REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Results of the interim evaluation of the ISA² programme
Date: 2019-09-23
Institutions: Directorate-General for Digital Services, European Commission
Subjects: EU national, EU programme, administrative cooperation, cooperation policy, digitisation, exchange of information, information technology applications, public administration, public authorities, type of business

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 23.9.2019  COM(2019) 615 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Results of the interim evaluation of the ISA² programme {SWD(2019) 1615 final}  
 
 
Table of contents 

1. 

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2 

2.  Background ..................................................................................................................................... 2 

3.  Common understanding of interoperability ..................................................................................... 3 

4.  Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 4 

5.  Evaluation issues and questions ...................................................................................................... 4 

6.  Findings ........................................................................................................................................... 5 

6.1.  Relevance ................................................................................................................................ 5 

6.2. 

Effectiveness ........................................................................................................................... 6 

6.3. 

Efficiency ................................................................................................................................ 6 

6.4.  Coherence ................................................................................................................................ 7 

6.5. 

EU added value ....................................................................................................................... 7 

6.6.  Utility....................................................................................................................................... 7 

6.7. 

Sustainability ........................................................................................................................... 7 

7.  Recommendations ........................................................................................................................... 8 

7.1.  Awareness-raising beyond national administrations ............................................................... 8 

7.2. 

From user-centric to user-driven solutions .............................................................................. 8 

7.3. 

Paving the way to increased sustainability .............................................................................. 9 

8.  Next steps ...................................................................................................................................... 10 

1 

 
 
 
1. 

2. 

INTRODUCTION 
As provided for in  the ISA2  Decision1, on 1 January 2016 the five-year programme 
on  interoperability  solutions  and  common  frameworks  for  European  public 
administrations, businesses and citizens (ISA2 programme) was launched as a follow-
up to the ISA programme2. 

This  report presents  the findings and recommendations of the interim  evaluation  of 
the ISA2 programme3. Under Article 13(3) of the ISA2 Decision, the Commission is 
required  to  carry  out  this  evaluation  and  communicate  its  results  to  the  European 
Parliament and the Council by 30 September 2019. 

The Commission carried out the evaluation using a team of independent experts from 
a  consultancy  company4.  The  evaluation  was  overseen  by  an  interservice  steering 
group5. 

BACKGROUND 
The ISA2 programme’s ultimate objective is to promote the ICT-based modernisation 
of the public sector in Europe and to facilitate addressing the needs of businesses and 
citizens, via improved interoperability of European public administrations. 

More specifically the programme aims to do the following: 

– 

– 

– 

Facilitate  efficient  and  effective  electronic  cross-border  or  cross-sector 
interaction between European public administrations, businesses and citizens. 

Contribute to the development of a more effective, simplified and user-friendly 
e-administration at the national, regional and local administration levels.  

Promote  a  holistic  approach  to  interoperability  in  the  EU,  by  identifying, 
creating and operating interoperability solutions and facilitating their reuse by 
European  public  administrations.  This  will  support  the  implementation  of 
various EU policies and activities. 

To  meet  these  objectives6,  the  programme  builds  on  the  achievements  of  its 
predecessor, the ISA programme7. It also puts emphasis on fitting smoothly into the 
wider policy framework related to the digitalisation of public administrations in the 
EU.  In  this  regard,  the  ISA2  programme  is  the  main  instrument  to  support  the 
implementation of the European Interoperability Framework (EIF)8, which has been 
updated and extended as planned in the Communication on a Digital Single Market 

1  Decision (EU) 2015/2240 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 establishing 
a programme on interoperability solutions and common frameworks for European public administrations, 
businesses and citizens (ISA2 programme) as a means for modernising the public sector, OJ L 318, 4.12.2015, 
p. 1. 
2  Decision No 922/2009/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on 
interoperability solutions for European public administrations (ISA), OJ L 260, 3.10.2009, p. 20. 
3  The details of the evaluation process and results together with the supporting evidence is available in the 
Commission Staff Working Document: SWD(2019) 1615 final. 
4  The independent experts’ evaluation study is available at: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2799/13397 
5  Members of the group were DG CNECT, DIGIT, EMPL, FISMA, GROW, OP, SG, TAXUD and the JRC. 
6  Article 1(1) of the ISA2 Decision (see footnote 1). 
7  Article 1(3) of the ISA2 Decision (see footnote 1). 
8  Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and 
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, European Interoperability Framework — Implementation 
Strategy, Brussels, 23.3.2017, COM(2017) 134 final. 

2 

 
                                                           
Strategy for Europe9. Other policy initiatives to which ISA2 contributes include the 
eGovernment  Action  Plan  2016-202010, 
the  2017  Tallinn  Declaration  on 
eGovernment11 and the Single Digital Gateway Regulation12. 
In  practical  terms,  ISA2  runs  from  1 January  2016  until  31 December  2020  with  a 
total budget of €130.9 million. It funds actions defined on a yearly basis in the annual 
rolling work programme. The programme’s management also fosters synergies with 
other EU programmes, like the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)13 or the Structural 
Reform Support Programme (SRSP)14. 

The programme’s primary stakeholders are the European public administrations at all 
levels:  EU,  national,  regional  and  local.  Yet  the  programme  affects  a  much  wider 
group  of  stakeholders,  including  EU  businesses  and  citizens.  ISA2  is  open  to  EU 
Member  States,  other  countries  of  the  European  Economic  Area  and  candidate 
countries. In addition to the 28 EU Member States, 3 other countries take part in the 
programme:  Iceland,  Norway  (since  2016)  and  Montenegro  (since  2018).  The 
programme  also  encourages  cooperation  with  other  non-EU  countries  and  with 
international organisations and bodies. 

3. 

COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF INTEROPERABILITY 
In line with  Article 1(2)  of the  ISA2 Decision, ‘the  ISA2 programme shall  ensure a 
common understanding of interoperability through the EIF and its implementation in 
Member  States’  administrations.  The  Commission,  through  the  ISA2  programme, 
shall monitor the implementation of the EIF.’ 
In  this  respect,  the  ISA2  programme  is  developing  an  integrated  framework  for 
monitoring, assessing and reporting the progress made in implementing the EIF15 by 
both the Member States and the Commission. The design and implementation of this 
monitoring 
the  National 
Interoperability  Framework  Observatory  (NIFO)  action,  funded  by  the  ISA² 
programme. 

framework  are  conducted  within 

remit  of 

the 

The  EIF  implementation  results  across  the  EU  will  be  presented  yearly  through  an 
online  scoreboard  to  better  inform  policy-making  and  to  communicate  to  a  wider 

9  Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and 
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe, Brussels, 
6.5.2015, COM(2015) 192 final. 
10  Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and 
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions EU, eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020. Accelerating the 
digital transformation of government, COM/2016/0179 final. 
11  Tallinn Declaration on eGovernment, at the ministerial meeting during the Estonian Presidency of the 
Council of the EU on 6 October 2017. 
12  Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 October 2018 establishing a 
single digital gateway to provide access to information, to procedures and to assistance and problem-solving 
services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012, OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 1-38. 
13  Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 
establishing the Connecting Europe Facility, amending Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 and repealing Regulations 
(EC) No 680/2007 and (EC) No 67/2010, OJ L 384, 20.12.2013, p. 129-171. 
14  Regulation (EU) 2018/1671 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 amending 
Regulation (EU) 2017/825 to increase the financial envelope of the Structural Reform Support Programme and 
adapt its general objective, OJ L 284, 12.11.2018, p. 3-5. 
15  This monitoring mechanism also covers the implementation of the Interoperability Action Plan presented in 
Annex I of the EIF Communication mentioned in footnote 8. 

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public  in  a  more  visual  and  intuitive  way16.  In  practice,  the  scoreboard  aims  to 
improve communication and capacity building to make Member States better aware 
of  their  current  status  in  the  EIF’s  implementation,  and  to  help  them  comply  more 
easily with the EIF’s recommendations. 

To  achieve  these  goals,  a  toolbox  will  be  made  available  to  the  Member  States  to 
provide practical guidance on implementing the EIF by means of good practices and 
solutions. 

The monitoring framework for the EIF implementation is meant to provide evidence 
for the EIF’s future evaluation, which was initially planned to take place by the end 
of  201917.  However,  in  order  to  leave  a  realistic  timeframe  for  Member  States  to 
adapt their national policies on eGovernment, digital services and interoperability to 
the EIF and given that the broader scope of the new EIF requires additional internal 
and external coordination to finalise a commonly accepted and integrated monitoring 
framework, it appears necessary to  postpone the EIF evaluation  until  2021.  Indeed, 
these  factors  resulted  in  the  data  collection  process  only  beginning  in  2019,  thus 
there is a lack of data to evaluate the EIF’s implementation in the same year. 

In addition, by running the EIF’s evaluation back-to-back with the final evaluation of 
the ISA2 programme in 2021, several synergies can be created, since the programme 
is the main instrument supporting the EIF’s implementation. 

4. 

METHODOLOGY 
The interim evaluation of the ISA2 programme relied on quantitative and qualitative 
data  collected  through  various  methods,  like  desk  research,  public  consultation, 
targeted  online  surveys,  in-depth  interviews  and  a  kick-off  workshop.  The 
consultation  activities  allowed  for  a  wide  coverage  of  the  different  ISA2 
stakeholders,  ranging  from  representatives  of  Member  States  and  Commission 
departments to citizens and standardisation organisations. 

In order to better guide data collection, a sample of 20 actions was selected from the 
53 actions — grouped into 9 packages — funded by the ISA2 programme up to 2018. 
Four pre-defined criteria steered this sampling to ensure that the selected actions are 
largely representative of the programme. Furthermore, the overall data collection was 
complemented  by  an  expert  assessment  of  the  programme  carried  out  by  four 
technical experts in interoperability. 

5. 

EVALUATION ISSUES AND QUESTIONS 
The evaluation focused on the following seven main criteria18: 

– 

– 

Relevance  —  to  what  extent  are  the  objectives  of  the  ISA²  programme  still 
pertinent  in  relation  to  the  evolving  needs  and  problems  at  both  national  and 
EU levels? 

Effectiveness  —  how  far  are  the  ISA²  programme’s  results  in  the  process  of 
achieving the programme’s objectives? Are there aspects that are more or less 
effective than others, and if so, what lessons can be drawn from this? 

16  The scoreboard will be available under the ‘NIFO’ collection on the Joinup platform in 2020. 
17  See Section 6 of the EIF Communication mentioned in footnote 8. 
18  See Tool #47 of the European Commission’s Better Regulation Toolbox. 

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– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

Efficiency  —  to  what  extent  has  the  programme  been  cost-effective?  Which 
aspects  of  the  programme  are  the  most  efficient  or  inefficient,  especially  in 
terms  of  resources  mobilised?  How  is  the  programme  performing  relative  to 
the planned work and budget? 

Coherence  —  to  what  extent  do  the  ISA²  actions  form  part  of  a  ‘holistic’ 
approach  within  the  framework  of  the  programme  (internal  coherence)?  To 
what  extent  is  the  ISA²  programme  coherent  with  other  EU  interventions, 
which  have  similar  objectives,  and  with  global  initiatives  in  the  same  field 
(external coherence)? 

EU  added  value  —  what  is  the  additional  value  resulting  from  the  ISA² 
programme,  compared  to  what  could  reasonably  have  been  expected  from 
Member States acting at national, regional and/or local levels? 

Utility  —  how  do  the  ISA²  programme’s  actions  and  results,  achieved  and 
anticipated, compare with the needs they are supposed to address? 

Sustainability  —  to  what  extent  is  the  financial,  technical  and  operational 
sustainability  of  the  developed  solutions  —  maintained  and  operated  through 
the ISA² programme — ensured? 

FINDINGS 
Based on data collected from 129 consulted stakeholders19, extensive desk research, 
and expert assessments,  the interim evaluation  confirms  that  ISA2 performs  well in 
all  the  evaluation  criteria.  However,  the  evaluation  is  confined  to  actions  funded 
between 2016 and 2018; hence, the results of ongoing actions as well the longer-term 
outcomes of ISA2 can only be captured after the programme finishes. 

Relevance 
The  objectives  pursued  by  ISA2  are  still  pertinent  in  relation  to  the  evolving  needs 
and problems in the field of interoperability of digital public services, confirming the 
programme’s relevance. Most of the consulted stakeholders agree that the problem of 
administrative  e-barriers  and  related  needs  originally  identified  by  the  programme 
are still valid. However, some of them (46 out of 129) currently have some additional 
needs (like a more prescriptive approach to design interoperable public services) and 
problems (including resources constraints), which ISA2 can only be partially address. 

One  additional  need,  which  deserves  special  attention,  is  to  ensure  more 
collaboration  and  exchanges  with  regional  and  local  administrations  in  order  to 
increase awareness  of interoperability  and the take-up of  ISA2  solutions at  the sub-
national level. 

Raising  public  administrations’  awareness  on  interoperability  was  the  first  of  the 
three  recommendations  in  the  final  evaluation  of  the  ISA  programme20.  The  ISA2 
programme  acted  upon  this  call  by  adopting  its  communication  strategy  and 
engagement plan in 2017 and by organising 10 major events between 2016 and 2018, 

6. 

6.1. 

19  Due to confidentiality and data protection reasons, the evaluation team asked the action owners to contact 
their solutions users as intermediaries for consultation activities. This two-step approach may have limited the 
number of responses received. 
20  Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, Results of the final evaluation of 
the ISA programme, Brussels, 1.9.2016, COM(2016) 550 final. 

5 

 
                                                           
6.2. 

with an average of 211 participants per event. Moreover, ISA2 representatives played 
an active role in 60 events held over the same period. The interim evaluation shows 
that these efforts paid off, as most of the consulted stakeholders indicated that they 
have  expert  knowledge  of  interoperability  (91  out  of  128)  and  of  ISA2  (81  out  of 
128).  In  spite  of  this  general  awareness,  the  above-highlighted  additional  need 
signals that the programme should continue its awareness-raising activities targeting 
regional  and  local  administrations  and  possibly  indirect  beneficiaries,  like  citizens 
and businesses too. 

Effectiveness 
The  results  achieved  so  far  by  ISA2  are  aligned  with  the  programme’s  objectives. 
Nevertheless, they still do not fully match the expected results, as most of the actions 
are  still  ongoing  and  solutions  are  still  being  developed.  The  duration  of  the 
programme also influences the take-up rate of solutions. As such, actions that have 
been  continued  from  previous  editions  of  the  programme  have  produced  solutions 
that are now more widely used than solutions resulting from actions that have been 
established under ISA2. 
There is one specific ISA2 objective where the evaluation found that the programme 
on its own is less effective: the development of a more effective, simplified and user-
friendly  e-administration  at  the  national,  regional  and  local  level.  Here  Member 
States  can  in  fact  have  a  great  impact,  and  complement  the  EU-level  initiatives  on 
interoperability and digitalisation. 

External  factors  can  improve  but  also  jeopardise  the  way  in  which  the  programme 
achieves  its  objectives  and  delivers  its  results.  The  call  for  common  standards  and 
frameworks from public administrations represents an external factor contributing to 
the  programme’s  performance.  By  contrast,  institutional  complexity  could  hamper 
the achievement of interoperability across borders and across sectors. 
Finally,  the  evaluation  found  that  the  ISA2  actions  are  largely  compliant  with  the 
general  principles  listed  in  Article 4  of  the  ISA2  Decision,  due  to  the  rolling  work 
programme  process,  which  ensures  that  the  principles  are  systematically  taken  into 
account when the work programme is being prepared. 

6.3. 

Efficiency 

The programme’s implementation is progressing as planned; all actions are either on 
track or close to achieving the planned level of work. Nevertheless, the heterogeneity 
of  performance  indicators  makes  it  difficult  to  draw  conclusions  about  the 
programme’s  overall  cost-effectiveness.  For  those  ISA2  packages  where  it  was 
possible to aggregate performance indicators of different actions, costs per end-user 
(e.g. businesses, citizens) have been estimated as very low. 
The  process  for  selecting  actions  funded  by  ISA2  is  considered  relatively  efficient. 
The  costs  incurred  to  prepare  a  proposal  are  rather  small,  ranging  from  0.07%  to 
0.4%  of  the  potential  funds  that  could  be  allocated  to  the  proposal  once  accepted. 
Nonetheless,  the  selection  process  could  be  further  improved  by  simplifying  the 
rolling  work  programme  (e.g.  making  the  template  more  flexible)  and  launching 
thematic  calls  for  actions,  thus  ensuring  that  the  selection  process  is  driven  by 
objectives. 

6 

 
6.4. 

Coherence 

According  to  the  consulted  stakeholders,  substantial  synergies  and  limited  overlaps 
characterise  the  ISA2  actions.  This  strong  internal  coherence  is  in  line  with  the 
second  recommendation  of  the  final  ISA  evaluation,  which  called  for  a  holistic 
approach on interoperability within ISA2. 
On external coherence, ISA2 followed the third — and last — recommendation of the 
final  ISA  evaluation,  and  built  close  cooperation  with  other  EU  policies  and 
initiatives. It fostered synergies with CEF, Horizon 2020 and the Structural Reform 
Support  Programme.  ISA2  also  interacts  with  initiatives  such  as  the  single  digital 
gateway,  Digital  Single  Market  Strategy,  eGovernment  Action  Plan,  Tallinn 
Declaration  on  eGovernment,  and  the  rolling  plan  for  ICT  standardisation21. 
Nonetheless,  some  overlaps  were  perceived  between  specific  solutions  under  ISA2 
and CEF, which could be addressed by better delineating the scope of each solution. 

EU added value 
The  level  of  coordination  ensured  by  ISA2  is  crucial  to  improving  the  overall 
interoperability  among  European  public  administrations.  In  addition,  91  out  of  109 
respondents  emphasised  that  ISA2  is  able  to  achieve  its  objectives  at  a  lower  cost 
than comparable national or sub-national initiatives. 
It is apparent that ISA2 has helped improve cross-border interoperability in the EU: 
i) it  raises  awareness  about  interoperability  across  the  Member  States;  ii)  helps  put 
the  topic  on  national  agendas;  and  iii) creates  networks  and  facilitates  exchanges. 
ISA2  has  also  helped  to  further  common  EU  policies:  it  plays  a  central  role  in 
implementing the EIF and supports the establishment of the digital single market. 

Utility 
User satisfaction with the ISA2 solutions tends to be positive with only 7 out of 110 
stakeholders  reporting  ‘limited  satisfaction’.  As  the  programme  is  ongoing,  it  is 
expected that the take-up of ISA2 solutions will increase, thus improving the way that 
solutions meet user needs and, in turn, increasing overall user satisfaction. 

Sustainability 
The  sustainability  of  the  ISA2  solutions  received  mixed  feedback  from  consulted 
stakeholders.  While  66  out  of  84  respondents  believe  that  the  programme’s  results 
would last in the absence of future funding, over 55 out of 85 respondents consider 
that  the  need  for  operations  and  the  maintenance  costs  required  for  the  solutions 
could harm the ability of ISA2 solutions to deliver their results if the programme was 
terminated. 
Stakeholders  agree  though,  that  ISA2  plays  a  central  role  in  improving  the 
interoperability landscape in the EU and its absence would jeopardise the efforts of 
European  public  administrations  to  improve  interoperability  and  to  foster  the  ICT-
based modernisation of the public sector in Europe. 

6.5. 

6.6. 

6.7. 

21  See: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/rolling-plan-ict-standardisation 

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7. 

7.1. 

RECOMMENDATIONS 
The  interim  evaluation  paints  a  positive  picture  of  the  ISA2  programme’s 
performance so far. However, it also identifies areas for possible improvement. The 
recommendations  below  address  these  aspects  of  the  programme,  outlining  both 
short- and longer-term measures. The short-term measures are those, which could be 
taken  on  board  in  the  last  rolling  ISA2  work  programme  in  2020  and  during  the 
transition period leading to the set-up of the new Multiannual Financial Framework 
(MFF)22. The longer-term measures would need more years to yield results. 

Awareness-raising beyond national administrations 
The Commission, through the ISA2 programme, will continue its efforts to raise the 
European  public  sector’s  awareness  of  interoperability,  which  is  a  key  enabler  of 
digitalisation,  especially  ensuring  more  collaboration  with  the  regional  and  local 
administrations during this work.  

To  start  with,  targeted  promotional  activities  should  be  designed,  which  emphasise 
the  benefits  of  (re)using  the  ISA2  interoperability  solutions.  To  substantiate  this 
message, studies could be run in 2020 to quantify the impact of some ISA2 solutions 
on the efficiency and productivity of public administrations. 
In the ISA2 programme’s final stage, even more emphasis should be put on ensuring 
that  public  administrations,  academia  and  interested  professionals  share  best 
practices  among  themselves.  The  programme’s  recently-launched  Interoperability 
Academy action should develop suitable training materials too. 
To  amplify  the  impact  of  the  above-proposed  measures,  the  ISA2  action  owners 
should  further  leverage  potential  influencers  (like  researchers,  committed  public 
servants) and create a community of interoperability ambassadors. 

In the longer run, advisory capabilities should be built around interoperability. These 
would help interested stakeholders to pick the appropriate interoperability solutions 
matching their needs, while at the same time providing support services and technical 
assistance for the effective implementation of the solutions. 

7.2. 

From user-centric to user-driven solutions 
To increase the programme’s utility,  ISA2 could  improve the quality of its  existing 
solutions  by  better  considering  user  needs.  This  approach  could  prevail  during  the 
implementation of the last ISA2 work programme, thus promoting the EIF principle 
on user-centricity both in the Commission and in the Member States. 

However, in the coming years it is advisable to move from a user-centric to a user-
driven  paradigm,  where  users  become  involved  in  the  design  phase  of  an 
interoperability  solution.  An  interoperability  incubator  could  foster  such  a  co-
creation  process,  which  would  allow  for  new,  user-oriented  solutions  to  be 
experimented with and prototyped in a safe environment. The incubator would help 
with the take-up of emerging technologies and the exchange of innovative practices 
between pioneer public authorities. 

22  See: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/future-europe/eu-budget-future_en. 

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7.3. 

Concerning the first  two  recommendations  of this report, the Commission’s Digital 
Strategy23  proves  that  the  Commission  makes  good  on  its  promises:  both 
interoperability  and  user-centricity  are  among  the  strategy’s  key  principles  and  the 
EIF  is  one  of  its  reference  points.  Moreover,  ISA2  plays  a  consultative  role  in  the 
ongoing implementation  of the strategy, helping  the Commission, in  various policy 
areas,  to  modernise  its  existing  IT  systems  and  develop  new  digital  solutions  with 
interoperability in mind. 

Paving the way to increased sustainability 
When assessing the EU  added value and sustainability of the  ISA2 programme, the 
interim  evaluation  found  that  it  plays  an  essential  role  in  setting  up  a  uniform 
interoperability landscape in the European public sector. ISA2 also helps to develop 
and  deploy  cross-border  and  cross-sector  digital  solutions  among  Member  States’ 
administrations.  ISA2  also  helps  with  the advancement of common policies as they 
greatly rely on these interconnected and interoperable networks and systems. 
After  the  ISA2  programme  ends,  it  is  vital  to  preserve  and  increase  the  ability  of 
European  public  administrations  to  work  together  towards  attaining  mutually 
beneficial goals, involving the sharing of information and knowledge, which is at the 
core  of  interoperability  at  large.  For  that,  strong  political  commitment  and  solid 
funding  are  needed.  Regarding  political  commitment,  the  ministers  in  charge  of 
eGovernment policy across Europe — in the Tallinn Declaration on eGovernment — 
confirmed that they were committed to building citizen-centric public services with 
digital-by-default design and achieving the vision laid out in the EIF. Concerning the 
future funding for interoperability, it is envisaged in the Digital Europe Programme 
(DEP)24, which is one of the Commission’s sectoral proposals under the MFF 2021-
2027 legislative package. 
In addition, the Commission should act upon the synergies created between ISA2 and 
other  EU  programmes  to  promote  the  EIF  and  interoperability  in  general  and  to 
facilitate the broad reuse of ISA2 solutions. Furthermore, this approach could result 
in  efficient  and  streamlined  programme  management  supporting  the  future 
implementation of the DEP proposal. 

In  parallel  to  the  preparations  for  setting  up  the  new  MFF  programmes,  it  is 
recommended  to  investigate  the  possibilities  of  increasing  the  sustainability  of  the 
results  achieved  by  existing  ISA2  solutions.  The  feasibility  and  costs  of  various 
sustainability  measures  should  be  assessed  and  the  Commission  should  invest  in 
them. For example, the Commission could consider transferring some ISA2 solutions 
to open source communities or encouraging companies to build services around free 
ISA2 solutions under the European Union Public Licence (EUPL)25. 

Finally,  the  Commission  may  find  it  useful  to  assess  in-depth  the  rationale  and 
impacts  of  a  possible  binding  interoperability  instrument.  Such  assessment  should 
rely on the findings of the ISA2 programme's final evaluation and on the evidence to 
be gathered when evaluating the EIF's implementation in 2021. 

23  Communication to the Commission, European Commission Digital Strategy — A digitally transformed, user-
focused and data-driven Commission, Brussels, 21.11.2018, C(2018) 7118 final. 
24  Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Digital Europe 
programme for the period 2021-2027, Brussels, 6.6.2018, COM(2018) 434 final. 
25  See: https://eupl.eu/ 

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8. 

NEXT STEPS 

In the ongoing implementation of the ISA² programme, the Commission will pay the 
utmost  attention  to  the  above  findings  and  recommendations,  analysing  them  to 
validate and address the issues raised, wherever appropriate in close cooperation with 
the  Member  States.  The  findings  and  recommendations  of  the  ISA²  programme’s 
interim evaluation will inform the transition to the new MFF programmes too. 

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