Strategic plan 2016-2020.
Date: 2016-07-08
Institutions: Publications Office of the European Union
Subjects: EU publication, Publications Office of the European Union, management planning

Strategic Plan* 
2016-2020

PUBLICATIONS
OFFICE

* The current Commission’s term of office runs  
until 31 October 2019. New political orientations  
provided by the incoming Commission for the 
subsequent period will be appropriately reflected  
in the strategic planning process.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Strategic Plan 
2016-2020

PUBLICATIONS
OFFICE

 
 
 
Contents 

PART 1. 

Strategic vision for 2016-2020 ............................................................................................. 3 
A.  Mission statement .............................................................................................................................. 3 
B.  Operating context ............................................................................................................................... 4 
C.  Strategy .................................................................................................................................................. 6 
D.  Key performance indicators (KPIs) .......................................................................................... 15 
PART 2.  Organisational management .............................................................................................. 16 
A.  Human Resource Management .................................................................................................. 16 
B.  Financial Management: Internal control and Risk management .................................. 17 
C.  Better Regulation (only for DGs managing regulatory acquis) ..................................... 18 
D. 
Information management aspects ............................................................................................ 18 
E.  External communication activities ........................................................................................... 19 

1

2 

 
PART 1.  Strategic vision for 2016-2020 

A. Mission statement 

The mission of the Publications Office of the European Union, which is an interinstitutional office, is 
to  provide  direct  and  free-of-charge  access  to  European  Union  law  and  publications,  as  well  as  to 
publish,  on  all  media  and  in  all  formats,  the  publications  of  all  institutions  of  the  European  Union, 
under optimum technical and financial conditions. 

33 

B. Operating context 

The Publications  Office  is an  interinstitutional office, whose activities comprise the  production,  the 
access to and the reuse, as well as the long-term preservation of public information produced by the 
institutions,  bodies,  offices  and  agencies  established  by  or  under  the  EU  Treaties  (hereinafter  EU 
institutions).  The  organisation  and  operation  of  the  Office  are  governed  by  Decision  2009/496/EC, 
Euratom. 

Under its mandate, the Office has competence, amongst others, for the following: 

 publishing the Official Journal of the European Union and other mandatory publications; 

 publishing  non-mandatory  publications  in  the  context  of  the  institutions'  communication 

activities; 

 referencing, preserving EU public data and making it available to the public. 

Governed
by an interinstitutional 
Management Committee adopting
the strategic objectives of the Office

EU
institutions

Citizens

Reuse
Community

Transparent
and open access to
EU information
for all

OP online
services providing 
access to EU
information

OP Portal 
EUR-Lex 
EU Open Data Portal 
TED  
EU Bookshop 
CORDIS 
EU Whoiswho 
Eurovoc 
Metadata Registry (MDR)

OP

EU institutions
provide public 
information

i

i

i

i

The Publications Office is an 
interinstitutional office, whose 
activities comprise the 
production, access, reuse and 
long-term preservation of public 
information produced by the 
institutions, bodies, offices and 
agencies established by or 
under the EU Treaties 

Graphic representation of the Publications Office operating context.

44 

 
 
In order to fulfil its mandate, the Office has implemented and manages the following websites and 
tools: 

 EUR-Lex – a single access point for legal information and authentic Official Journal; 
 OP Portal  – a single access point  progressively bringing together all collections  managed by the 

Office; 

 TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) – public procurement notices (Official Journal S); 
 EU Open Data Portal – a single access point for structured EU institutions’ data to facilitate reuse; 
 EU Bookshop – online bookshop and library of EU publications; 
 CORDIS  (the  Community  Research  and  Development  Information  Service)  –  publication  and 

dissemination of research results stemming from EU-supported programmes; 

 EU Whoiswho – the official directory of managers and services in the EU institutions; 
 EuroVoc – the multilingual, multidisciplinary thesaurus covering the EU's activities; 
 Metadata  Registry  (MDR)  –  the  registry  for  metadata  definitions,  controlled  value  vocabularies 
(authority  tables)  and  other  reference  data  for  consultation,  validation  and  reuse  purposes  in 
human and machine-readable format. 

Based in Luxembourg, the Office is structured around 4 Directorates and has approximately 610 staff 
members.  It  uses  infrastructure  (mainly  IT),  as  well  as  outsourcing;  it  manages  400  contracts  for 
printing, multimedia products, IT services, dissemination and transport. 

The  Office  is  governed  by  an  interinstitutional  Management  Committee,  which,  in  the  common 
interest  of  EU  institutions,  adopts  the  strategic  objectives  of  the  Office,  sets  the  guidelines  for  the 
general  policies  and  ensures  that  the  Office  contributes  within  its  areas  of  competence  to  the 
formulation and implementation of the institutions’ information and communication policies. 

The  Office  is  a  horizontal  and  support  service  for  EU  institutions,  as  well  as  for  EU  citizens.  At  the 
forefront of new technologies, it contributes to the information and communication activities of the 
institutions by referencing, publishing and disseminating the information they produce. At the same 
time, its activities are also society oriented: the free access to EU law and the legislative and decision-
making  processes,  together  with  the  long-term  preservation  activity,  play  a  key  role  to  the 
transparency  and  openness  of  EU  institutions,  as  well  as  to  their  accountability  and  better  policy-
making process. The reuse of data activity touches a whole reuse community, formed of researchers, 
statisticians, IT developers, businesses, public administrations, interest groups, etc. 

The  Office  operates  in  a  changing  environment  and  it  must  constantly  adapt  to  technological 
improvements and innovations. Over the last few years, it has undergone a major change fuelled by a 
transition from the traditional model of paper-based publishing to a new paradigm of handling digital 
information. In the years to come it will need to further adapt to the needs of the digital and mobile 
environment in order to become the information hub for EU institutions. 

55 

C.

Strategy 

In line with its horizontal role, the Publications Office will contribute over the period 2016-2020 to 
the  Commission  general  objective  no  11:  To  help  achieve  the  overall  political  objectives,  the 
Commission will effectively and efficiently manage and safeguard assets and resources, and attract 
and develop the best talents. 

The  official  information  that  has  been  published  by  the  EU  institutions  represents  valuable  assets, 
which  have  to  be  protected  and  managed  in  an  effective  and  efficient  way.  Within  its  area  of 
expertise, the Office will make a decisive contribution to an effective corporate management of data 
and information. 

The Publications Office operates in a dynamic and fast changing environment, in which information 
management  processes,  communication  channels  and  user  needs  are  constantly  evolving.  As  a 
modern multilingual information provider, it has to be in a position to offer state-of-the-art services 
to  EU  institutions,  as  well  as  to  EU  citizens  at  large.  Furthermore,  in  order  to  perform  its  tasks 
efficiently, it needs to constantly adapt its ways of working, remain flexible and be ready to face new 
challenges. 

By  2020,  the  Publications  Office  aims  to  become  an  information  hub  for  legislation,  documents, 
publications  and  open  data  produced  by  EU  institutions,  in  line  with  its  interinstitutional  mandate 
and  thanks  to  its  competences  in  three  areas  of  information  management:  production,  long-term 
preservation, and access and reuse. 

In order to implement this vision and ensure that it supports broader policy priorities and goals, the 
Publications Office has identified the following strategic orientations1 for these areas of information 
management: 

Production 

The  Publications  Office  will  continue  to  publish  the  authentic  Official  Journal  of  the  European 
Union and other mandatory publications, and provide state-of-the-art production services to EU 
institutions,  while  at  the  same  time  striving  to  devise  ever  more  efficient  and  shared  ways  of 
producing  EU  information.  Firstly,  it  will  implement  new  seamless,  interoperable,  automated 
production workflows for more dynamic ways of producing legal content, which will pave the way 
for  new  ways  of  publishing  legislation,  e.g.  act-by-act  production  of  the  Official  Journal  of  the 
European Union and document-by-document production of case law. Secondly, it will optimise its 
production  workflows  for  multichannel  dissemination.  In  this  context  it  will  foster  synergies  in 
tools and formats on the interinstitutional level in order to facilitate content and data structuring, 
and it will link the workflows with editorial processes to make content providers more involved in 
the  collaborative  production  effort.  This  will  allow  production  of  content  in  any  format,  with 
considerably  reduced  costs  and  timescales,  and  with  due  account  taken  of  requirements  in  the 
area of accessibility for all. 

1 

In  accordance  with  Article  7(1)(a)  of  Decision  2009/496/EC,  Euratom,  the  Management  Committee  adopts  the 
strategic  objectives  of  the  Office.  These  strategic  orientations  were  discussed  in  the  Management  Committee 
meeting of 20 November 2015. 

66 

 
                                                           
Long-term preservation 

The  Publications  Office  will  continue  to  ensure  reliable  access  over  time  to  archived  digital 
information  and  data  from  the  EU  for  future  generations.  It  aims  to  achieve  this  objective  by 
extending  the  range  of  content  types  currently  covered  by  preservation  efforts  to  all  types  of 
digital content, including websites, and by taking the necessary steps to ensure public access to all 
collections preserved digitally. 

Access and reuse 

The Publications Office will continue to ensure timely and easy access to EU legal information and 
other types of EU content available online, while striving to improve its discoverability. It will also 
create  integrated  access  to  the  various  collections  of  EU  content  it  holds  by  deploying  the  full 
capacity of the OP Portal, with the double aim of creating a seamless search experience for users 
interested  in  EU  information,  and  facilitating  the  reuse  of  content  for  commercial  and  non-
commercial  purposes.  Furthermore,  it  will  establish  synergies  and  develop  interoperability  with 
EU  institutions,  as  well  as  with  third  parties,  in  order  to  enable  content-linking  from  various 
sources.  The  Publications  Office  also  aims  to  strengthen  its  capacity  as  trusted  provider  of 
authentic  EU  data  by  reinforcing  its  portals  and  turning  them  into  a  genuine  information  hub, 
which will become a reference  point  for  policy makers, market actors  and civil society.  This will 
ensure  not  only  greater  transparency  of  the  activities  of  the  EU,  but  also  clear  economic 
advantages for businesses, free to reuse EU data, e.g. in order to offer innovative and value-added 
products and services. 

In  line  with  its  interinstitutional  mandate,  while  working  towards  the  goals  outlined  above,  the 
Publications Office will  continue  to  ensure the highest quality and continuity of all the information 
management services it currently provides to EU institutions. It will always put its expertise and tools 
at their disposal, thus enhancing the way in which they work with content and data, and contributing 
to significant synergies, efficiencies and economies of scale, for the benefit of citizens and the EU as a 
whole. 

The  Office  actively  participated  in  2015  in  the  High  Level  Group  which  elaborated  the  Reflection 
paper  on  data,  information  and  knowledge  management  at  European  Commission.  The  specific 
objectives underpinning the strategy of the Office to become the EU information hub fully support 
the principles of the Reflection paper. The Office will focus on publicly accessible content held by the 
EU institutions for which it provides services in the three areas of content management: production, 
long-term  preservation,  access  and  reuse.  In  line  with  the  objectives  of  the  Reflection  paper,  the 
ultimate  goal  will  be  to  produce  quality  information,  to  make  it  accessible  and  interoperable  with 
other information, as well as findable, searchable and understandable. 

The Office's objectives may be impaired by external factors such as lack of resource availability and 
disruption of core business activities due to events not under the Office's control. 

77 

The  Publications  Office  is  an  interinstitutional  office  applying  the  administrative  procedures  of  the 
Commission.  Over  the  period  2016-2020,  the  Office  will  therefore  contribute  to  the  following 
Commission general objective: 

General objective 11: To help achieve the overall political objectives, the Commission will effectively and efficiently 
manage and safeguard assets and resources, and attract and develop the best talents 

However,  under  its  interinstitutional  mandate,  the  Office's  activities  go  beyond  the  Commission's 
objectives framework. Within its area of expertise and in accordance with its interinstitutional role 
and responsibilities,  the  Office is a  support service for all EU institutions and  consequently did not 
include in the present strategy any of the Commission corporate impact indicators. 

Aiming  to  become  an  information  hub  for  legislation,  documents,  publications  and  open  data 
produced  by  all  EU  institutions,  the  Office  will  work  to  the  delivery  of  the  following  specific 
objectives: 

Specific objective 11.1: Automated workflows for more dynamic ways of 
producing and publishing legal content are optimised and implemented. 

Non programme-based 

Result indicator: Percentage of Official Journal issues produced without delay in 23 or 24 language versions 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit B1 

Baseline 
2005 

99% 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

100% 

2018 

100% 

Planned evaluations: 

Target2 
2020 

100% 

‒ Budget impact of changes in OJ production – Evolution of changes in costs for the authentic OJ and new 

contracts, 2018; 

‒ Computing services – Maintenance and software development of the CIBA system – Alternatives, risks, changes 

in the approach for the new contract, 2016. 

Result indicator: Percentage of case-law document-by-document produced without delay 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit B1 

Baseline 
Not available  

New indicator 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

100% 

2018 

100% 

Target 
2020 

100% 

By  producing,  very  often  under  tight  deadlines,  the  various  issues  of  the  Official  Journal  without 
delay, the Publications Office allow the institutions to exercise the powers conferred on them by the 
treaties  and  contribute  to  the  gradual  generation  and  enhancement  of  the  European  Union  legal 
order and to legal certainty. Moreover, the document-by-document publishing of the case-law of the 
European Court of Justice will greatly improve its time to publish and the efficiency of the production 
chain. 

2 

Targets in this document are set on the basis of historical data and/or forecasts provided by external parties. 

88 

 
 
 
                                                           
Specific objective 11.2: Collaborative production services, optimised for 
multichannel dissemination, are provided to all EU institutions, agencies and 
bodies 

Non programme-based 

Result indicator: Satisfaction rate (quality of output, price, respect of deadlines, quality of service) 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit B2, Survey carried out on a regular basis with author services 

Baseline 
Not available  

New indicator 

Planned evaluations: 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

80% 

2018 

85% 

Target 
2020 

90% 

‒ Correction of documents and copy-editing – Alternatives, risks, changes in the approach for the new contract, 

2018; 

‒ Premedia, prepress and printing services; production of audiovisual publications – Needs of the author services, 

changes in procedures and approach, alternatives, risks for the production of general publications, 2016. 

Result indicator: Number of digital publications 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit B2 

Baseline  
Not available  

New indicator 

Interim Milestone  

2016 

5 000 

2018 

4 000 

Target  
2020 

3 000 

The  Office  is  highly  committed  to  ensuring  a  solid  satisfaction  level  of  its  stakeholders,  i.e.  all  EU 
institutions  using  the  Office's  publication  services.  A  survey  will  be  launched  on  a  regular  basis  in 
order to assess the quality of the services and to detect areas of improvement. 

In addition to aiming at a high satisfaction level of its clients, the Office is committed to promoting 
digital  publication,  such  as  html  for  web,  apps,  e-books,  and  to  offering  technical  assistance  and 
service  in  order  to  achieve  the  shift  to  digital,  with  a  view  to  reducing  paper.  It  also  promotes 
multichannel publications, i.e. one single content published on different media (paper and web and 
e-books) at the end of the production chain. 

Targets for digital publishing and multichannel publishing are expressed in titles produced. The trend 
in the digital publishing industry over the coming years foresees a need for fewer but more effective, 
multi-channelled and well-targeted publications. 

In line with the principles of the Reflection paper on data, information and knowledge management, 
the  Office  actively  promotes  the  use  of  a  collaborative  platform  allowing  the  Office,  external 
contractors and author services to have simultaneous access and jointly work on the same file. This is 
an essential tool both to promote multichannel publication and to reduce costs and time. 

In  assisting  the  communication  services  of  all  EU  institutions,  including  the  Commission  DGs,  to 
produce high quality information material in digital  form, the Office is playing an important role  in 
promoting synergies and cost-effectiveness. 

99 

 
 
 
Specific objective 11.3: Structuring of data [content (IFC) and metadata 
(IMMC)] is facilitated through synergies in tools and formats on the 
interinstitutional level3 
Result indicator: Number of document types (each taking into account several example documents) covered by the 
Interinstitutional Formats Committee's (IFC) Common Vocabulary for the semantic structuring of the documents' 
content 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit A1 

Non programme-based 

Baseline 
Not available 

New indicator 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

1 

2018 

8 

Target 
2020 

20 

Result indicator: Percentage of data related to legislation (content and metadata) that has been exchanged in 
structured format 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit A2 

Baseline 
Not available 

New indicator 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

50% 

2018 

80% 

Target 
2020 

98% 

The extended coverage of the Interinstitutional Formats Committee's Common Vocabulary allows for 
progress  in  implementing  a  target  architecture  for  the  interinstitutional  framework  for  the  digital 
management of legislative documents, with priority given to documents exchanged in the course of 
the ordinary legislative procedure. This will boost the  efficiency  of the regulatory process and thus 
increase the speed and quality of legislation. 

The Office  is chairing  the  IFC, including its subgroups, and is maintaining the Common Vocabulary. 
The  progress  of  the  work  on  the  Common  Vocabulary  is  key  if  it  comes  to  the  envisaged 
implementation planning, but depends directly on the institutions' contributing to the complex work 
of analysing document/document types to continuously enrich the tool. 

Standardisation  of  data  (content  and  metadata)  is  the  precondition  for  an  effective  and  efficient 
management  of  resources  in  the  domain  of  digital  publishing  and,  in  general,  regarding  the 
collaborative production of digital information. In particular, in the context of the legislative process, 
the use of structured data will increase significantly the interoperability of the concerned services on 
an interinstitutional level. The objectives laid out in the Paper on information, data and knowledge 
management are thus fully supported. 

3

IFC:  Interinstitutional  Format  Committee.  It  is  responsible  for  the  definition  of  common  semantic  structures,  in 
principle based on XML, for EU institutions' documents, in particular legislative documents. IMMC: Interinstitutional 
Metadata Maintenance Committee. It is in charge of the definition and the maintenance of metadata standards for 
the exchange of information between and within the institutions. 

1010 

 
 
 
                                                           
Specific objective 11.4: EU digital information and data are archived, 
preserved over time and extended to new content types 

Non programme-based 

Result indicator: Extensibility of the archive (number of new types of information that have been integrated in the 
archive) 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit A2  

Baseline 
Not available 

New indicator 

Interim Milestone  

2016 

+ 2 

2018 

+ 2 

Target  
2020 

+ 2 

Result indicator: Accessibility (percentage of the information available in the archive that is accessible) 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit A2  

Baseline 
Not available 

Interim Milestone  

2016 

2018 

Target  
2020 

100% 

New indicator 
Result indicator: Coverage (percentage of completeness of the archive regarding the entire collection of the Official 
Journal of the European Union and all other mandatory publications) 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit A2 

100% 

100% 

Baseline 
Not available 

New indicator 

Interim Milestone  

2016 

99% 

2018 

99,9% 

Target  
2020 

100% 

The official information that has been published by the EU institutions represents precious assets for 
future  generations,  which  have  to  be  preserved.  This  objective  is  in  line  with  the  principles  of  the 
Reflection paper on data,  information  and knowledge management, under which the technological 
obsolescence must not impact the access to information. 

Most of the historical information is available in digital format. The common trend is that information 
is  only  published  in  digital  formats,  which  increases  the  need  for  professional  long-term  digital 
preservation. 

There are two key requirements that have to be met by the digital long-term preservation service: 

— 

It has to guarantee that all information preserved in the electronic archive remains accessible 
over time. 

— 

It has to ensure that all information that has to be preserved is available in the archive. 

The Office is committed to the extension of archiving in order to handle new types of information. 
New types of information can be in the form of either information that is available, but currently not 
being  archived,  e.g.  the  full  set  of  metadata  available  in  EUR-Lex, or  non-text  content  as  datasets, 
video and audio material. 

1111 

 
 
 
Specific objective 11.5: EU authentic information is easily accessible online and 
its discoverability is enhanced 

Non programme-based 

Result indicator: Number of visits to EUR-Lex website 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit C2  

Baseline 
2007 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

67.3 million 

70 million 

Planned evaluations:  

2018 

72 million 

Target 
2020 

74 million 

‒ Analysis of experiences on new EUR-Lex – Lessons learned in terms of performance, 2017; 
‒ Technical consolidation of legal acts of the European Union and its consistency check – Alternatives, risks, 

changes in the approach for the new contract, 2018. 

Result indicator: Number of visits to TED website 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit C2 

Baseline  
2007 

9.2 million 

Interim Milestone  

2016 

13 million 

2018 

14 million 

Result indicator: Number of individual metadata records exported to third parties 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit C4 

Baseline  
Not available 

Interim Milestone  

2016 

New indicator 

120 000 

2018 

150 000 

Target 
2020 

15 million 

Target 
2020 

180 000 

In order to promote transparency and accountability of EU institutions, it is essential to ensure that 
authentic information from the EU is easy to find, access and reuse. At the same time, information 
management  processes  are  constantly  evolving,  and  reaching  the  target  audience  requires 
information providers to continually adapt to the changing technical environment. The Publications 
Office will continue to work in order to meet both of these challenges, attracting users to its portals 
and ensuring that the services they receive are of the highest quality. 

It  will  also  take  steps  to  ensure  that  this  information  is  easily  available  not  only  on  its  integrated 
portals, but also through numerous multipliers and commonly used search engines. This is based on 
a  customised  metadata  export  service  provided  by  the  Office  on  request.  The  service  is  used  by  a 
variety  of  metadata  aggregators,  such  as  academic,  public  or  national  libraries  (e.g.  the  British 
Library) and commercial discovery services. It also proactively exports metadata to major information 
aggregators,  such  WorldCat,  which  in  turn  is  used  by  other  information  multipliers.  This  activity  is 
extremely important in order to ensure that EU content reaches as wide an audience as possible. 

Through  this  export  activity,  the  metadata  exported  by  the  Publications  Office  is  seamlessly 
integrated into a number of national and international catalogues, ensuring that their users find EU 
content with other information on similar topics. As export partners of the Office share our records 
with  their  partners  and  more  and  more  libraries  incorporate  the  information  into  their  catalogue, 
there  is  a  ripple  effect  in  the  use  of  this  metadata,  whereby  EU  content  reaches  ever-expanding 
communities of users. 

Moreover, the Office is  also  putting  a  significant amount of effort into Search Engine Optimisation 
activities to ensure that EU content available on its portals is easy to find via Google search, as well as 
into  development  of  widgets  which  allow  easy  reuse  of  EU  content  managed  by  the  Publications 
Office. 

1212 

 
Specific objective 11.6: The various collections of EU content are available 
through a single point of access based on commonly agreed standards 

Non programme-based 

Result indicator: Completeness of collections that are available for access and reuse (through the common repository, 
CELLAR4) 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit A2 

Baseline 
2015 

≥ 99,9% 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

≥ 99,9% 

2018 

≥ 99,9% 

Result indicator: Number of visits to OP Portal (including EU Bookshop) 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit C1 

Baseline 
New indicator 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

Not available 

2.8 million 

2018 

3.8 million 

Target 
2020 

≥ 99,9% 

Target 
2020 

5 million 

A key element of the Office's role as information provider is the reliability of the information that is 
made available for access and reuse in terms of completeness and consistency. All information that is 
supposed  to  be  made  available  by  the  Office  has  to  be  available,  eventual  gaps  should  be 
systematically filled and errors should be corrected.  

Tackling  the  fragmentation  of  various  EU  information  resources  will  be  an  important  step  towards 
ensuring  better  integrated  access  to  all  EU  content. This  will  contribute  to  increasing  transparency 
and accountability of  the Commission  and the other EU institutions, since it will make it easier for 
citizens to find reliable information about the EU. 

Specific objective 11.7:  
The Office is the information hub for policy makers, market actors and civil 
society as regards the dissemination and reuse of public EU data 
Content-linking from various sources is enabled through synergies and 
interoperability with other EU institutions, agencies and bodies 

Non programme-based 

Result indicator: Number of visits to EU Open Data Portal 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit C1 

Baseline 
2014 

309 187 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

0.6 million 

2018 

0.75 million 

Result indicator: Number of visits to CORDIS website 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit C3 

Baseline 
2014 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

3.3 million 

3.9 million 

2018 

4.2 million 

Target 
2020 

1 million 

Target 
2020 

4.4 million 

Result indicator: CORDIS user satisfaction rate (percentage of neutral and positive opinions expressed in the annual 
user survey) 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit C3 

Baseline 
2015 

88.7% 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

88.8% 

2018 

88.9% 

Target 
2020 

89% 

4

CELLAR: Repository storing all metadata and digital content managed by the Publications Office in a harmonised and 
standardised format. The storage in the CELLAR makes data implicitly available on the internet. 

1313 

 
 
 
                                                           
Result indicator: Reuse of CELLAR data (number of direct external accesses) 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit A2 

Baseline 
Not available 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

New indicator 

> 6 million 

2018 

> 9 million 

Target 
2020 

> 10 million 

Result indicator: Number of Member States having implemented ELI in their system 
Source of data: Publications Office, Unit B1 

Baseline 
Not available 

New indicator 

Interim Milestone 

2016 

8 

2018 

10 

Target 
2020 

12 

The EU institutions have committed themselves to make their data available for reuse (open data), 
which should lead to a wider use and spread of EU information, enhance the image of openness and 
transparency  of  the  EU  institutions,  and  avoid  unnecessary  administrative  burden  for  users.  Open 
data represents a valuable asset, which has to be protected and to be managed in an effective and 
efficient way. 

The  interconnection  of  the  different  EU  information  sources  will  constitute  the  EU  information 
network. In its role as information hub the Office will enable transparent seamless access, navigation 
and search across this network. Working towards the implementation of this vision, the Office brings 
considerable  added  value  to  the  achievement  of  the  Reflection  paper  on  data,  information  and 
knowledge  management  objective  to  render  the  information  and  datasets  available  as  widely  as 
possible externally for  use  and  reuse  under the conditions of free, full, open and  timely  access.  By 
strengthening  its  online  portals,  in  particular  the  EU  Open  Data  Portal,  which  will  be  continually 
reinforced  with  new  datasets  and  which  will  attract  new  reusers,  the  Publications  Office  will 
strengthen its role as a reference point in the area of reuse of public EU data. 

Moreover, by implementing the European Legislation Identifier (ELI) as a semantic web technology in 
their systems, the Publications Office enables a stronger degree of interoperability on legal aspects 
between the EU institutions, the Member States and beyond. By helping Members States adopt ELI 
and by promoting its use, the Office helps build bridges and contributes to increasing collaboration 
between  Member  States  at  judicial  level.  With  ELI,  the  Publications  Office  provides  a  means  for 
efficient  cooperation  and  management  of  legal  data.  It  builds  upon  available  assets  to  improve 
transparency  and  facilitate  access  to  legal  information.  Beyond  creating  potential  for  additional 
services, the Office contributes to increasing the quality of legal data and thus the reliability thereof. 

1414 

 
 
 
 
D. Key performance indicators (KPIs) 

The Publications Office has selected the following key performance indicators: 

Publications Office specific objectives 

KPIs 

Automated workflows for more dynamic ways of 
legal  content  are 
producing  and  publishing 
optimised and implemented 

KPI 1  Percentage  of  Official  Journal  issues  produced 
without delay in 23 or 24 language versions 

EU  digital  information  and  data  are  archived, 
preserved  over  time  and  extended  to  new 
content types 

KPI 2  Coverage  (percentage  of  completeness  of  the 
archive  regarding  the  entire  collection  of  the 
Official  Journal  of  the  European  Union  and  all 
other mandatory publications) 

EU  authentic 
online and its discoverability is enhanced 

information 

is  easily  accessible 

KPI 3  Number of visits to EUR-Lex website 

The  various  collections  of  EU  content  are 
available  through  a  single  point  of  access  based 
on commonly agreed standards 

KPI 4  Number  of  visits  to  OP  Portal  (including  EU 

Bookshop) 

The  Office  is  the  information  hub  for  policy 
makers, market actors and civil society as regards 
the dissemination and reuse of public EU data 

Content-linking  from  various  sources  is  enabled 
through synergies and interoperability with other 
EU institutions, agencies and bodies 

KPI 5  Number of visits to the EU Open Data Portal 

1515 

PART 2.  Organisational management 

A. Human Resource Management 

Over  the  period  2016-2020  the  Publications  Office  will  regularly  adapt  its  organisation  chart  and 
redeploy  resources  as  necessary,  in  order  to  cope  with  its  core  business,  with  the  changing 
environment  and  with  the  strategic  guidelines  and  objectives  adopted  by  the  Management 
Committee. 

The  selection  of  middle  managers  will  be  carried  out  in  view  of  achieving  and  maintaining  the 
objective of an effective and gender-balanced management at the Office. 

The Publications Office will continue to implement and will extend its policy and actions concerning 
the well- being and engagement of staff, including the fit@work programme of the Commission. In 
particular,  it  will  actively  work  towards  the  implementation  of  the  ten  action  points  to  which  the 
Office  committed  following  the  evaluation  of  the  last  Commission  staff  satisfaction  survey  results. 
The action points follow the five domains of the survey and aim at promoting a safe and attractive 
working environment,  a supportive management style and working conditions which allow staff  to 
achieve a good work-life balance. 

Objective (mandatory): The DG deploys effectively its resources in support of the delivery of the 
Commission's priorities and core business, has a competent and engaged workforce, which is driven by an 
effective and gender-balanced management and which can deploy its full potential within supportive and 
healthy working conditions 

Indicator 1 (mandatory): Percentage of female representation in middle management 
Source of data: 

Baseline:  
37.5% (2015) 

Target: 40% (2019) 
Indicate targets for each Directorate-General adopted by the Commission on 15 July 2015 
– SEC(2015)336  

Indicator 2 (mandatory): Percentage of staff who feel that the Commission cares about their well-being 5 
Source of data: Commission staff survey 

Baseline:  
29.5% (2014) 

Target: 50% (2019) 
To recover the level of 2013 staff survey 

Indicator 3 (mandatory): Staff engagement index 
Source of data: Commission staff survey 

Baseline: 
62% (2014) 

Target: 70% (2020) 
To recover the level of 2013 staff survey 

5 

This indicator may be replaced by a fit@work index on which DG HR is currently working. 

1616 

 
 
                                                           
B. Financial Management: Internal control and Risk management 

Overarching  objective:  The  Authorising  Officer  by  Delegation  should  have  reasonable  assurance  that 
resources  have  been  used  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  sound  financial  management,  and  that  the 
control procedures put in place give the necessary guarantees concerning the legality and regularity of the 
underlying transactions including prevention, detection, correction and follow-up of fraud and irregularities 

A continuous ex-ante and ex-post financial control is conducted and its effectiveness and efficiency 
are monitored and improved. Recommendations are made to improve the working of controls and to 
manage  risks.  Evaluation  of  activities  based  on  strategic  priorities  and  a  continuous  analysis  of 
indicators and risks ensure monitoring of controls. 

The  risk  of  fraud  is  monitored  and  reduced  through  application  of  effective  anti-fraud  measures, 
integrated  in  all  activities  of  the  Office,  based  on  its  anti-fraud  strategy  (AFS)  aimed  at  the 
prevention, detection and reparation of fraud. 

Objective 1 (mandatory): Effective and reliable internal control system giving the necessary guarantees 
concerning the legality and the regularity of the underlying transactions 

Indicator 1 (mandatory): Estimated residual error rate  
Where necessary specific residual error rates would be calculated for each programme managed or for 
expenditure with a common risk profile. 
Source of data: Publications Office, Internal Control and Evaluation Unit 

Baseline 

<1% (2014) 

Target 

<2%* 

* The target error rate is the materiality limit. 

Indicator 2 (mandatory): Estimated overall amount at risk for the year for the entire budget under the DGs 
responsibility.  
Source of data: Publications Office, Internal Control and Evaluation Unit 

Baseline 

<100 000 € (2014) 

Target 

None 

Indicator 3 (mandatory): Estimated future corrections  
Source of data: Publications Office, Internal control and Evaluation Unit 

Baseline 

Not applicable* 

Target  

Not applicable* 

* As the Office implements no programmes where ex post controls of external entities, which would give rise to 
recoveries in subsequent years, are conducted and the error rate is low, the corrective capacity is insignificant. 

Objective 2 (mandatory): Effective and reliable internal control system in line with sound financial 
management 

Indicator 1 (mandatory): Conclusion reached on cost effectiveness of controls 
Source of data: Publications Office, Internal Control and Evaluation Unit 

Baseline (2013) 

Yes 

Target 

Yes 

Indicator 2: Percentage of budget execution (commitments) with respect to final budgets 
Source of data: Publications Office, Finance Unit 

Baseline 

> 99% (2014) 

Target  

≥ Baseline 

1717 

 
 
 
 
Objective 3 (mandatory): Minimisation of the risk of fraud through application of effective anti-fraud 
measures, integrated in all activities of the DG, based on the DG's anti-fraud strategy (AFS) aimed at the 
prevention, detection and reparation of fraud 

Indicator 1 (mandatory – information available in DG's AFS): Updated anti-fraud strategy of the Publications 
Office elaborated on the basis of the methodology provided by OLAF 
Source of data: Publications Office, Internal Control and Evaluation Unit 

Baseline 

31/01/2014 

Interim Milestone 

Target 

Update 31/09/2016 

Update every 3 years  

C.

Better Regulation (only for DGs managing regulatory acquis) 

The Publications Office contributes to the better regulation agenda by improving access for all to 
legislation and through simplification activities, e.g. consolidation of legal acts. 

D. Information management aspects 

The  Publications  Office  maintains  several  platforms  for  information  and  knowledge  sharing,  and 
continuously develops them. To disseminate knowledge and information to other DGs, information is 
made available online and training and information sessions are organised. The quality of document 
management is monitored and important documents are registered, filed and retrievable. 

Objective (mandatory): Information and knowledge in your DG is shared and reusable by other DGs. 
Important documents are registered, filed and retrievable 
Indicator 1 (mandatory): Percentage of registered documents that are not filed6 (ratio) 
Source of data: Hermes-Ares-Nomcom (HAN)7 statistics  
Baseline 2014 

Target 

1.08% (2015) 

≤ Baseline 

Indicator 2 (mandatory): Percentage of HAN files readable/accessible by all units in the Publications Office 
Source of data: HAN statistics 
Baseline 

Target 

97.90% (2015) 

≥ Baseline* 
* It may depend on the nature of the file. 

Indicator 3 (mandatory): Percentage of HAN files shared with other DGs 
Source of data: HAN statistics 
Baseline 

Target 

0.10% (2015) 

4% 

6 

7 

Each registered document must be filed in at least one official file of the Chef de file, as required by the e-Domec 
policy rules (and by ICS 11 requirements). The indicator is to be measured via reporting tools available in Ares. 
Suite of tools designed to implement the e-Domec policy rules. 

1818 

 
 
 
 
                                                           
E. External communication activities 

Objective (mandatory): Citizens perceive that the EU is working to improve their lives and engage with the 
EU. They feel that their concerns are taken into consideration in European decision making and they know 
about their rights in the EU 

Percentage of EU citizens having a positive image of the EU 

As  an  official  information  provider,  the  Publications  Office  has  a  highly  significant  role  to  play  in 
creating a positive image of the EU. Since its activities consist in disseminating authentic and reliable 
information  about  what  the  EU  does  and  how  it  spends  its  resources,  it  can,  besides  improving 
transparency  and  accountability  of  all  EU  institutions,  facilitate  access  to  information  which  EU 
citizens may need in their daily lives. 

This contribution is additionally strengthened by the fact that the Publications Office produces and 
disseminates  information  in  all  the  official  languages  of  the  EU,  with  due  account  taken  of 
accessibility requirements, which is important for users with disabilities. 

Furthermore,  by  actively  promoting  free  reuse  of  EU  information  and  data  by  EU  citizens  and 
businesses,  the  Publications  Office  ensures  that  the  EU  is  seen  as  an  open  organisation  which 
continually strives to improve its administrative efficiency. 

Finally, since the Publications Office manages a number of online services for the general public, by 
ensuring  their  modern  design  and  smooth  operation,  it  can  project  the  image  of  the  EU  as  highly 
professional civil service working for the common good of all EU citizens. 

1919 

 
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