the committee would have a positive impact on the implementation of the
objectives mentioned in Article 1(2)(a)(b) and (d) and would promote the spread of good practice in
accordance with objective (h).

Recommendation 3

Article 12

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR amendment

2.

The evaluation shall establish the progress and
current status of the projects of common interest
and horizontal measures identified in Annexes I
and II respectively.

2.

The evaluation shall establish the progress and
current status of the projects of common interest
and horizontal measures identified in Annexes I
and II respectively.

The evaluation 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 insti-
tutional cooperation as far as public adminis-
trations, 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 infrastruc-
ture services.

The evaluation 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,
Member States and regional and local government
for the advancement of common policies and
institutional cooperation as far as public adminis-
trations, 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 infrastruc-
ture services.

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Reason

The evaluation must cover the impact of the programme on productivity and the development of services
in all areas of public administration and also describe the results attained at local and regional level.

Recommendation 4

Article 15

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR amendment

2.

i)

ii)

Subject to compatibility with the future financial
perspectives, the financial reference amount for the
implementation of the Community action under
this Decision for the period from 1 January 2007
to 31 December 2009 shall be EUR 89,6 million,
out of which:

EUR 44,2 million for projects of common interest;

EUR 45,4 million for horizontal measures

2.

i)

ii)

Subject to compatibility with the future financial
perspectives, the financial reference amount for the
implementation of the Community action under
this Decision for the period from 1 January 2007
to 31 December 2009 shall be EUR 109,6 million,
out of which:

EUR 54,2 million for projects of common interest;

EUR 55,4 million for horizontal measures

Reason

The proposed programme could have a significant impact on improving productivity in public
administration and the development of pan-European eGovernment services. The effectiveness of the
programme must be ensured through adequate funding by transferring resources from less important
objectives.

Recommendation 5

ANNEX I

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR amendment

B.

...

17.

COMMUNITY POLICIES AND ACTIVITIES

Information systems allowing the participation
of national parliaments and civil society in the
legislative process.

B.

...

17.

COMMUNITY POLICIES AND ACTIVITIES

Information systems allowing the participation of
national and regional parliaments and civil society
in the legislative process.

Reason

The role of regional parliaments with legislative powers must be taken into account in developing
information systems.

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Recommendation 6

ANNEX II

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR amendment

B.

...

3.

STRATEGIC AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES

Support activities undertaken in support of spread
of good practice in the application of information
technologies to public administrations, such as:

B.

...

3.

STRATEGIC AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES

Support activities undertaken in support of spread
of good practice in the application of information
technologies to public administrations, such as:

(a)

Reports, web sites, conferences and, in general,
initiatives addressed to the public

(a)

Reports, web sites, conferences and, in general,
initiatives addressed to the public

(b) Monitoring, analysis and web site dissemination of
initiatives and best practice related to eGovernment
actions at Member State, Community and inter-
national level

(b) Monitoring, analysis and web site dissemination of
initiatives and best practice related to eGovernment
actions at Member State, regional and local govern-
ment, Community and international level

(c)

Promotion of the spread of best practice in the use
of e.g. open source software by public adminis-
trations

(c)

Promotion of the spread of best practice in the use
of e.g. open source software by public adminis-
trations

The role played by public administrations in the provision of eServices is crucial and important from the
point of view of the programme’s objectives.

Reason

Brussels, 20 November 2003.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Albert BORE