The role of digital government in the European semester process 2019.
Date: 2020-04-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Digital Services
Subjects: EU financial instrument, Structural Funds, economic growth, electronic government, governance, information technology, public expenditure

The Role of Digital 

Government in the European 

Semester process 2019 

ISA2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Disclaimer 

The information and views set out  in  this  publication  are those of the  author(s) and  do not  necessarily 

reflect the official opinion of the European Commission. The European Commission does not guarantee 

the accuracy of the data included in this document. Neither the European Commission nor any person 

acting on the European Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of 

the information contained therein. 

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Directorate-General for Informatics 

Directorate D — Digital Public Services 

Unit D2— Interoperability Unit 

Contact: Digit D.2 - Interoperability Unit 

E-mail:  isa2@ec.europa.eu 

European Commission 

B-1049 Brussels 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2020 

© European Union, 2020 

Reuse is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 

The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated by Decision 2011/833/EU (OJ L 330, 

14.12.2011, p. 39). 

Image source: Adobe Stock 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Role of Digital Government in the 
European Semester process 2019 

Authors: 

Belén Ballester Cárdenas 

Allegra Crahay 

Débora Di Giacomo 

Sara Talpo 

Alessandro Zamboni 

This study was carried out for the European Commission by Wavestone 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table of Contents 

LIST OF ACRONYMS ...................................................................................................................... 4 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 5 

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 7 

1.  CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND .......................................................................................... 8 

2.  METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................. 12 

2.1  RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY ............................................................. 12 

2.2  OVERALL METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK .......................................................................... 13 

3.  COUNTRY ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................... 17 

3.1  AUSTRIA ........................................................................................................................... 18 

3.2  BELGIUM .......................................................................................................................... 24 

3.3  BULGARIA ......................................................................................................................... 29 

3.4  CROATIA .......................................................................................................................... 36 

3.5  CYPRUS ........................................................................................................................... 43 

3.6  CZECH REPUBLIC.............................................................................................................. 49 

3.7  DENMARK ......................................................................................................................... 57 

3.8  ESTONIA ........................................................................................................................... 61 

3.9  FINLAND ........................................................................................................................... 66 

3.10  FRANCE............................................................................................................................ 71 

3.11  GERMANY ......................................................................................................................... 76 

3.12  GREECE ........................................................................................................................... 81 

3.13  HUNGARY ......................................................................................................................... 86 

3.14  IRELAND ........................................................................................................................... 92 

3.15  ITALY ................................................................................................................................ 96 

3.16  LATVIA ........................................................................................................................... 102 

3.17  LITHUANIA ...................................................................................................................... 109 

3.18  LUXEMBOURG ................................................................................................................. 115 

3.19  MALTA ............................................................................................................................ 120 

3.20  NETHERLANDS ................................................................................................................ 127 

3.21  POLAND ......................................................................................................................... 131 

3.22  PORTUGAL ..................................................................................................................... 137 

3.23  ROMANIA ........................................................................................................................ 144 

3.24  SLOVAKIA ....................................................................................................................... 151 

3.25  SLOVENIA ....................................................................................................................... 157 

3.26  SPAIN ............................................................................................................................. 164 

3.27  SWEDEN ......................................................................................................................... 171 

3.28  UNITED KINGDOM ........................................................................................................... 175 

4.  FINDINGS SYNTHESIS AND ANALYSIS ......................................................................... 179 

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4.1  SOCIO-ECONOMIC OUTLOOK ........................................................................................... 179 

4.2  DIGITAL GOVERNMENT OUTLOOK .................................................................................... 184 

4.3  COUNTRY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS - KEY FINDINGS ................................................. 192 

4.4  NATIONAL REFORM PROGRAMMES – KEY FINDINGS .......................................................... 199 

4.5  OPERATIONAL PROGRAMMES – KEY FINDINGS .................................................................. 206 

5.  CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................. 212 

ANNEX 1. DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................. 219 

Table of Tables 

Table 1. Socio-economic challenges of EU Member States according to the CSRs ................ 180 

Table 2. 2019 CSRs thematic overview ......................................................................................... 194 

Table 3. 2019 NRPs thematic overview ......................................................................................... 200 

Table 4. OPs thematic overview .................................................................................................... 206 

Table of Figures 

Figure 1. The European Semester timeline .................................................................................... 11 

Figure 2. Overall methodological framework ................................................................................. 13 

Figure 3. Thematic classification of the socio-economic outlook................................................ 13 

Figure 4. Identified themes under TO2 and TO11 .......................................................................... 15 

Figure 5. Member States within the scope of the study ................................................................ 17 

Figure 6. Digital government outlook: Political communications .............................................. 184 

Figure 7. Digital government outlook: Legislation....................................................................... 186 

Figure 8. Digital government outlook: Governance ..................................................................... 187 

Figure 9. Digital government outlook: Infrastructure .................................................................. 188 

Figure 10. Digital government outlook: Services for citizens and businesses ......................... 190 

Figure 11. Member States receiving a country-specific recommendation ................................ 192 

Figure 12. Top three themes identified in the CSRs under TO2 and TO11 ................................ 198 

Figure 13. Top three themes identified in the NRPs under TO2 and TO11 ................................ 205 

Figure 14. Top three themes identified in the OPs under TO2 and TO11 .................................. 211 

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List of Acronyms 

AGS: Annual Growth Survey 

AI: Artificial Intelligence 

CAMSS: Common Assessment Method for Standards and Specifications 

CEF: Connecting Europe Facility 

CSR: Country Specific Recommendation 

DG: Directorate General  

eIDAS: EU Regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the 

internal market 

EIRA: European Interoperability Reference Architecture and Cartography tool 

ESIF: European Structural and Investment Funds 

ESM: European Stability Mechanism 

GDP: Gross Domestic Product 

GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation 

ICT: Information and Communication Technology 

IMAPS: Interoperability Maturity Assessment of a Public Service 

MFF: Multiannual Financial Framework 

NIFO: National Interoperability Framework Observatory  

NRP: National Reform Programme 

OP: Operational Programme 

PPP: Public Private Partnership 

PPS: Purchasing Power Standard 

SDGs: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 

SMEs: Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises 

TESTA: Trans European Services for Telematics between Administrations 

TO: Thematic Objective 

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Executive Summary 

Modern and efficient public administrations are necessary to ensure fast and high-quality services for 

firms and citizens. This, in turn, may lead to more efficient public spending and increase the focus on 

measures reinforcing economic growth. In this context, the use of ICT and the deployment of digital 

public services are instrumental to achieve both efficiency gains and reduce costs.  

Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) and National Reform Programmes (NRPs) are essential 

instruments to set and implement the reform priorities of each Member State. EU financial instruments 

like the European Structural and Investments Funds (ESIF)1 provide resources that can be used to 

address  these  priorities  and  increase  the  quality  and  efficiency  of  state  administrations  through  the 

modernisation  of  their  operations  and  procedures,  as  well  as  deployment  of  digital  public  services. 

ESIF builds  around  11  thematic  objectives,  which  describe  the  main  funding  priorities  that  Member 

States  can  address  through  these  funds.  In  particular,  for  the  purpose  of  this  study,  we  focus  on 

thematic objective 2 (TO2, Enhancing access to and use and quality of information and communication 

technologies) and 11 (TO11, Enhancing institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders 

and  efficient  public  administration).  Access  and  utilisation  of  these  funds  can  be  discerned  in  the 

Operational  Programmes  (OPs)  of  the  Member  States,  which  frame  the  funding  opportunities  in 

support of investments in jobs and growth and thus contribute to the EU political priorities, as well as 

the structural reforms recommended in the CSRs and then addressed in the NRPs. 

The study aims to collect all data relevant to digital government2 in the European Semester process, 

which is set up to monitor and coordinate the macroeconomic governance at the European level. 

In  order  to  provide  DG  DIGIT  with  the  necessary  information  to  achieve  this  goal,  the  study  builds 

around the following research questions:  

•  RQ1 – How do the CSRs, NRPs and OPs tackle digital government in the context of TO2 and 

TO11? 

•  RQ2 – Based on the CSRs, NRPs and OPs analysed, are there any common elements? 

•  RQ3 – Based on the CSRs, NRPs and OPs analysed, what are the main challenges still faced 

by the Member States in the context of TO2 and TO11? 

•  RQ4 – Based on the finding of our analysis, how can the Commission better support Member 

States in their public administration digitalisation efforts, also in term of synergies with other 

Commission initiatives? 

To this end, the 2019 CSRs and NRPs, as well as the OPs for the programming period 2014-2020 of 

the  28  Member  States  will  be  analysed  through  the  lenses  of  ESIF  TO2  and  TO11.  Based  on  the 

findings, the study identifies potential actions and new activities for the European Commission, and in 

particular within the scope of the ISA2 programme. 

1 The European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) are composed of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the 
European Social Fund (ESF), the Cohesion Fund (CF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the 
European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). 
2 OECD (2019). Digital Government. Accessed on 10 December 2019. 

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The methodological approach adopted in the study envisages three main phases: (I) content analysis, 

(II) synthesis, (III) conclusions and recommendations. In the first phase, we analyse the 2019 CSRs 

and NRPs, as well as the OPs for the programming period 2014-2020, to investigate the role of digital 

government  in  the  context  of  ESIF  TO2  and  TO11  within  the  framework  of  the  2019  European 

Semester process in order to provide an answer to RQ1. We also provide an analysis of the socio-

economic  outlook  of  the  Member  States  (derived  from  the  2019  CSRs)  and  of  their  most  recent 

developments  in  the  digital  government  domain  (derived  from  the  2019  Digital  Government 

Factsheets) since they give the state of play in which the different recommendations and priorities are 

set. 

After the content analysis, the study proceeds with the synthesis of the findings provided in the first 

phase.  Additionally,  we  perform  a  comparative  analysis  of  the  countries  to  identify  commonalities 

between the country documents and understand what challenges Member States continue to face in 

the field of digital government (RQ2 and RQ3). 

Finally, based on how the European Semester documents address the topic of digital government in 

relation to TO2 and TO11 and as an answer to RQ4, conclusions and recommendations are provided. 

The proposed recommendations are addressed to the European Commission, with a particular focus 

on  the  ISA2  programme.  These  also  highlight  possible  business  opportunities  for  DG  DIGIT  by 

investigating how ISA2 solutions could help in addressing different challenges in the Member States. 

In this regard, five recommendations have been identified: 

•  Recommendation  1  stresses  that  the  Interoperability  Unit  could  provide  trainings,  expert 

advice and strategic information to support policy makers working on the development and/or 

implementation of digital strategies, action plans or frameworks to enhance digital government 

within their country. 

•  Recommendation 2 stresses that the Interoperability Unit could further support Member States 

in the enhancement of their civil servants’ digital skills, for a better use of technology (e.g. IT 

tools,  platforms,  etc.)  to  achieve  better  public  services  delivery.  Steps  have  already  been 

taken in this regard, with the introduction of the Interoperability Academy for public servants, 

both  as  on-site  training  and  as  an  eLearning  platform  set  up  by  the  ISA2  programme. 

Moreover, further support could be given to national and subnational public administrations to 

support their actions aimed at increasing students’ and adults’ digital skills. 

•  Recommendation  3  underlines  the  need  for  the  Interoperability  Unit  to  collaborate  more 

closely with policy DGs and their Agencies, creating synergies in all aspects related to digital 

government.  Further  attention  should  be  given  to  the  sectors  identified  as  priorities  by  the 

Member States regarding digital government such as justice, tax, health, mobility and culture. 

•  Recommendation  4  calls  on  the  European  Commission  to  offer  further  support  to  Member 

States  in  ensuring  a  wider  use  of  digital  technologies  across  the  economy  and  society,  by  

raising  awareness  on  the  different  funding  and  solutions  available  to  businesses,  and 

particularly to SMEs.  

•  Recommendation  5  advises the  Interoperability  Unit  to  collaborate  with  DG  GROW  in  their 

efforts  to  support  Member  States  who  want  to  make  a  more  efficient  and  effective  use  of 

eProcurement tools for both the public administration and businesses. 

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Introduction 

Following  the  mandate  from  the  European  Commission  Directorate-General  for  Informatics  (DG 

DIGIT),  Wavestone  was  requested  to  examine  how  and  to  what  extent  the  European  Semester 

Process  addresses  topics  in  the  digital  government  field  falling  under  the  European  Social  and 

Investment Funds’ (ESIF)3 Thematic Objective 2 (TO2, Enhancing access to, and use and quality of, 

information  and  communication  technologies)  and  11  (TO11,  Improving  the  efficiency  of  public 

administration). In order to accomplish this task, an in-depth analysis of the key documents from the 

European Semester is performed. 

The European Semester is a cycle of economic and fiscal policy coordination which was established 

in 2010 in order to prevent discrepancies and contribute to ensure convergence and stability across 

the  EU.  Each  year,  the  European  Commission  analyses  in  detail  Member  States’  economic  and 

structural reform programmes and provides them with a set of recommendations for the following 12-

18 months. During this time frame, Member States have to align their budgetary and economic policies 

with the objectives and rules agreed at EU level, both in terms of the Europe 2020 Strategy and of the 

Stability and Growth Pact4. 

Within  this  study,  the  European  Semester  documents  referred  to  are  the  2019  Country  Specific 

Recommendations  (CSRs),  the  2019  National  Reform  Programmes  (NRPs),  as  well  as  the 

Operational Programmes (OPs) for the programming period 2014 – 2020, which are financed through 

ESIF. 

The  study  will  cover  all  28  EU  Member  States:  Austria,  Belgium,  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Cyprus,  Czech 

Republic,  Denmark,  Estonia,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  Greece,  Hungary,  Ireland,  Italy,  Latvia, 

Lithuania,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  Netherlands,  Poland,  Portugal,  Romania,  Slovakia,  Slovenia,  Spain, 

Sweden and the United Kingdom. 

Building on the results of the in-depth content analysis, the study aims to identify links between the 

existing actions from the ISA2 programme5 and current challenges faced by the Member States, as 

well as propose new actions to better support them in their digitalisation efforts.  

The report comprises the following main sections: 

•  Section 1 Context and Background: setting the political and economic context of the study. 

•  Section 2 Methodology: describing the methodology used to conduct the study. 

•  Section 3 Country Analysis: providing a detailed analysis of the European Semester documents 

related to each Member State. 

•  Section  4  Findings  synthesis  and  analysis:  providing  the  synthesis  and  analysis  of  the  key 

findings of the study.   

•  Section 5 Conclusions and Recommendations: providing the main insights of the study, as well 

as our recommendations. 

3 European Commission (n.d.). European Structural and Investment Funds. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
4 European Council (2019). How the European Semester works. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
5 European Commission (2019). About ISA². Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

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1. Context and Background 

One of today’s most challenging goals for the European Union is the accomplishment of the digital 

transformation of  public  administration.  In  fact,  the  digitalisation  and  modernisation  of  public 

administration continue to be a priority among European Member States as it is crucial to respond to 

evolving  citizens’  needs  and  expectations  of  how  public  administrations  should  look  like  and  the 

services they should deliver. On the eve of the new, first-ever Digital Europe Programme 2021-20276, 

the  digitalisation  of  public  administration  and  the  achievement  of  interoperability  across  Europe  still 

arise  as  one  of  the  five  key-priorities  to  be  achieved  in  the  next  seven  years. As  stressed  by  the 

European Commission in its 2019 communication on eGovernment, an effective and efficient digital 

governance can provide a wide variety of benefits to the Member States, including more efficiency and 

savings for governments and businesses, increased transparency, and greater participation of citizens 

in political life. In fact, ICTs are already widely used by government bodies as many public services 

are delivered by digital means such as eGovernment portals. However, these are not sufficient to meet 

the growing needs and higher demands of both citizens and businesses.   

This  is  reflected  in  the  fact  that,  in  the  last  years,  there  has  been  a  shift  from  the  concept  of 

eGovernment to a broader vision calling for the development of digital government. According to the 

OECD, “digital government explores how governments can best use Information and Communication 

Technologies  (ICTs)  to  embrace  good  government  principles  and  achieve  policy  goals.”7  This  is 

achieved through the “use of digital technologies as an integrated part of governments’ modernisation 

strategies,  to  create  public  value.  It  relies  on  a  digital  government  ecosystem  comprised  of  civil 

servants,  businesses,  citizens’  associations  and  individuals  which  supports  the  production  of  and 

access to data, services and content through interactions with the public organisations.”8 Therefore, 

besides  being  digital,  public  administrations  need  to  be  innovative  when  it  comes  to  processes, 

governance, and skills. In order to do that, governments must harness the potential derived from the 

advanced  use  of  ICT,  geospatial  data,  cybersecurity and  the  emerging  technologies, in  particular 

Artificial Intelligence  (AI)  and  blockchain,  as  stressed  by  the  Digital  Europe  Programme. Thus, the 

European Union continues to invest in projects and programmes aimed at modernising and digitalising 

both businesses and public administrations at all levels. These include:  

• 

ISA2 programme,9  adopted  in  2015  and    running  from  1  January  2016  until  31  December 

2020,  builds  strongly  on  its  predecessor,  ISA,10  which  provided  a  framework  that  allowed 

Member States to work together to create efficient and effective electronic cross-border public 

services,  while  also  including  new  priorities  such  as  a  stronger  focus  on  interaction  with 

businesses and citizens. 

6 COM/2018/434 final – 2018/0227 (COD), Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the 
Digital Europe programme for the period 2021-2027. 
7 OECD (2019). Digital Government. Accessed on 10 December 2019. 
8 OECD/LEGAL/0406, Recommendation of the Council on Digital Government Strategies, 15.7.2014. 
9 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. 
10 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). 

8 

 
 
 
•  Connecting  Europe  Facility  (CEF)  Telecom11  supports  the  deployment  and  use  of  key 

cross-border digital services such as electronic identification and procurement. The European 

Commission envisages to prolong this programme for the period 2021-2027. 

•  European  Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (ESIF)12  can  support  actions  related  to  the 

development of ICT products and services13 and those related to strengthen the institutional 

capacity  and  efficiency  of  public  administrations14.  Within  the  new  Multiannual  Financial 

Framework (MFF), the fund’s priorities will be revamped to give more emphasis to areas such 

as digitalisation and eGovernment 

•  Horizon 202015, which addressed questions related to eGovernment and the modernisation 

of  the  public  administrations  will  continue  and  become  Horizon  Europe  under  the  new 

Financial Framework. 

•  Structural  Reform  Support  Programme16  aims  to  strengthen  the  overall  capacity  of  the 

Member  States  to  prepare  and  implement  growth-enhancing  institutional,  structural  and 

administrative  reforms  in  five  main  reform  areas.  eGovernment  stands  out  as  one  of  the 

priorities for the 'Governance and public administration' area. 

•  Digital  Europe  Programme17  was  introduced  in  the  context  of  the  2021-2027  Multiannual 

Financial  Framework.18  The  programme,  with  a  €9.2  billion  budget,  will  boost  frontline 

investments in priority areas such as supercomputing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and 

advanced digital skills. 

Given this context, the  study’s main goal is to assess how issues related to digital government are 

addressed in the European Semester process. In particular, it aims at recognising any relevant links 

between the ISA² programme’s priorities and the content of the European Semester documents of the 

28 Member States.   

The European Semester 

Each  year,  under  the  framework  of  the  Europe  2020  strategy,  all  Member  States  are  subject  to  a 

system of economic monitoring and governance known as the European Semester.19 The role of the 

European Commission in this process is to carry out an analysis of each Member State’s budgetary 

plans,  macroeconomic  and  structural  reforms  and  monitor  their  efforts  towards  the  Europe  2020 

targets.  As  part  of  the  process,  in  April,  each  government  presents  its  annual  NRP,  outlining  the 

country's policies and measures to achieve its growth targets but also the Europe 2020 targets. 

11 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.  
12 Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions 
on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural 
Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional 
Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council 
Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006. 
13 ‘Enhancing access to, and use and quality of information and communication technologies (ICT)’, Thematic Objective 2 of ESIF. 
14 ‘Enhancing institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders and efficient public administration’, Thematic Objective 11 of 
ESIF. 
15 European Commission (n.d.) Horizon 2020. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
16 Regulation (EU) 2017/825 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 on the establishment of the Structural 
Reform Support Programme for the period 2017 to 2020 and amending Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013 and (EU) No 1305/2013. 
17 COM/2018/434 final – 2018/0227 (COD), Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the 
Digital Europe programme for the period 2021-2027. 
18 COM/2018/322 final – 2018/0132 (APP), Proposal for a Council Regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the 
years for the years 2021 to 2027. 
19 European Commission (n.d.) European Semester Timeline. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

9 

 
 
 
After receiving and reviewing each NRP, as well as taking into account other documents like AGS and 

the Country Reports, in May, the European Commission issues CSRs to each Member State, which 

are  endorsed  by  the  Council  between  June  and  July.  The  CSRs summarise  the  progress  made  by 

Member  States  over  the  last  year  and  recommend  the  structural  reforms  that  each  Member  State 

should carry out over the next 12-18 months. A more detailed description of the European Semester 

process is offered in Box 1 below.  

To  sustain  the  implementation  of  Member  States’  NRPs,  and  thus  fulfil  the  Europe  2020  strategy 

objectives,  specific  OPs  are  signed  by  Member  States  to  receive  funding  for  investment  initiatives. 

Funding is allocated to OPs within the framework of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), 

which support 11 investment priorities, also known as thematic objectives (TO). Two TOs in particular 

relate to digital government aspects: TO2 – ‘Enhancing access to and use of and quality of ICT’20 

and TO11 – ‘Enhancing institutional capacity of public authorities, stakeholders and efficient 

public  administration’.21  For  this  study,  an  in-depth  content  analysis  of  the  European  Semester 

documents will be conducted through the prism of these ESIF TOs. 

Towards a new European Semester 

On 27 November 2019 the European Parliament approved the new European Commission headed by 

Ursula von der Leyen, which took office as of 1 December 2019. With the aim of promoting competitive 

sustainability to build an economy that works for people and the planet, the von der Leyen Commission 

launched  on  17  December  2019  a  new  European  Semester  cycle22.  One  of  the  main  novelties 

introduced by the new Commission is to integrate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 

(SDGs)23 into the European Semester. An ambitious growth strategy, the European Green Deal24, will 

help Member States achieve these goals and will give them the tools to adapt to the digital and green 

transition. The deal will ensure that Europe becomes the first climate-neutral continent and is able to 

provide the world's most advanced welfare systems, while at the same time being a hub of innovation 

and entrepreneurship. It seems clear that the new European Semester will place a stronger focus on 

fairness, productivity and environmental sustainability, as reflected in the Annual Sustainable Growth 

Strategy25,  presented  as  part  of  the  European  Semester  Autumn  Package26,  which  marks  the 

beginning of the 2020 European Semester cycle of economic and social policy coordination. Finally, 

as outlined in President von der Leyen's Political Guidelines27, the European Parliament is expected 

to  have  a  “louder  voice”  in  economic  governance.  To  this  end,  the  Commission  will  engage  in  a 

constructive dialogue with the Parliament regarding the European Semester cycle. 

20 Huckfield, L. (2012). Thematic Objectives for EU Funds 2014 – 2020. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
21 As stipulated in Article 9 of the Common Provisions Regulation, each of the five ESIF (ERDF, ESF, CF, EAFRD and EMFF) support 
different thematic objectives in accordance to its mission, in order to contribute to the Union strategy for smart sustainable and inclusive 
growth. 
22 European Commission (n.d.) European Semester Autumn Package: Creating an economy that works for people and the planet. 
Accessed on 18 December 2019. 
23 United Nations (n.d.) Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform. Accessed on 18 December 2019. 
24 COM(2019) 640 final, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the 
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - the European Green Deal, Brussels, 11.12.2019. 
Accessed on 18 December 2019. 
25 European Commission (n.d.) 2020 European Semester: Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy. Accessed on 18 December 2019. 
26 European Commission (n.d.) European Semester: The Autumn Package explained. Accessed on 18 December 2019. 
27 Von der Leyen, U. (2019), Political Guidelines for the Next European Commission 2019-2024 by candidate for President of the 
European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Accessed on 18 December 2019. 

10 

 
 
 
Box 1 The European Semester 

Introduced  in  2010  as  a  way  to  prevent  discrepancies  and  contribute  to  ensuring  convergence  and  stability  in  the  EU,  the 

European Semester is a cycle of economic and fiscal policy coordination within the EU. The Semester, which focuses on the 

6-month period from the beginning of the year, thus aims to help Member States align their budgetary and economic policies 

with the objectives and rules agreed at the EU level.  

The European Semester has a clear timetable, according to which Member States receive EU-level advice and then submit their 

policy plans to be assessed at EU level. Figure 1 below shows the main steps of the process. 

Figure 1. The European Semester timeline  

Source: The European Semester timeline summarised by Wavestone, Nov 2019. The figure presents the main process and the key documents of the European Semester, with key milestones. The 
Operational Programmes are not included in the timeline since they have been adopted by the Member States in 2014 and contain detailed projects until 2020. 
Note: Further information available here. 

The preparatory phase of the European Semester starts in November with the publication of the Annual Growth Survey (AGS), 

where  the European  Commission  sets  out  the key  economic  and social  priorities for  the year  to come,  as well  as  the  Alert 

Mechanism  report,  which  assesses  the  macroeconomic  development  of  the  Member  States.  In  case  of  risk  of  potential 

macroeconomic imbalances, the Commission can submit policy recommendations to the Member States. Following that, the 

Council sets out overall policy guidelines and adopts conclusions. 

Subsequently, in February, the Commission publishes the Country reports, which identify any progress made by the Member 

States in addressing the previous year’s EU recommendations. In March, the European Council endorses the policy priorities 

for the year based on the AGS and the Council conclusions.  

Between March and April, Member States submit their policy plans, i.e. their NRPs, along with the Stability and Convergence 

programmes. Finally,  in May,  the Commission  evaluates  national  policy  plans  and  presents  each  country with  a set  of  draft 

CSRs,  which  are  then  formally  adopted  by  the  Council  of  the  EU  and  finally  endorsed  by  the  European  Council.  The 

recommendations focus on what can realistically be achieved over the next 12-18 months. 

During the remaining 6 months of the year, sometimes called 'the national semester', the Member States take into account the 

recommendations when drawing up national budgets for the following year, which shall be submitted to the Commission by mid-

October. 

11 

 
 
 
 
2. Methodology 

This  chapter aims  to  present  the  methodological  approach  taken  to  conduct  the  study.  Section  2.1 

provides  an  overview  of  the  scope  of  the  study  and  the  research  questions  that  it  aims  to  answer. 

Sections 2.2 provides a description of the overall methodological framework employed to answer the 

research questions through a three-step approach.  

2.1  Research questions and scope of the study 

The purpose of this study is twofold: on the one hand, it aims to identify the role of digital government 

in the context of ESIF TO2 and TO11 within the framework of the 2019 European Semester process. 

On the other, it intends to identify links between the existing actions of the ISA2 programme and the 

current needs of the Member States, as well as to propose further initiatives within the scope of the 

ISA2 programme.28 

The study intends to better understand how digital government reforms related to ESIF TO2 and TO11 

are addressed  in  Member  States’  CSRs,  NRPs  and  OPs,  while  at  the  same  time  identify  the  main 

challenges the different countries are still facing to better support them through the ISA2 programme 

of DG DIGIT. In order to provide DG DIGIT with the necessary information to achieve this goal, the 

study builds around the following research questions:  

•  RQ1 – How do the CSRs, NRPs and OPs tackle digital government in the context of TO2 

and TO11? 

•  RQ2 – Based on the CSRs, NRPs and OPs analysed, are there any common elements? 

•  RQ3 – Based on the CSRs, NRPs and OPs analysed, what are the main challenges still 

faced by the Member States in the context of TO2 and TO11? 

•  RQ4 – Based on the findings of our analysis, how can the Commission better support 

Member States in their public administration digitalisation efforts, also in terms of synergies 

with other Commission initiatives? 

28 European Commission (n.d.) About ISA2. Accessed on 9 December 2019.   

12 

 
 
 
2.2  Overall methodological framework 

The  methodological  approach  taken  to  conduct  this  study  was  designed  to  provide  answers  to  the 

research questions in a structured way. It comprises three phases, shown in Figure 2. 

Figure 2. Overall methodological framework  

2.2.1  Phase 1: Content Analysis 

The sources that underpin the research done in this study in chapter 3 contain the following documents: 

(I) CSRs - CSRs issued by the European Commission in 2019 were first used to shape the  socio-

economic outlook for the countries. To categorise the socio-economic outlook, the information was 

bundled according to the themes listed in Figure 3. 

Figure 3. Thematic classification of the socio-economic outlook  

13 

 
 
 
 
Moreover, 

the  CSRs  are  further  analysed 

to  give  a  comprehensive  analysis  of  all  the 

recommendations related to TO2 and TO11 contained in them. While analysing the CSRs, relevant 

themes other than recommendations were identified in the document’s recitals section (classified as 

recitals) since they represent actual challenges present in the Member State that are likely to be solved 

with the help of ICT tools. More general possibilities for the application of ICT tools identified by the 

team who performed the study throughout the whole document were also included as opportunities in 

the digital government domain. 

(II) eGovernment Factsheets - To describe the digital government outlook for all the Member States, 

the study relied on the 2019 Digital Government factsheets. An overview of the relevant strategies, 

legal frameworks, organisational changes, infrastructures, services and other highlights of Member 

States is provided. 

(III) NRPs – Every year, NRPs are presented by the Member States to the Commission to indicate 

the  concrete  plans  of  the  country  to  comply  with  the  yearly  CSRs.  Within  these  programmes,  we 

collected and categorised all the information related to digital government reforms related to TO2 

and TO11. 

(IV) OPs - The OPs are detailed plans in which the Member States set out how funds from the ESIF 

will be spent during the programming period 2014-2020, tackling various thematic objectives. While 

OPs can be oriented towards regional, multi-regional, national and transnational ambitions, the scope 

of this study is limited to the analysis of the national OPs covering TO2 and TO11. The overview of 

the OPs is organised in the same way as the NRPs, thus looking at funding priorities in the scope 

of TO2 and TO11. 

All relevant aspects related to digital government contained in the CSRs, NRPs and OPs are clustered 

according to the themes presented in Box 2. The definitions of the themes used for the purpose of this 

study are listed in Annex 1. Definitions. These themes are built upon the European Semester analysis 

performed in the previous year.29 

29 European Commission (2018). The role of eGovernment and interoperability in the European Semester process. Accessed on 9 
December 2019.  

14 

 
 
 
Box 2 ESIF Thematic Objective 2 and 11 

For the purpose of this study, recommendations, reforms and funding priorities related to ESIF TO2 (Enhancing access 

to,  and  use  and  quality  of,  information  and  communication  technologies)  and  TO11  (Improving  the efficiency  of  public 

administration) are considered. The decision to consider the two TOs at the same time stems from the fact that many of 

the interventions identified in the analysed documents require digitalisation (seen as falling under TO2) as a precondition. 

On  the  other  hand,  however,  the  technological  and  infrastructural  interventions  planned  under  TO2  often  need  some 

actions that originate under TO11, which aim at ensuring the organisational change necessary at the administration and 

government level. While analysing the countries’ CSRs, NRPs and OPs we categorised them according to a taxonomy 

which divides themes falling under TO2, TO11 or both, as shown in Figure 4 below. 

Figure 4. Identified themes under TO2 and TO11 

According to the interpretation of the two TOs adopted in this study, themes classified under TO2 are initiatives coming 

from the government that aim to enhance the access, use and quality of ICT tools and that will mainly benefit citizens and 

businesses.  Themes  falling  under  TO11,  on  the  other  hand,  aim  to  improve  the  efficiency  of  the  public  administration 

through the digitalisation of some of its processes or the development of the necessary IT infrastructure, which in turn 

would make public administrations more efficient, with probable spill-over effects on both citizens and businesses. Given 

the deep interconnection between the two TOs, we also identified themes that reflect both aspects and that can benefit 
both public administrations and citizens and businesses depending on the situation. 

2.2.2  Phase 2: Synthesis 

The study aims to present a comprehensive analysis of the current digital government state of play in 

the European Semester process. The main purpose of this second phase which is contained in chapter 

4 is to assess how the 2019 CSRs and NRPs, along with selected OPs for the programming period 

2014-2020 address the topic of digital government in areas related to TO2 and TO11. This is achieved 

through a qualitative in-depth content analysis of the above-mentioned documents. 

After a brief overview of the socioeconomic outlook of the EU Member States, as well as a collective 

picture of the main digital government developments throughout the EU, chapter 4 provides an analysis 

of the information collected in chapter 3 regarding the countries’ CSRs, NRPs and OPs. For the CSRs, 

15 

 
 
 
the recommendations, recitals and opportunities previously identified are now categorised according 

to broader clusters of themes and classified either as belonging to TO2 or TO11. Similarly, relevant 

reforms  identified  in  the  different  countries’  NRPs  and  OPs  are  also  grouped  according  to  broader 

clusters of themes and classified as belonging to either TO2 or TO11. 

2.2.3  Phase 3: Conclusions and Recommendations 

Building upon the results of the in-depth content analysis, conclusions and recommendations for the 

Commission  will  be  provided.  Recommendations  will  be  addressed  to  the  Commission  focusing  on 

how to better support Member States in their public administration digitalisation efforts, also in terms 

of synergies with different Commission initiatives. 

16 

 
 
3. Country Analysis 

This  chapter  aims  to  answer  RQ1,  which  addresses  how  CSRs,  NRPs  and  OPs  tackle  digital 

government  in  the  context  of  TO2  and  TO11.  It  presents  the  key  findings  of  the  in-depth  content 

analysis of the 2019 CSRs and NRPs, as well as the OPs for the period 2014-2020 for the 28 countries 

under the scope of this study, as shown in Figure 5. 

Figure 5. Member States within the scope of the study 

A  comprehensive  analysis  of  each  country’s  recommendations,  reform  priorities  and  operational 

actions in the field of digital government extracted from the above-mentioned documents is therefore 

given below. As mentioned, the chapter is organised per country and each country subsection consists 

of the following:  

1.  Socioeconomic Outlook of the country derived from the 2019 CSRs. 

2.  Digital Government Outlook, analysing data originating from the 2019 eGovernment 

factsheets. 

3.  Country Specific Recommendations, analysing recommendations related to TO2 and 

TO11 contained in the 2019 CSR. 

4.  National Reform Programmes, analysis reforms related to TO2 and TO11 contained in the 

NRPs. 

5.  Operational Programmes, analysing the funding priorities related to TO2 and TO11 

contained in the national OPs. 

17 

 
 
 
3.1  Austria 

3.1.1  Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Austria’s CSR of 2019.30  

Austria is not identified by the latest AGS as a country in need of an in-depth review, which confirms 

its strength in public finances. Indeed, the macro-economic environment appears stable: In its 2019 

Stability Programme, the government expects an improvement in the headline balance from a surplus 

of  0.1%  of  GDP  in  2018  to  0.3%  of  GDP  in  2019,  and  progressively  reduce  to  a  balanced  budget 

position in 2023. According to the programme, the medium-term budgetary objective continues to be 

overachieved. Moreover, the government debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to gradually decrease from 

73.8% in 2018 to 59.8% of GDP in 2023.  

Nevertheless,  Austria  faces  medium  fiscal  sustainability  risks  in  the  long  term  due  to  the  foreseen 

expenditure increase in long-term care, national healthcare, and pensions. When compared to the rest 

of the EU, expenditure on pensions is expected to peak in 2036 at a level of 1.2 percentage points of 

GDP above the 2016 reference point. Previous reforms were considered and implemented to tackle 

this  issue,  as  the  gradually  harmonisation  of  the  statutory  retirement  age  for  men  and  women  but 

closing the existing gap with the effective retirement age remains a challenge.  

Moreover, expenditure in the field of public healthcare is expected to continue increasing and reach a 

level  of  0.9  percentage  points  above  the  EU average  by  2070.  Some  countermeasures  have  been 

taken to address the sustainability issue such as: the introduction of expenditure ceilings through the 

Financial Equalisation Law of 2017, a reform on the strengthening of primary care and reducing the 

reliance on the hospital sector. The CSR of Austria stresses the benefits in terms of quality and cost-

efficiency that could also come from the use of more effective public procurement and a wider use of 

eHealth solutions. 

The  fiscal  framework  in  Austria  remains  complex  in  terms  of  competencies  and  still  suffers  from 

misalignments between the revenue-raising powers and spending responsibilities of local and federal 

governments, despite several reform efforts. Concerning the tax system, the burden on labour remains 

high. Even if recent reforms have helped lower the labour tax wedge, there remains scope for shifting 

the tax mix and tackle fairness issues. 

The labour market of Austria is generally improving. However, specific groups, especially women and 

people with a migrant background, are still facing challenges. For women, these translate into a high 

share of part-time work and a persistently high gender pay gap, which are often due to the performance 

of unpaid tasks, such as taking care of children or relatives. Consequently, this further reflects in a 

large pension gap. For people with a migrant background, investment is required to address unequal 

education outcomes. Austria performs above average in the EU with regards to the digital skills of its 

citizens but is falling behind the top performing countries.  

30 COM (2019) 520 final, Council Recommendation on the 2018 National Reform Programme of Austria and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of Austria, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 17 September 2019. 

18 

 
 
 
Finally, regarding the spread of new technologies, Austria would need more competition in the service 

sector. Given that the Austrian economy is heavily reliant on micro, small and medium enterprises, 

their successful digitalisation is crucial. To address this issue, Austria shall also promote the scaling-

up  of  particularly  innovative  companies  in  the  market  and  lower  the  administrative  burden  on 

businesses. 

3.1.2  Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Austria since 2018. The 

information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Austria.31 

Political Communications 

Building on the results of the Digital Roadmap Austria, a new and even more ambitious Digitalisation 

Strategy  for  the  country  is  currently  developed  under  the  auspices  of  the  Ministry  of  Digital  and 

Economic Affairs. The aim is to position Austria as digital leader in Europe. The details of the strategy, 

including  its  timetable,  priorities,  and  piloting,  are  defined  under  the  strategic  framework  of  Digital 

Roadmap Austria, in close cooperation with the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) Taskforce and the recently 

launched digitalisation agency. 

Legislation 

The new Federal Procurement Act was adopted on 20 August 2018 (Bundesvergabegesetz, BVergG 

2018)  and  substitutes  the  Federal  Procurement  Act,  which  entered  into  force  on  1  February  2006, 

replacing the Federal Procurement Act 2002 and repealing the eProcurement Regulation 2004. The 

new  Federal  Procurement  Act  2018  finally  transposed  all  the  EU  public  procurement  directives, 

including their provisions on eProcurement, into national law. 

Governance 

The federal government has emphasised the importance of digital transformation for industry, society 

and public administration and has given it high priority in the government programme. The Digitalisation 

Agency of the Federal Government was founded on 30 May 2018 and represents another important 

step to ensuring the success of Austria’s digital transformation. The Agency especially focuses on the 

support of SMEs, implements targeted projects, and provides expertise and know how in the fields of 

innovation, digitalisation and networking. 

Infrastructure 

The established one-stop eGovernment platform help.gv.at has been expanded with further useful e-

services  (e.g.  baby  point,  relocation,  etc.)  for  citizens  and  relaunched  under  the  new  name 

oesterreich.gv.at. A dedicated app named Digitales Amt (Digital Office) became available on 19 March 

2019. 

31  Digital Government Factsheet of Austria 2019. Accessed on 2 October 2019. 

19 

 
 
 
Services 

The oesterreich.gv.at App was launched in order to provide a single, mobile and easy-to-use access 

for citizens to the most important administrative services. 

3.1.3  Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Austria32 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals, and opportunities.33 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

Recommendation  3  encourages  to  focus  investment-related  economic  policy  on  research  and 

development, innovation, digitalisation, and sustainability taking into consideration regional disparities. 

The country, therefore, shall support productivity growth by stimulating digitalisation of businesses and 

company growth and by reducing regulatory barriers in the service sector. 

Recitals 

In recital 13, Austria is called on to address disparities on education outcomes due to socio-economic 

or migrant background. As the country does not reach the level of EU’s “Innovation Leaders” yet, the 

efforts should be focused on tackling the growing lack of skilled IT workers in the economy, particularly 

the insufficient supply of graduates with specialised computing skills.   

Opportunities 

According to recommendation 1, the country is still requested to make its public services more efficient. 

This  can  be  achieved  through  a  more  widespread  use  of  digital  technologies,  especially  in  the 

healthcare sector, given that Austria is facing potential future difficulties in ensuring sustainability of 

health and long-term care. 

According  to  recommendation  2,  Austria  needs  to  raise  its  levels  of  basic  skills  for  disadvantaged 

groups,  including  people  with  a  migrant  background.  To  tackle  this  issue,  the  government  could 

promote eLearning solutions which would help these communities into accessing education through 

ICTs.  

Thematic Objective 11 

There are no recommendations, recitals or opportunities linked to TO11 in the CSR for Austria. 

32 COM (2019) 520 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Austria and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of Austria, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 17 September 2019. 
33 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Austria to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Austria. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

20 

 
 
 
3.1.4  National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Austria’s NRP.34 

Thematic Objective 2  

• 

Implementation of eHealth solutions in the healthcare system: Austria plans to implement 

several  reforms  to  improve  its  healthcare  system.  The  government  plans  to  set  up  an 

innovation  and  target  control  fund  within  the  National  Health  Insurance  Scheme,  the 

organisation into which the regional institutions are to be merged. This will ensure that regional 

needs with respect to eHealth are considered. The NRP states that EUR 1 billion in savings 

is  forecasted  to  be  achieved  by  2023,  which  would  be  then  invest  in  improved  eHealth 

services.  Additionally,  the  Electronic  Health  Record  (ELGA)  is  expected  to  be  completed 

nationwide  achieving  cost-cutting  effects  and  improving  the  service  delivery  for  patients. 

Furthermore, by September 2019, it is expected that the rollout of eMedication as an ELGA-

application  among  office-based  doctors  and  pharmacies  is  completed.  Finally,  the  new 

electronic vaccination certificate is to be piloted in some regions in the coming year.  

•  Measures  to  promote  digitalisation  among  businesses:  The  mission  of  the  Austrian 

Digitalisation Agency, established in 2018, is to provide competent expert advice to SMEs, 

helping them to recognise the relevance of digitalisation and the opportunities it holds for their 

own  businesses.  Promising  instruments  in  this  context  include  the  programme  to  set  up 

national  Digital  Innovation  Hubs  and  the  special  KMU.Digital  support  programme.  This  the 

funding  programme  offers  different  services,  ranging  from  consulting  and  qualifications  for 

entrepreneurs and employees, to information and knowledge transfer. 

•  Measures to tackle labour market shortages: Austria launched an action plan already in 

spring 2018 to modify the training regulations for apprenticeships in order to reflect the new 

qualification  requirements  in  terms  of  digitalisation.  The apprenticeship  package comprises 

now  six  new  job  profiles  among  which  chemical  process  engineering,  e-commerce,  glass 

engineering and media expert.  

•  Agreements  to  boost  STEM  subjects  in  tertiary  education:  In  order  to  improve 

accessibility and social mobility various measures were agreed with the Universities. Initiatives 

aimed at making engineering programmes more attractive and easily available increased. For 

instance,  access  to  information  technology  as  a  specialised  field  and  STEM  subjects  was 

boosted  by  providing  additional  places.  Moreover,  calls  for  application  for  80  additional 

professorships have been issued, with a stronger focus on data science, artificial intelligence, 

computational medicine and innovation. It is also envisaged to address fields of technology 

like industry 4.0, information technology, automation, cybersecurity and eGovernment.   

34 Austria National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 21 October 2019.  

21 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 11 

•  Structural reforms on fiscal policy: The National Financial Framework for 2018-2021 and 

2019-2022 includes an investment focus on science, research and development, innovation 

and digitalisation. 

•  Strategic plan for digitalisation: A strategic action plan for digitalisation will be drawn up by 

year-end 2019. A dedicated Digitalisation Agency (DIA) was set up in 2018 to effectively bring 

together all the various efforts undertaken in this field. It connects the various stakeholders, 

act  as  an  interface  between  business,  society  and  public  administration  and  will  develop 

concrete measures together with stakeholders. A flagship project in the public sector is the 

Digital Public Administration (Digitales Amt), the purpose of which is, in a first step, to lay the 

basis for cross-entity electronic administrative processes.   

•  New research and innovation strategy: A new strategy is currently being developed to set 

out the key parameters for research, technology and innovation policy for the coming decade. 

The new  performance-based funding agreements with the universities for the period 2019-

2021 will put a spotlight on knowledge and technology transfer as well as on innovation output.  

3.1.5  Operational Programmes 

For  the  funding  period  2014-2020,  one  national  OP  of  Austria  is  specifically  dealing  with  TO2  and 

TO11. The OP ‘Investments in Growth and Employment’ for the use of the ERDF fund,35 focuses on 

three  main  areas:  research,  development  and  innovation;  competitiveness  of  SMEs;  and  transition 

towards a low carbon economy. 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Development  of  Vienna  as  Smart  City:  The  main  objectives  of  the  framework  strategy 

towards Vienna becoming a smart city is three-fold. First, it has to invest in the right resources 

such as efficient use of energy that is renewable, as well as resource-efficient public mobility. 

Second, research and innovation infrastructure are to be expanded. Third, life quality has to 

be conserved and even further developed through green spaces for example. 

• 

Improvement of SMEs’ competitiveness:  Financial instruments are made available to all 

SMEs as they push the growth of the economy. Innovative companies and start-ups, those 

investing  in  modern  technology  and  science  are  invited  to  participate  in  public-private 

partnerships towards further digitalisation. 

Thematic Objective 11 

• 

Investment in smart specialisation: Research expertise is important to invest in in order for 

Austria to further grow. Life Sciences, mobility, service innovation and information technology 

are all part of the national strategy towards specialisation. Institutions and the private sector 

should  cooperate  in  order  to  overcome  the  infrastructure  bottleneck.  The  country  aims  to 

35 Investments in Growth and Employment Austria 2014-2020 – Operational Programme for the use of the ERDF funds. Accessed on 9 
December 2019.  

22 

 
 
 
introduce  new  programmes  to  raise  competences.  Research  and  technology  infrastructure 

are thus necessary to facilitate access to and performing research, which will be established 

through various Knowledge and Technology Parks throughout the country. 

•  Promotion  of  public  procurement:  The  field  of  innovation  also  takes  into  account  the 

promotion  of  electronic  public  procurement.  The  interface  between  product  and  service 

innovations and public administration are planned through various pilot projects. 

23 

 
 
3.2  Belgium 

3.2.1  Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Belgium’s CSR of 2019.36 

Belgium remains in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact and thus subject to the debt 

rule. In 2019, the government plans a slight but gradual improvement of its headline balance to reach 

0.0% by 2022. However, the medium-term objective, calculated at a balanced budgetary position in 

structural terms, is not set to be reached over the period covered by the 2019 Programme. Lastly, the 

general government debt-to-GDP ratio, after a slow decrease, is expected to reach 94% by 2022. 

Belgium’s total expenditure as a share of GDP remains one of the highest in the Union. This high level 

of public expenditure indicates there is the possibility of putting in place a more spending-based fiscal 

adjustment.  Belgium  should  particularly  focus  on  creating  space  for  more  public  investments.  The 

medium- and long-term sustainability of Belgium’s public finances continues to be at risk due to the 

combination of a high debt-to-GDP ratio and the projected rise in ageing costs, especially those linked 

to pensions.  

Belgium recently put in place a “tax shift” and implemented a reform on corporate income taxation. The 

“tax  shift”  helped  to  reduce  the  labour  tax  wedge,  although  it  is  still  significantly  high  for  all  wage 

earners, except for the low wage earners. In addition, taxation has been alleviated for start-ups and 

small companies, but remains complex for financial investments.  

Recent  economic  growth  in  Belgium  has  resulted  in  jobs  growth  and  thus  a  reduction  of  the 

unemployment rate. However, the transitions from unemployment to employment remain low in the 

country, hence making it unlikely for the country to reach its Europe 2020 employment target of 73.2%. 

In addition, regional disparities persist, and labour market participation continues to be low for the low-

skilled, those with a migrant background, older workers, and those with disabilities. 

Belgium suffered from a decline in educational performance and significant disparities in the system 

persist.  The  gap  in  educational  outcomes  due  to  socio-economic  and  migration  background  is 

particularly high, therefore reforms need to be implemented with a stronger focus on increasing the 

efficiency and effectiveness of the system throughout the country.  

Belgium  has  a  low  productivity  growth  in  several  sectors,  such  as,  information  and  communication 

technologies,  construction,  and  health.  This  is  particularly  due  to  skills  mismatches  and  low  job 

mobility. Considering this, Wallonia and Flanders came up with an agreement to improve inter-regional 

labour mobility. The overall level of digital skills is good, but not improving. In addition, research and 

development is concentrated in only a few industries and there is thus a lack of innovation in other 

sectors, which weighs heavily on productivity growth.  

36 COM (2019) 501 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Belgium and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Belgium, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 18 September 2019. 

24 

 
 
 
3.2.2  Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Belgium since 2018. 

The information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of Belgium.37  

Political Communications 

On 6 December 2018, the Walloon government validated the adoption of the Digital Wallonia strategy 

for  2019-2024.  The  new  strategy  stipulated  the  framework  defining  the  direction  that  the  region  of 

Wallonia will take in order to seize socio-economic opportunities of digital transformation in the next 

five years. 

Legislation 

On  25  October  2018,  the  parliament  of  the  French  Community  adopted  key  legislation  on  the 

governance framework for digital and information technology policy. The highlights included defining 

a set of general principles for the digital government transformation, setting up a strategic council for 

digital  transformation  providing  a  legal  basis  to  governance  structures,  and  establishing  a  strategic 

plan for digital and IT development (validity five years). In December 2018, the Flemish administration 

followed  suit  and  adopted  a  public  governance  decree.  This  legal  order  incorporated  previously 

separate  decrees  on  the  Steering  Committee  for  Flemish  Information  and  ICT  policy,  on  electronic 

intergovernmental data exchange, and on the re-use of public sector information. It addressed the use 

of base registries and the adoption of the once only principle in the Flemish administration and the 

local administrations.    

Governance  

In 2018, the Steering Committee for Flemish  Information and ICT policy became fully active as the 

main governance body for Flemish information and ICT policy. It adopted important new policies such 

as  an  API  First  strategy  for  service  development,  and  a  Public  Cloud  First  strategy  for  service 

deployment. 

Infrastructure  

The  Belgian  eID  was  officially  adopted  and  peer  reviewed  with  success.  The  Identity  and  Access 

Management  Platform  of  the  Flemish  government  now  supports  identification  and  authorisation  of 

users using eIDAS-approved digital identities.  

Services 

Several new public services were launched in Belgium in 2018. These included: My unemployment 

file,  which  allows  citizens  to  consult  their  unemployment  file  online;  MyPension.be,  which  allows 

pensioners  to  consult  their  pension  file;  My  health  record,  which  allows  citizens  to  consult  specific 

health related information and Licence plates, which allow citizens to check the status of their request 

for a car registration, a number plate or a chassis number.  

37 Digital Government factsheet 2019, Belgium. Accessed on 20 September 2019.  

25 

 
 
 
3.2.3  Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Belgium38 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.39 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR issued for Belgium makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2.  

Recitals 

The  CSR  issued  for  Belgium  makes  no  specific  mention  in  the  recitals  of  the  need  to  intervene 

regarding TO2. 

Opportunities 

In recital 16, Belgium is encouraged to invest in re-skilling and upskilling in some sectors of its labour 

market. The future of the country’s growth, innovation and competitiveness thus lie in the digitalisation 

of  these  skills.  In  addition,  recommendation  2  stresses  the  need  to  improve  the  performance  and 

inclusiveness of Belgium’s education system and particularly include older workers and people with a 

migrant background. Thus, this could be seen as an opportunity for Belgium to introduce eSkills in the 

education  and  training  systems,  in  order  to  meet  the  future needs  of  its  citizens  and  address  skills 

mismatches.   

As mentioned in recommendation 4, the country should aim to reduce the regulatory and administrative 

burdens that continue to affect small- and medium-sized enterprises. Belgium should see this as an 

opportunity for the creation  and implementation of eGovernment portals for its businesses so as to 

offer more efficient and faster solutions.  

Recital 20 stipulates that the quality of digital public services for businesses is rather low in Belgium. 

Hence, Belgian companies should strive to use more digital tools and new technologies as a way of 

delivering faster and more efficient services  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR issued for Belgium makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO11. 

Recitals 

Recital  20  points  to  the  lack  of  digitalisation  of  Belgium’s  judicial  system  which  remains  a  serious 

challenge  for  the  conduction  of  a  good  legal  action  in  the  country.  Thus,  Belgium  should  strive  to 

continue the digitalisation of its judicial system so as to ensure a faster and more efficient service.  

38 COM (2019) 501 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Belgium and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of Belgium, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 18 September 2019. 
39 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Belgium to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Belgium. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

26 

 
 
 
Opportunities 

The CSR for Belgium does not describe needs that can be linked to opportunities to intervene in the 

field of TO11. 

3.2.4  National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Belgium’s NRP.40  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Dissemination  of  ICT  best  practices:  The  ICT  Cluster  ‘Infopôle’  is  the  network  of  digital 

actors in Wallonia, whose aim is to bring together academic and industrial expertise to create 

a  pole  of  excellence  in  ICT.  In  2018,  it  was  given  three  new  missions  by  the  Belgian 

government, which included the identification and development of digital ecosystems to create 

a  business  accelerator.  Its  main  function  is  to  enlarge  the  available  ICT  expertise  of 

businesses  in  the  Walloon  regions  by  strengthening  their  positioning  at  the  local,  regional, 

national and international levels.   

• 

Investment 

in  digital  education:  Since  October  2018, 

the  government  aims 

to 

counterbalance  the  digital  education  deficit  by  reinforcing  the  digital  competences  and 

knowledge of its teachers. In Wallonia, a new Digital action plan 2019-2024 was approved, 

which focuses mainly on developing education and training activities. The aim is to increase 

students’ digital skills. The Brussels-Capital Region is also investing in the expansion of the 

digital economy and education, as part of its Regional innovation plan.  

•  Research  and  development  of  new  technologies:  The  Brussels-Capital  Region  also 

selected 7 new digital projects, with a budget of more than 6 million euros, with the intention 

of promoting effective cooperation between academia and industry in the field of decentralised 

systems, such as Blockchain.  

•  Development of eHealth solutions: Wallonia established a new innovative platform called 

INAH  (Institute  of  Analytics  for  Health)  to  foster  eHealth  solutions.  The  platform  aspires  to 

develop tools and methods to create a Walloon research network for the analysis of health 

data.     

•  Reinforcement  of  cybersecurity  initiatives  for  businesses:  In  December  2018,  the 

Brussels  Initiative  on  Cybersecurity  Innovation  (BICI)  was  introduced  to  ensure  that  new 

knowledge about cybersecurity is correctly and quickly transmitted to companies. In Wallonia, 

an awareness and support tool for cyber threats was presented, while Flanders put in place a 

cybersecurity action plan for 20 million euros.  

•  Development  of  jobseekers’  digital  skills:  Actiris,  the  Brussels  Regional  Office  of 

Employment,  offers  ICT  vouchers  to  jobseekers  in  the  region.  These  allow  jobseekers  to 

40 Belgium National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 1 October 2019.  

27 

 
 
 
quickly  boost  their  digital  skills,  in  an  efficient  and  personalised  manner,  in  order  to  better 

match the skills required by the future employers.   

•  Simplification of administrative measures for businesses through ICT tools: Measures 

to  simplify  administrative  procedures  for  businesses  are  at  the  heart  of  the  Administrative 

Programme of Wallonia’s Public Service (SPW). Its main strategic objective “So simple, so 

digital” particularly focuses on digitalising procedures to make administrative measures easier 

and  faster  for  everyone.  The  programme  put  in  place  a  single  online  portal  for  company 

cheques, for example, to speed up the procedure and have all the information needed in one 

single platform.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Enhancement of public procurement: In the course of 2018, the Belgian administration has 

dedicated new funds to take further steps in the area of digitalisation. In fact, in Flanders, the 

digitalisation was carried out through the continuation of the Innovative Public Procurement 

programme.  The  2019  action  plan  expects  that  at  least  3% of  Flemish  public  procurement 

expenditure will be dedicated to innovation procurement.  

•  Digitalisation  of  the  judicial  system:  At  the  federal  level,  the  Belgian  government  has 

started to put forward some reforms to digitalise, and thus simplify, the judicial system. This 

change will be particularly beneficial for enterprises as they will have the possibility of digitally 

transmitting official documents such as the company statutes. 

3.2.5  Operational Programmes 

A thorough evaluation of Belgium’s national OPs for the 2014-2020 financing period has revealed that 

there are no initiatives planned under TO2 and TO11 that would fall under the scope of this study.  

28 

 
 
3.3  Bulgaria 

3.3.1  Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Bulgaria’s CSR of 2019.41 

The CSR for Bulgaria reports macroeconomic imbalances in the country. Weaknesses in the financial 

sector combined with high indebtedness and non-performing loans in the corporate sector remain a 

risk. The government aims at a headline deficit of 0.3% of GDP this year but a surplus of 0.4% in 2020 

and 0.2% of GDP in 2021 is expected. The structural balance is on the right path to be met, as the 

medium-term budgetary objective. The general government debt-to-GDP ratio, which was 22.6% of 

GDP in 2018 is expected to decline gradually to 16.7% in 2022. The economic outlook is improving 

but  some  important challenges  remain,  particularly in  areas  such  as  tax  revenues  and  compliance, 

public expenditure, corporate governance and the banking and financial sectors. This is mainly due to 

several  reasons  of  which,  a  still  large  shadow  economy,  a  need  of  enhancing  the  bank  resolution 

framework and pursue the insolvency reform, or the urgency to tackle international money laundering, 

and harmonise the car insurance sector.  

Bulgaria increased the public research budget in 2018 but it remains very low compared to the rest of 

the  EU.  This  is  because  of  a  slow  pace  in  implementing  reforms  and  a  high  fragmentation  in  the 

research, development, and innovation systems. Science-business links are weak and more human 

capital is needed. Hence, the CSR for Bulgaria encourages to increase the digitalisation of companies 

and introduce new business models to boost the country’s productivity.  

Despite  the  numerous  adopted  reforms  in  Bulgaria’s  public  administration  and  eGovernment,  their 

practical implementation is lagging behind. Further investment in these areas face obstacles such as 

institutional shortcomings, regulatory uncertainty, corruption, and insufficient labour supply. Even with 

the  major  deployment  of  the  national  procurement  strategy,  its  administrative  capacity  remains  an 

additional ongoing challenge, which causes delays in the implementation of public projects. 

Concerning the Bulgarian labour market, employment rate is at its highest level since the country joined 

the EU. However, long-term unemployed, young people, Romani and people from poor and rural areas 

face  difficulties  entering  the  job  market.  Some  countermeasures  have  been  adopted  such  as 

supporting  mechanisms  for long-term  unemployed.  Also,  it  is  highly  encouraged  to  further  promote 

digital skills among young and adult people as Bulgaria’s level is one of the lowest in the EU. In the 

long-term, the economy might suffer from labour and skills shortages.  

Though  decreasing,  the  risk  of  poverty  or  social  exclusion  in  Bulgaria  remains  one  of  the  highest 

throughout the EU. Moreover, Bulgaria faces challenges on the inequality of income and access to 

services. This is due to the low level of social spending on social protection and to the deficiencies in 

the minimum income schemes. In fact, the country does not have a transparent process on who is 

entitled to what level of benefits, a problem the government intends to remedy by setting an objective 

mechanism that provides an overview of all schemes in the country. On another side, parent’s socio-

41 COM (2019) 502 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Bulgaria and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Convergence Programme of Bulgaria, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 18 September 2019. 

29 

 
 
 
economic status strongly influences educational outcomes. Therefore, more investment is required, 

especially in primary education, in order to create equal opportunities from an early age and improve 

future employability.  

Healthcare services are still compromised given the low level of public spending. There is an uneven 

distribution  of  limited  resources  and  health  insurance  is  not  available  for  all;  in  fact,  out-of-pocket 

payments are made to receive quality healthcare. Moreover, there is a shortage of nurses and doctors, 

as they are leaving the country. 

3.3.2  Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Bulgaria since 2017. 

The information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Bulgaria.42 

Legislation 

The law amending and supplementing the Public Procurement Act introduced mandatory use of the 

National  Electronic  Platform,  from  the  opening  of  the  procedures  to  the  receipt  and  opening  of 

electronic applications for participation and tenders, as well as for electronic communications in the 

course of the procurement procedure. Regarding cybersecurity, the Cybersecurity Act was adopted in 

pursuance of the commitments of the Republic of Bulgaria as a Member State of the European Union 

to  establish  an  organisation  for  the  implementation  of  the  Directive  (EU)  2016/1148  concerning 

measures for a high common level of security of network and information systems across the Union. 

Infrastructure 

Several actions were implemented concerning the digital infrastructure of Bulgaria. For the purposes 

of cross-border electronic identification, an eIDAS Node was developed and deployed in a production 

environment in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 910/2014. Additionally, the 

Open  Data  Portal  was  created.  It  is  a  single,  central,  public  web-based  information  system  that 

provides for the publication and management of information for re-use in an open, machine-readable 

format  along  with  relevant  metadata.  The  portal  was  built  in  a  way  that  allowed  for  the  complete 

retrieval  of  published  information  or  parts  of  it.  In  August  2018,  the  platform  for  access  to  public 

information was launched. It was developed and maintained by the administration of the Council of 

Ministers. The platform is a unified, central, public web-based information system that electronically 

provides the entire process of filing and processing of applications for access to information, forwarding 

to competent bodies where necessary, issuing a decision and publishing the relevant information from 

those obliged under the Access to Public Information Act while protecting the applicant's personal data 

under the Personal Data Protection Act. 

Services 

By the end of 2018, 150 administrative services were available in Bulgaria including electronic request, 

payment and delivery. 

42 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Bulgaria. Accessed on 1 October 2019.  

30 

 
 
 
3.3.3  Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Bulgaria43 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.44 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

In  recommendation  4,  the  CSR  for  Bulgaria  stresses  the  need  to  strengthen  employability  by 

reinforcing digital skills.  

Recitals 

In recital 15, the CSR for Bulgaria describes the urgency to further invest in research and development 

as well as to strengthen science-business links and clusters. It emphasises on increasing digitalisation 

of companies and introducing new business models to boost the country’s productivity.  

Opportunities 

The  CSR  for  Bulgaria  describes  in  recommendation  4  the  need  to  improve  the  inclusiveness  of 

education  and  training,  in  particular  for  Roma  and  other  disadvantaged  groups.  By  implementing 

eInclusion solutions aimed at promoting digital literacy for instance, such barriers and educational gaps 

could be minimised. 

Moreover, recommendation 4 stresses the need to improve access to health services as well. The two 

main goals being reducing out-of-pocket payments and addressing shortages of health professionals, 

the establishment of an efficient eHealth system could help tackle these issues.   

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Bulgaria makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO11. 

Recitals 

In recital 16, it is clearly stated that “public administration and e-government reforms continue to be 

slow”. The document points out the delay in the uptake of electronic procurement is preventing further 

improvement in the transparency and efficiency of the system. As a consequence, public projects are 

taking a slow pace.   

In recital 17, various concerns on corruption and institutional shortcomings arise, particularly on the 

judicial area. Digitalisation would enhance transparency of the system and improve service delivery in 

the long run. Nevertheless, progress is expected in early autumn 2019.  

43 COM (2019) 502 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Bulgaria and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Convergence Programme of Bulgaria, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 18 September 2019. 
44 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Bulgaria to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Bulgaria. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

31 

 
 
 
Opportunities 

In recital 6, it is described the necessity to improve fiscal policy. Tax administration and collection have 

an  opportunity  to  digitalise  and,  by  that,  improve  their  efficiency.  Tax  compliance,  innovation  and 

enhanced economy are dependent on each other to improve alongside. 

3.3.4  National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Bulgaria’s NRP.45 

Thematic Objective 2 

• 

Improvement of healthcare system: One of the key measures of the Strategy for ensuring 

an effective health system is the digitalisation and integration of systems in the sector through 

the establishment of a National Health Information System (NHIS). The first stage is planned 

be finalised in 2019 with the implementation of eHealth in Bulgaria. It will allow the shortening 

of the time for patient care, facilitating the access to modern and high-quality health services 

and optimising the strategic management of the health sector.  

•  Digital  service  for  unemployment:  An  electronic  labour  exchange  is  currently  being 

implemented to enhance interoperability among the 73  centres for Employment and Social 

Assistance and provide a better service to long-term unemployed citizens.  

•  Boost  to  the  digital  economy:  EU  fund  investments  will  cover  leisure  for  improving  the 

connectivity and digitalisation of the economy as prerequisites for enhancing competitiveness. 

Measures aimed at improving the institutional and business environment, the digitalisation of 

the  economy,  improving  connectivity  and  encouraging  the  digital  transformation  of  the 

economic  activity  under  an  accelerated  set-up  of  the  electronic  data  management  will  be 

supported.  

•  Support measures to foster eCulture: Support will be provided for the establishment of key 

registers and digitalisation of cultural values, including for management of cultural heritage.  

•  Policies  to  improve  the  delivery  of  public  services:  The  implementation  of  the  Single 

Model for request, payment and provision of electronic administrative services, will continue 

to reduce the administrative burden on the citizens and businesses and will create conditions 

for  delivering  accessible  comprehensive  administrative  services 

through  advanced 

technological means. Along with the upgrade of the developed prototype of the eForm system, 

all the necessary horizontal systems of electronic government will be provided to implement 

the Single Model.  

• 

Improvement of the connectivity and accessibility of agglomerations: Funding measures 

for infrastructure investments will develop basic infrastructure geared towards business. This 

will  improve  the  urban  environment  and  the  touristic  competitiveness  and  contribute  to  the 

overall improvement of economic activity in the country’s regions.  

45 Bulgaria National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 8 October 2019.  

32 

 
 
 
•  Broadband Infrastructure Plan: Adoption of measures for ensuring access for the citizens 

and  the  businesses  to  networks  with  very  high  capacity.  5G  networks  are  expected  to  be 

substantially faster than 4G ones.  

•  Research  and  Development  measures:  A  plan  is  being  developed  for  the  creation  of  a 

national  portal  and  open  science  repository  and  a  communication  strategy  for  promoting 

results of scientific research, as well as a national plan for a science, open to the society and 

economy.  

•  Modernisation of higher education: Bulgaria will improve the higher education system in 

accordance  with  labour  market  demands  by  enhancing  the  quality  of  management  and 

teaching. This will be done by using digital skills and technologies.  

Thematic Objective 11 

• 

Improvement  of  healthcare  quality:  Bulgaria  aims  to  improve  the  quality  of  healthcare 

services through several means. The government will set up a National Health Information 

System.  This  will  provide  patients  with  information  about  their  own  health.  In  addition, 

administrative  services  and  financial  costs  of  the  government  will  also  improve.  New 

technologies will also be used to advance towards eHealth. 

•  Provision  of  eProcurement  services:  The  work  on  the  setup  of  electronic  awarding  of 

contracts by means of a single national electronic web-based platform for public procurement 

continues. A number of actions have been taken to strengthen the administrative capacity and 

professionalism in the sector.  

•  Measures  for  a  transformation  of  the  administrative  service  model:  Inter-register 

exchange  of  reference  and  supporting  information  has  continued  with  the  number  of  the 

included  registers,  as  well  as  the  administrations  and  organisation  entering  the  respective 

data, rising. Removing certification services and transforming them into internal administrative 

electronic services and applying the proprio motu principle are in process of implementation.  

3.3.5  Operational Programmes  

For the funding period 2014-2020, two national OPs of Bulgaria are specifically dealing with themes 

related  to  TO2  and  TO11.  The  OP  ‘Human  Resources  Development’46  has  two  goals:  boost 

employment and reduce social exclusion, as well as reduce poverty levels. The second OP, ‘Good 

Governance’,47 in turn, addresses challenges related to the efficiency of public administrations. 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Digitalisation of the public administration and its services: Services will be deployed in 

the  field  of  eGovernment  and  the  use  of  ICT  will  also  be  expanded  within  public 

administrations according to the ‘Good Governance’ OP. Bureaucracy will be reduced through 

the simplification of procedures and regulatory regimes. Upgrades will vary in the field of, for 

46 Bulgaria Human Resources Development Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
47 Bulgaria Good Governance Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

33 

 
 
 
example,  tax  collection,  the  establishment  of  one-stop  shops  and  making  the  government 

more open and transparent. 

•  Technological modernisation and digitalisation of enterprises: Micro enterprises, start-

ups and SMEs are financed and receiving support if they are developing new and innovative 

ideas.  These  products/services  can  be  related  to  areas  such  as  ICT  and  eCommerce  and 

eServices. Technological modernisation, including infrastructure, is also financed under the 

‘Human Resources Development’ Operational Programme. 

•  Creation of a single platform for health services: As part of the eServices initiative in the 

‘Good Governance’ OP, eHealth is one of the most important priorities. The system will be 

unified and developed to be further upgraded into a single, centralised platform. The complete 

health records of all Bulgarian citizens will also be available and accessible online. 

•  Creation  of  an  innovative  strategy  for  smart  specialisation:  The  skills  of  the  current 

unemployed  and  employed  workforce  are  important  to  be  developed,  as  explained  in  the 

‘Human  Resources  Development’  OP.  The  ICT  sector  is  creating  various  jobs  that  are 

important  for  the  future  development  of  the  country.  An  innovative  strategy  for  smart 

specialisation is currently being put in place. Through training, people will acquire the skills 

needed for the future. 

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Enhancing institutional capacity and efficiency: Large investments are needed to increase 

the efficiency of public administrations and public services at the national, regional and local 

levels, as pointed out in the ‘Human Resources Development’ OP. The expected outcomes 

are reforms, better regulation and good governance. Furthermore, transnational cooperation 

for the exchange of best practices and experience will increase the skills, competences and 

knowledge of employees in Bulgaria. 

•  Enhancement  of  the  public  administration’s  digital  skills:  The  quality  of  services  is  an 

important  aspect  to  tackle,  and  this  starts  with  the  competence  of  employees  in  the 

administration, according to the ‘Good Governance’ OP. Their skillset should include proper 

introduction  to  eGovernment  administration,  making  processes  more  efficient,  fast  and 

affordable. 

• 

Introduction  of  electronic  procurement:  New  legislation  that  is  being  implemented  on 

public procurement is introducing electronic services. If this is achieved, there will be a positive 

effect on the economic development of Bulgaria, and improved business conditions as stated 

in the ‘Good Governance’ Operational Programme. 

• 

Improvement of the judicial system: In order to enhance the quality of legislation, as well 

as  the  capacity  of  the  judicial  system,  eJustice  is  being  introduced  throughout  the  country 

under  the  ‘Good  Governance’  OP.  This  will  apply  consistency,  faster  judicial  processes, 

information security and the opening of the judiciary will have a big anticorruption effect. 

• 

Installation of new technological and ICT equipment: The IT infrastructure in Bulgaria is 

outdated therefore hindering information systems and services. Equipment will be purchased 

and installed in order to ensure proper exchange of information. The government also plans 

34 

 
 
to develop a cloud to migrate all resources, systems and services onto it, conforming to the 

‘Good Governance’ OP. 

35 

 
 
 
3.4  Croatia 

3.4.1  Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Croatia’s CSR of 2019.48 

Croatia is currently in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact and thus subject to the debt 

rule. The 2019 Convergence Programme foresees its headline balance to decline to -0.3% of GDP in 

2019 and then gradually improve to a surplus of 0.8% of GDP by 2022. According to the programme, 

the government debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to fall from 71.6% of GDP in 2019 to 68.5% in 2020 and 

to continue declining thereafter. Croatia is forecast to comply with the debt rule in both 2019 and 2020.  

In  2018,  Croatia  adopted  the  Fiscal  Responsibility  Act,  whose  aim  is  to  reinforce  the  set-up  and 

mandate of the Fiscal Policy Commission and lay down numerical fiscal rules, including a structural 

budget  balance  rule.  The  fiscal  framework  will  be  further  strengthened  with  the  adoption  of  the 

amended  Budget  Act,  which  is  expected  to  improve  budgetary  planning  and  the  collection  of  fiscal 

data.  

The  labour  market  continued  its  recovery  in  2018,  as  the  unemployment  rate  continued  its  steady 

decline. Nonetheless, activity and employment rates remain low compared to the EU average. This is 

particularly due to early retirements and care responsibilities. In addition, labour shortages continue to 

affect some sectors of the economy, mainly due to skills gaps. Hence, Croatia should aim to improve 

its digital skills in order to raise its productivity level.   

Croatia suffers from important socio-economic disparities, especially across regions, which impact the 

level of educational attainment in the country. In fact, it ranks well below the EU average in terms of 

education  and  investments  in  education,  especially  early  childhood  one.  To  overcome  this,  the 

government  recently  created  the  Regional  Centres  of  Competences,  whose  aim  is  to  improve  the 

quality of vocational education and training for all regions.  

Croatia  is  a  deeply  fragmented  country.  This  affects  the  efficiency  of  its  public  administration  and 

exacerbates  regional  disparities.  Indeed,  many  small  local  units  often  lack  adequate  financial  and 

administrative  resources  to provide  the  required  services  to  their  citizens.  The  country  suffers  from 

wide disparities in terms of public service provisions between the financially and administratively strong 

regions and the weaker ones. 

Croatia needs to further invest in research and innovation capacities and in advanced technologies. 

This will strengthen its innovation performance and further promote its productivity growth. The country 

developed a plan known as the “2016-2020 Smart specialisation strategy” (RIS3) whose aim is to foster 

innovation, overcome fragmentation in the system and ensure that research and development activities 

are constructed and coordinated around the country’s key economic priorities.  

48 COM(2019) 511 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Croatia and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Convergence Programme of Croatia, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 20 September 2019.  

36 

 
 
 
3.4.2  Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Croatia since 2018. The 

information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of Croatia.49  

Political Communications  

The Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Justice for the period 2019-2021 emphasises the use of solutions 

based  on  complex  algorithms  and  artificial  intelligence  in  order  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the 

proceedings. 

Legislation 

In October 2018, the Law on electronic invoicing in public procurement (NN 94/2018) was adopted. 

Regarding cybersecurity, the Republic of Croatia has fully and successfully implemented the European 

NIS Directive into its national legislation, through the adoption of the Act on cyber security of operators 

of  essential  services  and  digital  service  providers  on  key  service  providers  and  providers  of  digital 

services.  

Infrastructure 

Croatia implemented the Central Salary System (COP) in all institutions whose salaries are financed 

from the State budget. The COP is a web-based application covering salary calculations for the whole 

public administration. 

Services 

There  are  numerous  new  eServices  functions  that  have  been  made  available  to  citizens  and 

businesses in 2018. For citizens, the country adopted measures such as eDetectives, eSubmission, 

eInsurance,  Online  Courses,  eExchange  of  student  grades,  ePrescriptions,  eHealth  Record, 

eNewborn. 

3.4.3  Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Croatia50 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.51 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Croatia makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2. 

Recitals 

In recital 12, the CSR mentions the need for Croatia to improve its digital skills, in both the private and 

public sectors. This will help close some of its skills gaps and raise its productivity. In addition, Croatia 

49 Digital Government factsheet 2019, Croatia. Accessed on 18 September 2019.  
50 COM(2019) 511 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Croatia and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Convergence Programme of Croatia, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 18 September 2019. 
51 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Croatia to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Croatia. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

37 

 
 
 
recently put in place a smart specialisation strategy, mentioned in recital 17, whose aim is to encourage 

students  and  professionals  to  specialise in  science,  new  technologies  and  innovation  policies.  This 

could help Croatia into becoming a more digitalised country.   

Opportunities 

Recital 8 mentions the need for Croatia’s healthcare system to be improved, to ensure an efficient and 

quicker primary care for all. There is an opportunity for the establishment of eHealth provisions and 

tools to modernise the healthcare system as well as medical and hospital equipment. This would lessen 

the burden on both healthcare providers and the Croatian citizens.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

In recommendation 4, Croatia is urged to reduce the duration of its court proceedings and to start using 

electronic communication in courts to make the processes faster and more effective. In this area, the 

country could think to implement eJustice measures.  

Recitals 

The CSR for Croatia makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding TO11. 

Opportunities 

The CSR for Croatia does not describe needs that can be linked to opportunities to intervene in the 

field of TO11. 

3.4.4  National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Croatia’s NRP.52 

Thematic Objective 2 

• 

Introduction of eBusiness project: This programme intends to create a single access point 

for all electronic business services in Croatia. The platform will allow businesses to oversee 

and  download  documents  online,  such  as  tax  administration,  health  insurances  or pension 

schemes, through a single platform.  

•  Facilitation of business start-up process: The government developed a new information 

system for business start-up (START). With this new programme, founding companies online 

will be possible, without all the administrative steps previously required. The aim is to facilitate 

the creation of business start-ups through a single electronic process, which will be less time-

consuming and more cost-efficient.  

•  Further development of the eSchools project: The aim of the programme is to complete 

the  digital  transformation  of  all  Croatian  schools.  Schools  will  have  access  to  new  ICT 

equipment, new eServices for students and new eContent. In addition, teachers and school 

52 Croatia National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 3 October 2019.  

38 

 
 
 
employees  will  also  be  staffed  and  educated  accordingly  to  develop  their  digital  maturity. 

Furthermore, every school in the country will have access to this project, which will bridge the 

digital  and  social  divide  that  continues  to  affect  Croatia.  This  will  ensure  the  readiness  of 

students to meet the future demands of the labour market.  

•  Digital transformation of healthcare services: The country has started to implement and 

use ICT solutions in the healthcare system as a way of improving citizens’ health and foster 

the  productivity  and  efficiency  of  their  health  provisions.  Croatia  will  put  in  place  a  new 

Strategic  eHealth  development  plan  for  the  2020-2025  period  and  a  related  2020-2021 

Implementation  plan,  which will  rely  on  the  knowledge  and  experience  of  specialists  in  the 

sector of eHealth and from the World Health Organisation, among others. In order to make 

healthcare services more accessible to everyone, Croatia has decided to put in place a new 

model for booking and managing appointments, in a more transparent and central calendar.   

Thematic Objective 11 

• 

Improvement of the Open Data Portal: The portal strengthens the accountability, efficiency 

and  transparency  of  the  public  administration.  It  should  thus  be  thoroughly  upgraded  and 

expanded so as to provide for a larger number of data disclosure bodies and a greater amount 

of quality and worthwhile data free of use.  

• 

Improvement of ICT in the judiciary: The government will continue to improve the efficiency 

of its judicial system through further development of electronic communication between courts 

and the other participants of the proceedings. In fact, the eCommunication system has already 

been enforced for all commercial courts in Croatia. In addition, electronic communication has 

already  been  set  up  with  attorneys  and  notaries  but  is  set  to  expand  further,  to  include  all 

municipal courts and other participants. Electronic communication is very useful for attorneys 

as it allows them to submit any type of electronic documentation to the court on behalf of their 

clients. Lastly, incentivising electronic communication will lead to less administrative burden 

for courts, which in turn, will spur judicial proceedings and provide a more efficient collection 

of court fees.  

•  Establishment  of  online  tax  services:  Croatia  introduced  ePayment  for  its  taxes  and 

contributions, which will lead to the reduction in the number of hours spent on tax analysis 

and payments.  

•  Development of single digital portal for all public services: In order to reduce costs and 

provide more cost-efficient administrative procedures, the government decided to establish a 

single  digital  portal  for  all  public  services,  where  all  information  and  services  will  be  made 

available to citizens. In addition, the government is also working on the eFees system which 

wishes to put in place electronic payments for all types of administrative fees and charges. 

The implementation of eSignature is also underway and will facilitate the work of the public 

administration.  

39 

 
 
3.4.5  Operational Programmes  

For the funding period 2014-2020, two national OPs of Croatia are specifically dealing with themes 

related  to  TO2  and  TO11.  OP  ‘Competitiveness  and  Cohesion’,53  intents  to  boost  economic 

competitiveness, support alignment with the EU environmental acquis, invest in transport infrastructure 

and network infrastructure. OP, ‘Efficient Human Resources’,54 aims to contribute to creating jobs and 

strengthening social cohesion in Croatia.  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Better delivery of healthcare: Given the low number of doctors and low provision of health 

services, Croatia is investing in various services. Firstly, eLearning is established in order to 

support  continuous  and  specialised  education  to  healthcare  providers.  These  skills  will  be 

then used in order to provide telemedicine to citizens who cannot easily reach hospitals and 

healthcare providers. There will also be several investments towards eHealth in Croatia such 

as a cloud-based standardised and interoperable hospital application system (eHospital); an 

integrated  information  system  for  the  Croatian  Health  Insurance  Company;  ePrescriptions; 

and electronic repayment system. The adoption of a strategic plan for eHealth development 

is planned to be achieved by 2020, as explained in the ‘Efficient Human Resources’ OP. 

• 

Implementation of ICT trainings: eSchools, digital content and IT classes will be introduced 

to  children  in  secondary  schools  under  the  ‘Efficient  Human  Resources’  Operational 

Programme  funds.  ICT  equipment  for teachers  and students  will  be  provided,  along with  a 

high-speed  internet  connection.  The  goal  is  to  have  50%  of  the  Croatian  schools  become 

eEnabled,  i.e.  ICT-equipped.  The  digital  content  is  an  important  component  to  the  future 

workforce’s  knowledge  and  key  competences.  Adults  are  also  encouraged  to  take  part  in 

trainings, to enhance the digital skills of citizens. In fact, vouchers will be provided to adults in 

order  to  become  enrolled  in  online  courses  in  ICT  fields,  at  the  same  time  enhancing 

eLearning possibilities in the country. 

•  Establishment  of  various  digital  platforms  for  citizens  and  businesses:  New 

interventions  will  support  information  systems  to  build  an  eCitizen  platform,  an  eBusiness 

platform and a one-stop shop. These are different channels of communications for citizens 

and  businesses,  which  will  reduce  administrative  burden,  therefore  using  the  funds  of  the 

‘Efficient Human Resources’ OP efficiently. 

•  Development of electronic services for citizens: Croatia has identified the areas of health, 

education,  land  management,  justice,  culture,  tourism  and  inclusion  as  the  main  topics  for 

eService  development  in  order  to  improve  policy  delivery  and  increase  communication 

between the citizens and public administration. These will be overseen by the Shared Service 

Centre  that  will  coordinate  and  manage  the  use  of  ICT  applications  and  eServices  while 

ensuring transparency. The Law on the State Information Infrastructure defined several new 

services  to  implement.  These  are:  one  government  website  as  single  point  of  contact;  a 

53 Croatia Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019 
54 Croatia Efficient Human Resources Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019 

40 

 
 
 
common identification and authentication interface; a common user mailbox for citizens; and 

an  interoperability  framework  towards  interconnection  with  European  eServices.  The 

‘Competitiveness and Cohesion’ OP focuses on these topics. 

•  Development  and  update  of  the  national  IT  infrastructure:  To  provide  eServices  to  the 

public, the basic infrastructure needs to be in place. Its development receives support under 

the  ‘Competitiveness  and  Cohesion’  OP  through  investments  in  the  extension  of  the  next 

generation  network  (NGN)  broadband  and  e-public  services  provision.  For  people  living  in 

remote locations, ICT infrastructure in terms of broadband is important both at home and at 

the  public  administration  offices.  eServices,  in  addition  should  be  user-friendly  for  all 

population groups, e.g. elderly and special needs. The aim is also to reduce the digital divide 

throughout the country. 

• 

Introduction  of  ICT  tools  and  techniques  in  education:  ICT  equipment  is  lacking  and 

outdated in schools, for which funds will be allocated as depicted in the ‘Competitiveness and 

Cohesion’ OP. In addition, teachers’ ICT competences are also shortcoming. ICT equipment 

is a tool to enable the use of modern teaching methods and techniques, innovative teaching 

and learning practices that support student-centred learning, development of key transversal 

competences for the 21st century, critical thinking, collaborative and project-based learning. 

The eSchools project aims to equip at least 50% of all Croatian schools with ICT infrastructure 

and high-speed Internet. The School Cloud will modernise and allow full access to information 

by school administrations. 

•  Creation of an electronic application to improve the spatial planning process: In order 

to improve the spatial planning process, ICT applications to support the creation of a database 

for  documents,  procedures  of  construction,  and  making  open  access  to  download  spatial 

information are currently being developed in the public sector through the ‘Competitiveness 

and Cohesion’ OP. 

•  Establishment of a digital platform to store and preserve cultural heritage: In order to 

collect, process, distribute and store cultural heritage, a digitalised platform is being invested 

in  from  the  ‘Competitiveness  and  Cohesion’  OP.  The  aim  is  to  preserve  and  present  the 

Croatian  national  cultural  heritage  and  make  it  accessible  to  people  throughout  Europe 

through the European platform. 

•  Reinforcement of eTourism: One of the priorities of the ‘Competitiveness and Cohesion’ OP 

is  investing  in  an  IT  system  consolidating  all  the  data  on  tourist  boards  and  registered 

stakeholders in the tourist sector is meant to contribute to better quality service in the tourism 

sector as well as higher citizen and tourist satisfaction.  

• 

Improvement of businesses’ efficiency through ICT: The Croatian government will provide 

support  to  enterprises  in  order  to  create  eBusiness  solutions  through  ICT  by  optimising 

business  processes,  integrating  business  functions,  streamlining  workflows  and  enhancing 

interactions  with  clients  and  suppliers.  ICT  solutions  are  also  beneficial  for  the  services  to 

support B2B interactions, as described in the ‘Competitiveness and Cohesion’ OP. 

41 

 
 
Thematic Objective 11 

•  Reorganisation of the tax administration: Taxpayers should have more eServices available 

for  their  regular  needs.  The  tax  administration’s  institutional  framework  will  be  changed  to 

better  engage  with  citizens,  in  line  with  the  ‘Efficient  Human  Resources’  Operational 

Programme. 

•  Enhancement of eGovernment measures: The core elements of eGovernment in Croatia 

are  further  enhanced  through  the  interconnectivity  of  the  information  system  within  public 

administrations. Interoperability is also set as a framework in order to better organise public 

services  from  hierarchical  to  horizontally  integrated.  Investments  will  be  made  into  IT 

infrastructure at administrations from the ‘Efficient Human Resources’ OP. 

•  Optimisation of judicial processes through ICT tools: Courts and state attorneys should 

refer  to  eRegisters,  information  systems,  records  management  online  and  databases  that 

have all information in one place. The ICT area needs the exchange of best practices and 

knowledge to further develop the interoperability of the judicial information system. Therefore, 

to  make  the  justice  registers  more  interoperable  and  more  interconnected,  the  Croatian 

national and EU registers will become more integral. This will facilitate the access of citizens 

and businesses to the justice system, keeping with the ‘Efficient Human Resources’ OP. 

•  Establishment of a government cloud: Financing from the ‘Competitiveness and Cohesion’ 

OP  will  be  provided  for  establishment,  equipping  and  making  an  operational  cloud  for  the 

government. The aims are to consolidate the government ICT infrastructure; purchasing or 

developing software; and delivery of necessary equipment. 

42 

 
 
3.5  Cyprus 

3.5.1  Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Cyprus’ CSR of 2019.55 

Cyprus is currently in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact and subject to the debt rule. 

The government plans a budgetary surplus of 3.0% of GDP in 2019 and remain above 2.0% of GDP 

over the entirety of the programme period. After having increased, the debt-to-GDP ratio is expected 

to decrease to 95.7% in 2019 and to steadily decline thereafter, to reach 77.5% by 2022. Based on the 

Commission 2019 spring forecast the structural balance should stand at 1.1% of GDP in 2019 and at 

0.7% in 2020, thus remaining above the medium-term budgetary objective.   

The fight against aggressive tax planning continues to be essential to make tax systems more efficient 

and fairer and impede distortions of competition between firms. Although the country has already taken 

some  measures  in  this  regard,  the  high  levels  of  dividend  and  interest  payments  suggest  that  the 

country’s tax rules are continuously used by companies that engage in aggressive tax planning.  

While employment is on the rise and unemployment is falling fast, concerns remain regarding the high 

unemployment of young people and the long-term unemployed. In fact, in 2018, the proportion of young 

people not in education, employment or training was among the highest in the EU.  While efforts to 

improve  the  administrative  capacity  of  the  public  employment  services  continue,  the  outreach 

measures and timely, tailor-made assistance for young people are limited.  

The justice system still faces some inefficiencies that affect contract enforcement and prevent the swift 

resolution  of  civil  and  commercial  cases.  Although  the  country  implemented  a  series  of  reforms  to 

address the most critical problems, progress remains slow.  

The  inefficiency  in  public  administration  remains  a  challenge  for  the  Cypriot  business  environment 

despite recent efforts regarding eGovernment services, regulatory quality and staff mobilities. Further 

measures  should  be  put in place  to  avoid  hindrance  of the  investment  capacity  in  key  utilities.  The 

main threat is the containment of the public sector wage bill, which has been a significant factor in 

fiscal consolidation.  

The Cypriot Government’s spending on education is well above the EU average, indicating a strong 

commitment to education and training. Nevertheless, the educational achievements remain poor and 

skills  shortages  and  mismatches  continue  to  be  an  obstacle  to  business  investment  in  the  country. 

Cyprus  should  continue  to modernise  its  education  and  training  systems  to improve  its  educational 

outcomes and increase the potential for sustainable growth. In addition, the country should focus on 

investing in basic digital skills and tools as only 50% of Cypriots between 16 and 74 possess such 

basic digital and ICT skills.   

55 COM (2019) 513 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Cyprus and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Cyprus, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 20 September 2019. 

43 

 
 
 
In  the  health  sector,  Cyprus  has  made  some  significant  progress  by  adopting  the  legislation 

establishing the new National Health System. The system is set out to be fully functional by 2020 but 

caution is necessary regarding implementation challenges and investment needs.  

3.5.2  Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following overview entails the most relevant digital government highlights that have occurred in 

Cyprus since 2018. The information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of Cyprus.56 

Political Communications 

In 2018, the Cyprus Productivity Centre continued its action on the educational programme, supposed 

to minimise digital illiteracy and further promote the use of eGovernment services. The programme 

had  a  two  years  horizon  (2017-2019)  that  focused  on  implementing  the  number  of  workshops  and 

training for: learning how to use basic eGovernment services and improving basic internet skills. 

Legislation 

The health system moved towards cross-border integration with the Law on eHealth (59(I)/2019). The 

eHealth  law  focuses  on  supporting  Cyprus’  efforts  to  be  part  of  this  secure  peer-to-peer  network 

allowing the exchange of Patient Summaries (PS) and ePrescriptions (eP). On a national level, the key 

point is the creation of a Central Citizen Data Warehouse, which uniquely links every citizen to the 

Central eGovernment Portal, the country Cloud integrated electronic health record system (EHR). 

Infrastructure 

A revamped National Web Portal for Open Data was launched with new features to support the re-use 

of open data, as well as a larger catalogue of datasets. The National Web Portal for Open Data was 

ranked  first  among  the  national  open  data  portals  of  the  28  EU  Member  States  by  the  Open  Data 

Maturity Report 2018. To support and foster the reuse of open data available through the National Web 

Portal for Open Data, several actions have been promoted. For instance, the second edition of the 

Cyprus  Open  Data  Hackathon,  that  took  place  in  September  2018,  promoted  the  development  of 

applications  using  Public  Open  Data  among  computer  programmers,  analysts,  designers, 

communication and marketing experts, students, and advocates. 

Services 

A new website was created to allow citizens and businesses to compare banks’ fees linked to their 

bank  accounts.  This  tool  allowed  the  public  to  be  informed  on  current  charges  per  service,  thus 

increasing  transparency  and  provide  important  information.  The  comparison  included  11  financial 

institutions operating in Cyprus. Through the website, consumers can learn in advance and before any 

transaction what the bank charges they are going to pay, and in particular the corresponding fees of 

other banks, to make informed decisions.  

56 Digital Government factsheet 2019, Cyprus. Accessed on 23 September 2019.  

44 

 
 
 
3.5.3  Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Cyprus57 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.58  

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

In recommendation 4, the CSR urges the country to focus its investments on digitalisation, including 

digital skills for all. Further investments in the digital economy would bolster Cyprus’ productivity. In 

fact, ICT specialists and citizens with basic digital skills are significantly lacking in the country, thus 

hampering its potential of becoming a digital economy. In addition, investing in eSkills could bridge the 

current gap in unemployment, particularly among the younger population. Recitals 10 and 11 stipulate 

that  this  gap  is  due  to  significant  skills  shortages  and  mismatches  in  education  and  training.  Thus, 

investing in eSkills could be a solution as the youth would gain skills that would better match today’s 

labour market needs.    

Recitals 

In recital 12 and recommendation 3, the efforts of Cyprus establishing a new National Health System 

are complimented.  Nonetheless, its  will  be  challenging. The  CSR thus  proposes  the  introduction  of 

eHealth aimed at modernising and improving the efficiency of healthcare providers.  

Opportunities 

The CSR issued for Cyprus does not describe needs that can be linked to opportunities to intervene 

regarding TO2.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

In recommendation 5, the CSR urged Cyprus to step up its efforts to improve the efficiency of its judicial 

system. To do so, the country should increase the specialisation of its courts and set up an operational 

and fully functional eJustice system.  

Recitals 

The CSR for Cyprus makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding TO11.  

Opportunities 

Recommendation 1 urges the country to improve the functioning of its public administration and the 

governance  of  its  state-owned  entities  and  local  governments.  This  could  be  the  opportunity  to 

encourage  the  use  of  eGovernment  services,  which  are  already  in  place  but  not  fully  functional  in 

57 COM(2019) 513 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Cyprus and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of Cyprus, Brussels, 5.6.2019.  Accessed on 20 September 2019. 
58 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Cyprus to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Cyprus. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

45 

 
 
 
Cyprus. These would ensure smoother communications between the various public entities and faster 

solutions to administrative procedures.   

Recital  8  acknowledges  the  need  for  Cyprus  to  take  significant  measures  against  aggressive  tax 

planning  in  order  to  make  its  tax  systems  more  efficient.  The  country  could  tackle  this  problem  by 

introducing  eTax  measures  that  would  handle  all  financial  administrative  processes  in  one  digital 

platform. This would help the country in the fight against tax evasion and in the creation of a fairer tax 

system.  

3.5.4  National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Cyprus’ NRP.59 

Thematic Objective 2 

• 

Implementation  of  eGovernment  projects:  One  of  the  main  reforms  of  the  Cypriot 

government for 2019 relates to the good advancement and full implementation of this year’s 

eGovernment  projects,  designed  to  improve  governance  and  increase  overall  productivity. 

One of these projects is the new Government gateway, Ariadni. The portal intends to provide 

around  100  public  eServices  to  citizens  such  as  birth  certificates,  driving  licenses  and 

passports,  among  others.  Ariadni  is  also  the  reference  and  only  platform  for  electronic 

transactions between citizens, businesses, institutions and the government.  

•  New  focus  on  eHealth  measures:  New  initiatives  have  been  put  forward  to  improve  the 

provisions of eHealth services. For example, the country put forward a single contact point for 

cross-border healthcare, ensuring harmonisation and quicker responses. In addition, Cyprus 

also implemented a new Laboratory Information Management System and a National Health 

Information  System,  designed  to  respond  to  the  needs  of  all  national  hospitals  and  health 

centres.  

•  Creation of a new open data portal: Cyprus scored high in the field of Open Data maturity 

and its new open data portal was ranked first among 31 open data portals across Europe. The 

country continues on this trajectory by further exploiting public data through the National Open 

Data Portal.   

•  Enhancement of digital skills for all: The country has put in place free training programs 

and workshops for citizens to learn about the eGovernment system and all its advantages, as 

well as to acquire basic digital skills and tools. In addition, it recently introduced a certification 

programme for students enrolled in secondary education, that will prove fruitful for their future 

job research. The programme is free of charge and accessible to every student.  

•  Development  of  a  blockchain  technology:  Together  with  25  Member  States,  Cyprus 

adhered  to  the  Declaration  for  Cooperation  on  a  European  Blockchain  Partnership  (EBP). 

Each country will have to come up with and introduce a national plan for the development of 

59 Cyprus National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 4 October 2019.  

46 

 
 
 
a blockchain technology in its country, which will include pilot projects, legislative initiatives 

and communication strategies.  

•  Establishment of an electronic auction system: In view of introducing more efficient and 

transparent  foreclosure and insolvency  frameworks,  the country  decided  to  put  in  place  an 

electronic auction system (eAuction) for properties exposed to foreclosure proceedings. The 

eAuctions will help banks to better regulate the operations and make them more effective and 

reliable.   

•  Digitalisation  of  the  industrial  sector:  The  government  has  adopted  a  whole  new  set  of 

digital  solutions  and  systems  for  the  digitalisation  of  its  industries.  These  include  the 

acquisition  of  modern  equipment  and  cutting-edge  technologies,  the  creation  of  smart 

factories and establishment of digital service infrastructures including digital innovation hubs 

and technology transfer centres.  

• 

Implementation of a new online platform for jobseekers: The country recently launched 

an online platform to facilitate both employers’ search for an employee and jobseekers’ quest 

for a job. This development is part of the government’s efforts to expand the use of ICT tools 

for self-service and public provisions.  

•  Set-up of ICT infrastructure for all: A new pilot scheme has been put in place to finance 

ultrafast broadband connections (minimum 100Mbps download speed) for all Cypriot citizens. 

The long-term goal is to increase the demand for ultrafast broadband connection while also 

fostering the market for investment in ultrafast networks in general.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Promotion of eGovernment for local authorities: The government also wishes to enhance 

eGovernment  projects,  such  as  process  automation  and  service  delivery,  for  public 

administrations at the regional and local level across the country. This will be done through 

the creation and implementation of an adequate and flexible IT infrastructure and application 

architecture, to be used by local and regional authorities.  

•  Digitalisation of the judicial system: New efforts were implemented to digitalise the Cypriot 

judicial system in order to accelerate the procedures, relieve judges and attorneys of several 

bureaucratic responsibilities, by providing new digital services.    

•  Deployment  of  eTax:  The  Cypriot  government  adopted  new  laws  making  the  electronic 

submission  of  tax  declarations  compulsory.  This  will  speed  up  procedures,  improve 

operational efficiency and reduce the risks of tax evasion.  

•  Enhancement  of  the  eProcurement  system:  In  order  to  promote  transparency  and 

accountability,  the  government  constrains  contracting  authorities  and  individuals  to  publish 

contract  notices  and  contract  award  notices  for  all  types  of  contracts,  through  the  new 

eProcurement system.  

47 

 
 
3.5.5  Operational Programmes 

For the funding period 2014-2020, two national OPs of  Cyprus are specifically dealing with themes 

related to TO2 and TO11. The OP on ‘Employment, Human Capital and Social Cohesion’60 outlines 

objectives  to  promote  employment,  skills,  social  inclusion  and  the  modernisation  of  the  public 

administration. The second OP on ‘Competitiveness and Sustainable Development’61 aims to boost 

competitiveness and growth in Cyprus. 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Development  of  new  IT  services:  In  order  to  increase  the  efficiency  and  modernise  the 

private and public sectors, ICT will be promoted through the ‘Competitiveness and Sustainable 

Development’  OP.  Various  projects  will  be  put  in  place  in  order  to  increase  the  number  of 

digital services provided to citizens. All the Ministries will create a single data centre; a legal 

framework will be adopted for electronic signatures; the eProcurement system is continuously 

receiving  upgrades;  and  court  cases  will  become  electronically  manageable.  SMEs 

competitiveness, in turn, will be improved through the use of ICT such as cloud computing. 

•  Development  of  a  digital  health  sector:  New  actions  under  the  ‘Competitiveness  and 

Sustainable Development’ OP will relate to the computerisation of public hospitals and health 

centres will be expanded with a new Integrated Information System of Health. A data centre 

will be created, and all patients’ files will be digitalised. 

•  Development of ICT and digital skills: Education, training and lifelong learning are important 

aspects that the labour market of Cyprus should benefit from. The development of ICT skills 

is a particular necessity. There is a high level of electronic illiteracy, and the state, together 

with private universities could provide the necessary means for both young people and adults 

to be part of the training. The ‘Employment, Human Capital and Social Cohesion’ OP is making 

eSkills a priority. 

•  Establishment  of  a  new  Agency  to  ensure  the  good  management  and  payment  of 

welfare  benefits:  With  the  funding  from  the  ‘Employment,  Human  Capital  and  Social 

Cohesion’  Operational  Programme,  the  Agency  for  Management  and  Payment  of  the 

guaranteed  minimum  income  aims  to  enhance  the  administrative  capacity  of  the  welfare 

benefits service management. This includes making services available online and taking into 

account the eGovernment and interoperability framework of Cyprus. 

Thematic Objective 11 

• 

Improvement  of  public  administrations’  interconnected systems:  Every  agency  stores 

records in a different manner. There is no database that is accessible by all stakeholders and 

ICT  is  not  taken  advantage  of.  This  hinders  communication,  data  transfer,  processing  of 

information and effective use of resources. ICT as well as IT infrastructure will be developed 

and invested in from the ‘Employment, Human Capital and Social Cohesion’ OP. 

60 Cyprus Employment, Human Capital and Social Cohesion Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019. 
61 Cyprus Competitiveness and Sustainable Development Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019. 

48 

 
 
 
3.6  Czech Republic 

3.6.1   Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Czech Republic’s CSR of 2019.62 

The  Czech  Republic  is  currently  in  the  preventive  arm  of  the  Stability  and  Growth  Pact.  The 

government expects to move from a budgetary surplus of 0.3% of GDP in 2019 to a deficit of 0.2% in 

2020. In this time, the medium-term budgetary objective will continue to be overachieved. Moreover, 

the  general  government  debt-to-GSP  ratio  is  expected  to  gradually  decline  to  29.7%  in  2022.  The 

structural  balance  is  forecast  to  deteriorate  to  -0.1%  of  GDP  in  2019  and  -0.4%  of  GDP  in  2020, 

remaining above the medium-term budgetary objective.  

Medium risks for fiscal sustainability of public finances in the long term have been reported due to the 

costs  of  ageing.  The  main  factor negatively  affecting sustainability is  pension  expenditure, but  also 

unfavourable demographics combined with the capping of the statutory retirement age at 65 years. 

Recent  measures  have  been  adopted  by  the  government  but  the  CSR  for the  country  stresses  the 

need  to  alter the  retirement  age  and  implement  comprehensive  labour  market  policies  that  support 

longer working careers.  

The Czech Republic experiences a strong labour market performance with a considerable decrease 

in unemployment. However, the potential of women, low-skilled and disabled people is not being fully 

exploited  while  their  participation  could  offer  a  solution  against  labour  shortages.  Furthermore, 

motherhood  still  hinders  labour  market  participation  and  gender  payment  gaps  remain,  despite  the 

measures  that  aimed  to  make  parental  leave  more  flexible.  In  addition,  efforts  should  be  made  to 

provide  jobseekers  with  personalised  continuous  support  and  well-targeted  active  labour  market 

policies. Initiatives should also be organised regarding upskilling, also covering digital skills, to improve 

labour market access. 

Invest in quality inclusive education and training is of primary importance to tackle the bottlenecks on 

the  Czech  labour  market.  The  inclusive  education  measures  still  need  to  be  fully  implemented,  in 

particular with regards to Roma children. Furthermore, the Czech education system suffers a shortage 

of qualified teachers that could become more challenging in the future.  

Particularly  in  remote  regions,  weak  transport  links  are deterring  business  activity  and  the  planned 

growth of the recharging infrastructure may not be sufficient to supply for future demand. Despite the 

improving  of  digital  infrastructure,  the  disparities  between  urban  and  rural  areas  persist.  Hence,  to 

address  future  connectivity  and  sustainability  needs,  investment  is  required  in  very  high  capacity 

networks and appropriate demand-side measures.  

The Czech government continues to face challenges regarding the improvement of transparency and 

efficiency  of  public  procurement  and  preventing  corruption.  Despite  efforts  to  improve  the  public 

procurement framework in 2017, the level of competition remains a concern and the lack of a strategic 

62 COM (2019) 503 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of the Czech 
Republic and delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Convergence Programme of the Czech Republic, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed 
on 24 September 2019.  

49 

 
 
 
approach  as  well.  Furthermore,  the  administrative  and  regulatory  burden  may  be  hampering 

investment.  

Concerning research and innovation, the country has not yet been able to create a fully functioning 

innovation ecosystem. It remains a moderate innovator at EU level due to a lack of a fully coherent 

strategy  in  public  investment  and  the  low  cooperation  between  private  sector  and  academia.  The 

increase of business research and development investment can be traced back primarily to foreign 

direct investments, as the research and development expenditure by domestic firms has declined over 

the last years. 

3.6.2  Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in the Czech Republic 

since 2018. The information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of the Czech Republic.63 

Political Communications 

The government launched the programme Digital Czechia which covered three main concepts: Czech 

Republic in Digital Europe; the Information Concept of the Czech Republic; and the Digital Economy 

and  Society  Concept.  The  programme  is  made  up  of  the  top  objectives  of  these  sub-strategies.  It 

covers areas ranging from the interaction of the Czech Republic in the European Union in the Digital 

Agenda (1) through digital public administration (2) to the preparation and interaction of society and 

the economy of the Czech Republic to consume digitalisation (3). The main reason for dividing the 

material into three pillars is the consistency and continuity given by the already accepted materials at 

the EU and Czech level and the need for compliance with the valid national legislation, which defines 

the content framework of the Information Concept for the Czech Republic quite accurately. 

Legislation 

Various  Digital  Government  legislations  were  amended  in  2018  such  as  the  Act  on  Electronic 

Identification;  the  Act  on  Citizen  Identity  Cards;  the  Act  on  Information  Systems  of  Public 

Administration;  the  Act  on  Public  Procurement;  the  Act  on  Base  Registers;  the  Act  on  Electronic 

Communications and on Amendment to Certain Related Acts; the Act on Cyber Security; and the Act 

on Health Services.  

Governance 

Two main changes occurred in the government: Mr. Jan Hamáček became the Minister of the Interior 

and Mr. Karel Havlíček became the Minister of Industry and Trade. 

Infrastructure 

A  new  version  of  the  Public  Administration  Portal  was launched  accompanied  by  a Citizen’s  Portal 

offering  over  80  eServices  to  citizens.  Additionally,  the  next  phase  of  modernisation  of  the  public 

administration communication infrastructure took place, and its central element is the focus on services 

2.0. Finally, the eIDAS node was launched in September 2018 under the name CZ.PEPS and since 1 

63 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Czech Republic. Accessed on 2 October 2019.  

50 

 
 
 
January 2019, all contracting authorities are obliged to accept incoming eInvoices in ISDOC/ISDOCX 

formats. 

Services 

Various new services are now available for citizens on the Citizen’s Portal such as a reservation system 

for  filing  applications  for  ID  cards  and  travel  documents;  services  of  the  Czech  Social  Security 

Administration  (access  to  pension  data,  etc.);  criminal  record  access;  electronic  submissions  for 

financial  management  (VAT  control  reports,  tax  returns);  driver’s  ranking  listing;  access  to  a  list  of 

properties owned by the user (preview of the cadastre); access to the patient’s drug account (eRecept); 

information on incapacity for work; national eHealth contact points; and a submission of a request for 

information service. New services for citizens are also accessible on the Public Administration Portal, 

the  main  ones  being  applications  for  birth,  child,  and  parental  allowance.  The  Citizen’s  Portal  also 

made new services available for businesses such as access to extracts from the Trade Register; a 

single registration form; a non-public extract of the natural person’s business; an extract from the list 

of qualified suppliers; and access to the extract from the insolvency register. 

3.6.3  Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for the Czech Republic64 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO 

there is a subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.65  

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

As  indicated  in  recommendation  2,  the  Czech  Republic  is  experiencing  a  strong  labour  market 

performance. However, the limited capacity of public employment services causes failings to provide 

jobseekers  with  personalised  support.  It  is  therefore  suggested  in  the  CSR  to  invest  in  outreach 

capacities of public employment, well-targeted active labour market and the enhancement of the labour 

market access through upskilling measures, also covering digital skills.  

Recitals 

The CSR issued by the European Commission for Czech Republic makes no specific mention in the 

recitals of the need to intervene regarding TO2.  

Opportunities 

Both recommendation 1 and recital 6 mentions the risks for fiscal sustainability of public finances in 

the long term. Therefore, attention for the healthcare sector is needed, as the ageing population will 

pose challenges to this domain in the future. To tackle this ineffectiveness, the use of eHealth could 

offer a solution.  

64 COM (2019) 503 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of the Czech Republic and delivering a 
Council opinion on the 2019 Convergence Programme of the Czech Republic, Brussels, 5.6.2019.  Accessed on 24 September 2019. 
65 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on the Czech Republic to take action in 
domains related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit the Czech Republic. Thirdly, 
opportunities are issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

51 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for the Czech Republic makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of 

TO11. 

Recitals 

The CSR for the Czech Republic makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene 

regarding TO11. 

Opportunities 

Attempts to foster transparency and efficiency regarding public procurement and corruption are pointed 

out  in  recital  8.  Despite  the  reforms  introduced  in  2017  and  the  investment  in  a  state-owned 

eProcurement system, there is a need for better cooperation to strengthen competitiveness. This issue 

is also mentioned in recommendation 3 where the CSR stresses the need to foster a more quality-

based competition in this area. Therefore, an upgrade of the eProcurement system could be put in 

place to meet these requirements. 

3.6.4  National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in the Czech Republic’s NRP.66 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Development  of  eHealth:  As  part  of  the  National  eHealth  Strategy  2016-2020,  the 

digitalisation of the health sector is ongoing. The implementation of the second stage of the 

ePrescription is currently being implemented, the preparations for the eHealth act are to be 

completed  in  2020  and  a  National  eHealth  Centre  is  set  out.  Furthermore,  other  eHealth 

initiatives are planned such as the creation of reference registers and the establishment of the 

eHealth Infrastructure Services database, which will provide an integrated departmental data 

interface. Moreover, the eReceipt information system is ready for its launch in 2019.  

•  Enhancement of digital skills through education: In 2019 the Czech Republic will prepare 

its Education Policy Strategy 2030 which will identify digital literacy, polytechnic education and 

IT  thinking  as  key  priorities  for  the  following  period,  particularly  in  basic  education.  The 

importance of developing practical skills related to modern technologies will be strengthened 

as well.  

• 

Implementation of the Single Digital Gateway Regulation: When fully functional, the Single 

Digital Gateway will become a guidepost where citizens and entrepreneurs will find their way 

to information, procedures and assistance services they need at any given time, even in a 

foreign language. In 2019, initial steps were planned to be taken to ensure the proper and 

timely implementation at national level of the Single Digital Gateway Regulation.  

66 Czech Republic National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 16 October 2019.  

52 

 
 
 
•  Production of a national plan for the implementation of ICT infrastructure: To underpin 

the  digital  agenda  and  the  evolution  towards  eGovernment,  a  national  plan  for  the 

development  of  new  generation  networks,  including  of  high-speed  internet  and  5G  mobile 

coverage, is set out to complement the digitalisation. The Czech Republic will ensure targeted 

support is in place to create these networks.  

•  Development of Electronic Identification: As of 1 July 2018, the Electronic Identification 

Act  is  effective.  It  establishes  a  public  administration  information  system  supporting  the 

process of electronic identification and authentication at the national level. The NIA is a key 

tool for enabling electronic identity verification and providing verified user information needed 

to use remote services. A separate part of the NIA is also the eIDAS node, which provides 

interconnection to notified electronic identification systems.  

•  Creation of an eGovernment Portal: The Public Administration Portal aims to safeguard the 

quality in the provision of trustworthy and guaranteed information services. It will be integrated 

with  the  Data  Box  Information  System  to  simplify  communication  of  Czech  citizens  with 

authorities.  A  new  version  of  the  portal  has  currently  been  applied  to  enhance  the  layout, 

intuitive  control  and  mobile  friendliness.  Linked  to  the  Public  Administration  Portal,  a  new 

Citizen’s  Portal  will  be  created.  For  the  citizens,  the  Portal  will  enable  them  to  complete 

electronic  submissions,  provide  output  from  public  administration  information  systems  and 

give information on the status of individual actions made by citizens. 

•  Achieving  full  electronic  submission:  One  of  the  priorities  for  eGovernment  in  Czech 

Republic is to ensure full electronic submission, which will increase not only user comfort and 

the quality of services but the speed and efficiency of the administrations.  

•  Digitalisation of tax administration: The Czech citizens are enabled to file most of their tax 

confirmations electronically, without having to visit the tax office in person. The digitalisation 

of the administration is being further developed though the Modern and Simple Tax Portal. 

The aim is to offer taxpayers the services of the tax office in a virtual format. 

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Development  of  the  National  Register  of  Qualifications:  With  the  advent  of  new 

technologies such as digitalisation and robotisation, the Czech government sees the need of 

enhancing further education. For this purpose, 2019 will see the further development of the 

National Register of Qualifications, which is a register of professional qualifications existing in 

the market. The register allows candidates to obtain a nationally recognised certificate of their 

professional qualification, also by recognising the results of non-formal education and informal 

learning. 

•  Enhancement of eGovernment: In its attempt to foster eGovernment, the Czech Republic 

has  set  out  the  following  three  priorities  to  reduce  the  burden  on  both  citizens  and  public 

administration. To manage the evolution towards eGovernment, the position of government 

commissioner for information technologies and digitalisation was created. The responsibilities 

of the commissioner are the oversee the  development of digital services and use of ICT in 

public administration, develop digitally friendly legislation and a digital economy, the fostering 

of digital skills and monitor the impact of digitalisation on the Czech society.  

53 

 
 
•  Fostering  eLearning  within  public  administrations:  In  2019  the  government  approved 

several  new  methodologies  to  improve  strategic  work.  Within  the  project  STRATeduka 

educational texts including e-learning were created and 221 public administration strategists 

were trained. Positive feedback from participants led to the initiation of accreditation for this 

training programme. 

•  Creation  of  eProcurement:  In  2019,  measures  such  as  the  monitoring  of  foreign  best 

practices in the field of digitalisation of public procurement, including the assessment of the 

possible  implementation  of  the  best  solutions  in  the  legislative  environment  of  the  Czech 

Republic,  are  being  continuously  implemented.  Several  actions  are  taking  place  as  well: 

information  events  aimed  at  introducing  electronic  public  procurement;  counselling  of  the 

contracting authority and the contractor; revision and development of methodologies for PPA 

and  its  implementing  regulations  with  a  view  to  significantly  reinforce  the  obligations  of 

contracting authorities and create a new data publication system. 

•  Digital Czech Republic strategy: The Digital Czech Republic is a set of strategies ensuring 

the long-term prosperity of the country in the context of the ongoing digital revolution. Three 

main pillars are envisaged: the first one aims at ensuring a uniform and proactive approach to 

the issue of digital agenda at EU level; the second focuses on digital areas of exercising public 

authority at a national level; and the third one establishes a strategy which addresses issues 

being  partly  outside  the  direct  responsibility  of  public  authority.  It  includes  industry, 

construction, education, smart cities, science and research, infrastructure development and 

connectivity, healthcare and a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy.  

•  National  Architectural  guidelines  for  eGovernment:  The  National  Architectural  Plan  for 

eGovernment is an activity that includes not only architectural models of shared services but 

also  individual  models  of  public  authorities.  It  will  involve  the  modelling  of  central  shared 

eGovernment  services  and  individual  systems  and  their  services  of  public  authorities.  On 

another  side,  the  National  Architectural  Framework  for  eGovernment  will  define  a  more 

effective  spending  on  state  IT,  better  accessibility  of  eGovernment  services  to  state 

administration and self-government, but mainly also to public administrations clients – citizens, 

legal entities and foreigners. It will be fully operational by 2021.  

•  Preparation  of  the  eGovernment  Cloud:  The  government  is  preparing  the  setup  of  an 

eGovernment  cloud  in  order  to  enhance  the  information  system  of  the  national  public 

administration. 

3.6.5  Operational Programmes  

For the funding period 2014-2020, two national OPs of the Czech Republic are specifically dealing 

with themes related to TO2 and TO11. The ‘Employment’67 OP defines the priorities of investments 

in promoting employment, social inclusion and an efficient public administration. The ‘Integrated 

67 Czech Republic Employment Operational Programme. Accessed on 16 October 2019.  

54 

 
 
 
Regional Operational Programme’68 will improve public administration and public services in the 

Czech Republic. 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Enhancement  of  data  sharing  among  different  agencies:  After  an  evaluation  of 

communication mechanisms in both Operational Programmes, the best practice to implement 

for  the  easy  access  to  data,  is  using  the  principle  of  Open  Data.  There  will  be  new  tools 

developed  for  both  officials  and  citizens.  A  centralised  public  administration  information 

system will be created to enable data sharing by linking the data resources. 

• 

Implementation of new security measures to fight against cyber-attacks and hacks: In 

order to enhance cybersecurity, a new legislation is being adopted. This includes clauses on 

security measures throughout the country, the implementation of electronic identification as 

well as authentication and authorisation. Best practices from other countries will also be taken 

into  account  when  enhancing  cybersecurity,  as  explained  in  the  ‘Employment’  OP  of  the 

Czech Republic. 

•  Reduction  of  administrative  burdens  through  the  digitalisation  of  administrative 

processes:  The  ‘Employment’  OP  demonstrates  that  thanks  to  the  digitalisation  of 

administration processes, burdens will be greatly reduced. Citizens will have faster access to 

aid thanks to the harmonisation of inspection activities, reduction of the number of guidance 

documents, and simplification of terminology. 

• 

Improvement  of  public  institutions’  efficiency:  The  ‘Integrated  Regional  Operational 

Programme’  points  out  that  the  quality  of  information  systems  is  an  essential  element  of 

modern and well-functioning institutions at all levels of government. It contributes to lessening 

bureaucracy  throughout  the  country.  The  implementation  of  the  performance  management 

process  ensures  the  transfer  and  sharing  of  data  communication  between  and  within 

institutions as well as cross-border, along with communication with the citizens. 

• 

Implementation  of  eHealth  measures:  An  action  plan  for  eHealth  will  be  implemented 

through the ‘Integrated Regional Operational Programme’ in order to enhance digitalisation of 

the  sector.  The  upload  of  all  information  on  the  computer  system  will  include  medical 

management, diagnosis support and followed medical care. The establishment of an eHealth 

network will improve the interoperability of health systems and will ensure access to safe and 

high-quality healthcare. 

•  Modernisation  and  digitalisation  of  businesses:  A  new  Czech  initiative  foresees  the 

modernisation of the private sector, through the ‘Integrated Regional OP’ funds. It consists of 

reducing  the  administrative burden  on  companies.  In  addition,  Open  Data,  electronic  filing, 

electronic identification and authentication will contribute to the goals of the initiative.  

68 Czech Republic Integrated Regional Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019. 

55 

 
 
 
•  Modernisation and digitalisation of schools: In order to improve the educational facilities, 

school premises will be expanded with new technological equipment in the classrooms with 

funds from the ‘Integrated Regional OP’. 

•  Reduction of administrative burdens for citizens through the development of new ICT 

tools: The Czech government aims to reduce burden on its citizens through, for example, the 

reduction of the number of guidance documents and the number of changes; setting up and 

using consistent terminology in documents; and transparent evaluation procedures. Electronic 

form of communication and data exchange are necessary steps to change the management 

style of public administrations, as illustrated in the ‘Integrated Regional OP’. 

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Further  digitalisation  of  the  judiciary  and  development  of  eJustice:  The  ‘Employment’ 

OP explains that eJustice is not yet widely used in the Czech Republic. There is excessive 

administrative burden in courts as well as lack of process standardisation. To complement the 

digitalisation of the judiciary and prison systems will also be updated to electronic means. 

•  Development  of  civil  servants’  digital  and  ICT  skills:  There  is  an  absence  of  standard 

knowledge  of  ICT  throughout  the  public  administrations.  This  lack  of  education  amongst 

employees leads to insufficient professionalism leading to lack of standards of cybersecurity, 

crisis  management,  spatial  planning,  soft  skills  and  eGovernment.  The  ‘Employment’  OP 

funds will tackle this challenge. 

56 

 
 
3.7  Denmark 

3.7.1  Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Denmark’s CSR of 2019.69 

The headline deficit of Denmark in 2019 and in 2020 is projected to be at 0.1% of the GDP, and the 

structural deficit of 0.5% of GDP continues to be overachieved throughout the programme period until 

2025. The general government debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to decline to 33.4% in 2019, and then 

remain stable in 2020, before rising to 37.8% of GDP by 2025. The structural balance is expected to 

reach a surplus of 0.9% of GDP in 2019 and 1.0% of GDP in 2020. is moderately higher than the target 

of  the  2018  Convergence  Programme.  Nevertheless,  Denmark  is  on  the  right  path  to  reach  the 

provisions of the Stability and Growth Pact in 2019 and 2020.  

Research  and  innovation  in  Denmark  are  sustained  by  high  levels  of  investment,  a  strong  human 

resources base, as well as scientific excellence. Despite that, this is especially true only for a small 

number  of  players,  for  instance  big  companies  in  the  pharmaceutical  and  biotechnology  sectors. 

Considering that, Denmark could invest more to boost the growth of highly innovative companies. 

Denmark’s goal is to ensure labour supply, especially of skilled workers and ICT specialists, in order 

to promote sustainable growth. In this regard, increasing the participation rate to vocational education 

and training is expected to bring a positive impact. Further investments in adult life-long learning and 

digital skills are also seen as a possible solution. Finally, disadvantaged groups such as young people 

with low education levels, disabilities, people of migrant background and people with reduced work 

capacity, need to be better integrated within the Danish labour market. 

High productivity is essential to continue Denmark’s economic growth, to maintain high level of welfare 

and to ensure competitiveness. Despite being among the highest in the EU, productivity growth has 

been declining for decades. In order to address this, Denmark has put in place measures to enhance 

productivity growth, which is burdened by the limited domestic competition in the financial sector and 

has  continued  to  implement  the  utilities  strategies.  Preventing  money  laundering  and  terrorism 

financing is  also  one  of  the main  priorities  of  Denmark. The  government  has  therefore put  in  place 

measures to increase financial supervision. 

The country is witnessing increasing levels of road congestion, especially around cities. In light of that 

and  of  the  need  to  decarbonise  the  transport  sector,  Denmark  is  planning  to  invest  in  sustainable 

transport infrastructure. 

Denmark’s  housing  market  has  been  characterised  for  several  years  by  overvalued  prices,  which 

increased moderately in 2018. Despite the fact that several measures have been put in place by the 

Danish government to address the problematic Danish housing market, high household debt with high 

interest rate sensitivity, high loan-to-income ratios and overvalued prices still pose risk to economic 

and financial stability. 

69 COM(2019) 504 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Denmark and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Convergence Programme of Denmark, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 20 September 2019. 

57 

 
 
 
3.7.2  Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Denmark since 2017. 

The information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Denmark.70 

Political Communications 

Denmark  has  updated  and  launched  several  new  strategies  towards  better  eGovernment,  service 

delivery and infrastructure. The overall Danish eGovernment Strategy, which covers the period 2016-

2020, is updated yearly and in 2018 all the initiatives of the strategy are advancing successfully. The 

National Cyber and Information Security Strategy, launched in 2018, was further reinforced to improve 

cyber  and  information  security  in  critical  sectors,  i.e.  the  telecommunications,  financial,  energy, 

healthcare, transport, and maritime. In March 2019, the government also launched a National Strategy 

for Artificial Intelligence in line with the recommendation from the EU. The strategy puts emphasis on 

an ethical approach to artificial intelligence. Finally, Denmark  has  a  tradition  of  joint  public  sector 

strategic work on digitalisation. Accordingly, the Danish government entered into a Digitisation Pact 

with the Local Government Denmark and Danish Regions in the spring of 2019 in order to strengthen 

cohesion in the public digital service and adopt new technology in the public sector. 

Legislation 

The Danish government implemented the General Data Protections Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018. 

The Danish Data Protection Authority oversees the regulation with both planned and ad hoc reviews 

of data controllers and data processors. 

Infrastructure 

The government has developed a new digital identity solution, MitID, which will replace the NemID-

solution in 2021. The development of the system will take place in a partnership between the state and 

Finance  Denmark,  the  Danish  Bankers  Association.  Further  to  that,  the  Basic  Data  Programme,  a 

programme  aimed  at  strengthening  re-use  of  core  information  registered  by  public  authorities,  has 

completed  all  sub-programmes,  and  data  on  properties,  addresses,  persons,  companies  and 

geography are now accessible for users. Finally, following the agreement on a common Framework 

for  Federal  Digital  Architecture  (FDA)  reached  in  2017,  in  spring  2019  guidelines  on  architecture 

description including common rules for concept and data modelling v.2.0 was established. 

Services 

The current Danish digital identity solution, NemID, is a two-factor solution. In 2018, the government 

launched  an  app  as  an  alternative  to  cardboard  code  cards  held  by  the  citizens.  Moreover,  the 

government launched the My Overview Programme that provides citizens with a considerably better 

overview of their current cases and benefits, as well as easy access to the information the authorities 

have  about  them,  thus  strengthening  transparency  in  the  public  sector.  There  is  an  equivalent 

programme to create an overview for businesses. Finally, the Agency for Digitisation and the Danish 

Business  Authority  developed  several  user  journeys  in  order  to  make  it  easier  for  citizens  and 

businesses to engage with the public sector. 

70 Digital Government Factsheet of Denmark 2019. Accessed on 20 September 2019. 

58 

 
 
 
3.7.3  Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Denmark71 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.72  

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Denmark makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2. 

Recitals 

As described in recital 7, Denmark needs to address some labour shortages, especially when it comes 

to skilled workers and ICT experts. In order to address this issue, Denmark should consider investing 

in the development of digital skills, along with general trainings and vocational education in order for 

workers to better respond to market needs. 

Opportunities 

The  CSR  for  Denmark  does  not  describe  needs  that  can  be  linked  to  opportunities  to  intervene 

regarding TO2.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Denmark makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO11. 

Recitals 

Denmark’s NRP makes no specific reference to measures related to the TO11. 

Opportunities 

As described in recital 11, the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing represents a 

major challenge for Denmark. In this regard, the potential of the use of ePayment methods could be 

considered as a way to support the detection of money-laundering and terrorism financing cases. 

3.7.4  National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Denmark’s NRP.73 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Establishment  of  a  national  Centre  for  research  in  new  technologies:  Denmark  is 

planning to establish a new national Centre for research in digital technologies. This initiative 

is part of the broader research and innovation strategy, as well as the Strategy for Denmark’s 

71 COM(2019) 504 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Denmark and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Convergence Programme of Denmark, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 20 September 2019. 
72 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Denmark to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Denmark. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 
73 Denmark National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 27 September 2019. 

59 

 
 
 
Digital Growth. The main aim of this cross-disciplinary establishment will be supporting the 

development  of  the  digital  sector,  with  specific  attention  given  to  research  in  the  fields  of 

artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of Things and IT security. 

• 

Improvement  of  technology  literacy  in  schools:  As  part  of  the  Strategy  for  Denmark’s 

Digital  Growth,  a  pilot  programme  for  mandatory  technology  literacy  in  schools  has  been 

launched for the period 2018-2021. 

• 

Implementation of the New Technology Pact: Following the close collaboration between 

the  business  sector  and  educational  institutions,  a  boost  in  the  skills  of  the  workforce  is 

expected, along with an increase of young people choosing an educational programme in the 

digital and technology area.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Denmark’s NRP makes no specific reference to measures related to TO11. 

3.7.5  Operational Programmes  

A thorough evaluation of Denmark’s national OPs for the 2014-2020 financing period has revealed that 

there are no initiatives planned under TO2 and TO11 that would fall under the scope of this study.  

60 

 
 
3.8  Estonia 

3.8.1  Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Estonia’s CSR of 2019.74 

Estonia is in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact. The general government deficit is 

expected to move from 0.6% of GDP in 2018 to a deficit of 0.2% of GDP in 2019 and a deficit of 0.7% 

of GDP by 2022. The medium-term budgetary objective is not planned to be achieved in 2019. The 

general government debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to decline to 5.3% of GDP by 2022. The CSR for 

Estonia urges the country to ensure that, after a structural GDP adjustment, the nominal growth rate 

of net primary government expenditure does not exceed 4.1% in 2020.  

After  a  series  of  scandals,  preventing  money  laundering  has  become  a  priority  for  the  country. 

Consequently, the government strengthened its anti-laundering framework and introduced additional 

measures and guidelines on how to fight against it.  

Productivity  in  the  business  environment  is  limited  by  skills  shortages  and  mismatches.  Counter 

reforms  have  been  implemented  in  the  past,  but  the  labour market  trends  and  the  decrease  in  the 

working-age  population  present  long-term  challenges  to  the  education  and  training  system.  For 

instance, a high rate of school leaving, an ongoing reorganisation of the school network and insufficient 

vocational education and training, among others. Also, companies rarely provide digital skills trainings 

to their employees.  

Despite improvements, social benefits are still not effective in reducing poverty and the social safety 

net is weak, especially among elderly. This is due to a weak coordination between health and social 

services and because of the disparity within municipalities to identify the needs and deliver a service. 

In addition, Estonia is one of the EU countries that spends the less on long-term care, hindering the 

accessibility and effectiveness of it. The population, as throughout Europe, is ageing and the country 

needs a long-term strategy for care services. The gender pay gap at 25.6% in 2017 remains one of 

the highest in the EU. The parental leave and benefit system have been improving to provide a better 

work-life balance for women, but many challenges still need to be faced. 

Estonia  has  a  moderate  performance  on  research,  technology  and  innovation,  which  negatively 

impacts  its  productivity  growth.  Only  0.61%  of  GDP  is  dedicated  towards  business  research  and 

development, about half the EU average. Moreover, the country’s transport infrastructure faces some 

important  shortcomings  in  terms  of  connectivity  and  sustainability,  leading  the  CSR  to  recommend 

further investments in infrastructure, digitalisation and automation.  

74 COM (2019) 506 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Estonia and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of Estonia, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 23 September 2019. 

61 

 
 
 
3.8.2  Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Estonia since 2018. 

The information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Estonia.75 

Political Communications 

Following the mid-term review of the Digital Agenda 2020 for Estonia, the expanded document includes 

now more detailed sub-objectives in two fields: development of the information society and increasing 

cyber security. Moreover, the third Cybersecurity Strategy was adopted, defining the longer-term vision 

for the field, the objectives, priority activity areas, the roles and functions necessary for achieving it. In 

the field of Artificial Intelligence, in early 2018 the country launched a task force to adopt a national 

strategy. It focused on the adoption of AI in the public sector for creating additional value and more 

efficiency through the deployment of AI-enabled systems. Finally, in December 2018, the government 

approved the concept of moving towards a more seamless government. The goal was to kick off with 

15  life/business-event  services  that  will  be  offered  proactively  for  citizens.  Compared  to  current 

eServices, the new seamless services will function proactively and are more user-centred. 

Legislation 

Four main measures have been put in place since 2018. In May, the Cybersecurity Act entered into 

force, the purpose of which was to strengthen the security of digital systems used in providing vital and 

other  socially  important  services  to  the  public.  In  November,  a  regulation  regarding  cross-border 

exchange of information for health services came as well into force. ▪ In December, the amendments 

to the Public Information Act were implemented, which created requirements regarding accessibility of 

the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies. In July 2019, the Act on Amendments to 

the  Accounting  Act  (795  SE),  initiated  by  the  government,  made  machine-processable  invoices 

mandatory in invoicing with the public sector. 

Governance 

Several changes linked to digital governance occurred in Estonia: Ms. Kert Kingo is now the Minister 

of Foreign Trade and Information Technology; Mr. Raul Rikk has become the National Cyber Security 

Policy Director; Mr. Kristo Vaher has been appointed as Government Chief Technology Officer; Mr. 

Ott Velsberg is now the Government Chief Data Officer; and Mr. Margus Noormaa is the new head of 

RIA (Information System Authority). 

Infrastructure 

The eesti.ee portal, the gateway to government information and eServices, was renewed during the 

last  year.  Estonia  launched  the  first  version  of  a  government  code  repository,  making  software 

solutions built for the government publicly accessible at koodivaramu.eesti.ee 

Services 

The digital register option was added to digilugu.ee and for hospitals, offering the possibility to book 

ambulatory appointments, pay bills, view and cancel registered ambulatory appointment times. This 

75 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Estonia. Accessed on 2 October 2019. 

62 

 
 
 
adds the possibility to do different transactions in one view for all health care institutions that interact 

with the solution. 

3.8.3  Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Estonia76 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.77  

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Estonia makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2 

Recitals 

The  CSR  for Estonia  makes  no  specific  mentions in  the recitals  of  the  need  to  intervene  regarding 

TO2. 

Opportunities 

In recital 10, the CSR for Estonia points out to the insufficient capacity to innovate as one of the main 

outputs of the current skills shortages and mismatches. It is highly encouraged then, to promote digital 

skills trainings delivered by enterprises in order to avoid further limitations in the labour market.   

Thematic Objective 11 

There are no recommendations, recitals or opportunities linked to TO11 in the CSR for Estonia. 

3.8.4  National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Estonia’s NRP.78 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Development of competences: The NRP for Estonia stresses the need to develop the digital 

skills of both teachers and pupils. These skills are important to successfully join the labour 

market that is connected to the information society.  

•  Measure to reduce the gender pay gap through a digital tool: A digital tool will be created 

to  help  employers  analysing  the  gender  equality  situation  within  their  organisation  and 

developing solutions to eliminate the inequalities identified.  

•  National eHealth Strategy: Various eHealth solutions play an important role in improving the 

quality,  accessibility  and  effectiveness  of  health  care services. A  national  eHealth  Strategy 

has been adopted to develop the eHealth and personal medicine in Estonia.  

76 COM (2019) 406 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Estonia and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of Estonia, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 23 September 2019. 
77 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Estonia to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Estonia. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 
78 Estonia National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 10 October 2019.  

63 

 
 
 
•  Enhancement  of  ICT  infrastructure:  Estonia  plans  to  enhance  its  ICT  transportation  and 

other public infrastructure. Information exchange, for example, should be available to all, not 

depending their living location. ICT infrastructure is planned to develop throughout the country 

and establish a quality high-speed broadband Internet access. In 2019-2023, the government 

will support establishing “last mile” connections to market failure areas with a new measure.  

• 

Introduction of a smart grid: This measure will help to reduce energy losses on transfer, 

optimise energy production, develop dispersed energy production and connect more sources 

of  renewable  energy  to  the  grid.  The  improved  functionality  of  the  grid  enables  the 

development of new innovative services for all consumers of energy.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Recruitment of ICT skilled labour force: A special focus will be made on addressing labour 

shortages in the ICT sector. Step-by-step, the regulations on recruiting foreign workers will be 

simplified to facilitate the migration of skilled labour.  

•  Promotion of a broader use of the potential of creative industries, ICT and other key 

technologies in the administration: Estonia will promote activities in the administration that 

integrate the fields of training, policy-making and financing. The use of ICTs, key technologies 

and  creative  industry  methods  for  innovating  or  even  improving  processes  within  the 

administration, will require cross-domain implementation policies. 

• 

Implementation  of  eSolutions  for  public  administration:  Work  needs  to  continue  on 

enhancing digital information exchange and administration and to implement the principle of 

“once  only”  to  develop  cooperation  between  various  data  collectors  and  data  exchange 

between information systems.  

3.8.5  Operational Programmes  

For  the  funding  period  2014-2020,  one  national  OP  of  Estonia  is  specifically  dealing  with  themes 

related to TO2 and TO11. The ‘Operational Programme for Cohesion Policy Funding’79 is a multifund 

programme aimed to deliver a strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  High-speed broadband coverage for the whole territory: In order to allow for further growth 

of  the  knowledge  economy,  Estonia  aims  to  cover  the  whole  territory  with  high-speed 

broadband infrastructure. This will contribute to the development of eServices, productivity in 

the public and private sectors such as teleworking, as well as ICT implementation in health 

and learning. For children, eLearning opportunities through modern resources will be installed 

in various schools. 

• 

Introduction  of  new  technologies  and  eServices:  Today’s  most  important  technology 

trends (e.g. cloud technology, social media, AI) have a significant impact on future innovations 

such as Internet of Things and data exchange. eID and digitally signed contracts can be better 

79 Estonia Operational Programme for Cohesion Policy Funding 2014-2020. Accessed on 9 December 2019. 

64 

 
 
 
implemented and become more interoperable across borders if new technologies are well-

implemented. In addition, hospitals are also encouraged to make use of new technologies and 

IT systems. 

•  Enhancement  of  cross-border  interoperability:  In  order  to  augment  cross-border 

eGovernment  services,  a  more  modern  digital  service  infrastructure  will  be  put  into  place. 

Digital signature is one of the priorities. 

Thematic Objective 11 

Estonia’s OP does not make any specific reference to measures related to TO11. 

65 

 
 
3.9  Finland 

3.9.1  Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Finland’s CSR of 2019.80 

Finland  is  currently in  the  preventive  arm of  the  Stability  and  Growth  Programme.  The  government 

plan a headline balance of -0.3% of GDP in 2019. Even if is a down from 0.7% of GDP from 2018, it is 

expected to improve further in 2020 to 0% and to worsen again in the upcoming two years. However, 

the medium-term budgetary objective (structural deficit of 0.5% of GDP) is planned to continue being 

overachieved. Concerning the general government debt-to-GDP ratio, it will continue to decrease and 

reach 57.4% of GDP in 2021. The main risks identified by the CSR relate to the eventual higher cost 

of ageing and higher inflation.  

Precisely, Finland needs to face expenditures related to an ageing population, a declining workforce, 

health and long-term care. A reform designed to address equal access to health and reduce waiting 

lists was rejected on March 2019, which may hinder the opportunity of saving costs. Moreover, the 

CSR of the country stresses on the need of a future fiscal consolidation to stabilise the debt-to-GDP 

ratio in the long term.  

The Finnish labour market is tightening despite several inactivity and unemployment traps hindering a 

better use of the labour force. This is mainly due to the complexity of the benefits system and to the 

existence  of  different  types  of  allowances.  Hence,  it  is  recommended  revising  the  social  security 

system  to  create  better  synergies  between  benefits  and  earnings.  Furthermore,  investments  are 

needed in labour inclusion as women, lowed-skilled workers and people of migrant background are in 

general less employed. Some attempts were made, such as a reform of family leave, but it failed to be 

adopted.  On  another  side,  Finland  is  investing  in  skills  and  technology,  especially  in  the  fields  of 

energy-intensive industries and clean transports.  

Household debt is at a historically high level, 67% of GDP in 2017. It is predominantly at a variable 

rate which may be a risk if interest rates rise in the medium term. Moreover, Finland’s major banks do 

not have yet an inclusive and efficient credit registry that covers the information on debtors. This could 

prevent banks from having a full picture of households ‘overall indebtedness. 

3.9.2  Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Finland since 2018. 

The information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Finland.81 

80 COM (2019) 526 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Finland and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Finland, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 18 September 2019 
81 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Finland. Accessed on 1 October 2019.   

66 

 
 
 
Political Communications 

The Artificial Intelligence Programme was launched with the aim of steering Finland towards the age 

of AI, taking into consideration measures reaching far into the future and at the same time measures 

that are relevant today. 

Legislation 

Three new pieces of digital legislation recently came into force: the first one is the Act on Providing 

Digital Services, which aims to promote the availability, quality, security of information and accessibility 

of digital services, and thereby improve everyone's access to digital services. The second one is the 

Act on Secondary Use of Health and Social Data. The purpose is to facilitate the effective and safe 

processing  and  access  to  the  personal  social  and  health  data  for  steering,  supervision,  research, 

statistics  and  development  in  the  health  and  social  sector.  A  second  objective  is  to  guarantee  an 

individual’s  legitimate  expectations  as  well  as  their  rights  and  freedoms  when  processing  personal 

data. Finally, the Act on eInvoicing for contracting entities and traders was adopted on 22 February 

2019.  

Governance 

The law on a new Digital and Population Data Agency was approved, and the new Agency will start in 

the beginning of 2020. 

Infrastructure 

New digital infrastructure was put in place in Finland: Third parties were granted the power to file taxes 

online  and  the  eAuthorisations  service  was  put  in  place.  It  verifies  a  person’s  or  organisation’s 

authorisation  to  use  digital  services.  Moreover,  a  semantic  interoperability  workbench  was 

implemented, and two new important registers were created: incomes register and register of housing 

company shares. 

Services 

Citizens are benefiting from new digital public services offered since 2018. For instance, there is a new 

service for applying for and changing one’s driving licence. On another side, the national study credit, 

degree  and  qualification  disclosure  service  Koski  brings  together  all  study  credits,  degrees  and 

qualifications  stored  in  different  data  warehouses.  Furthermore,  a  new  eHealth  service,  named 

Omaolo, was launched.  

3.9.3  Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Finland82 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.83 

82 COM (2019) 526 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Finland and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of Finland, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 18 September 2019. 
83 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Finland to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Finland. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

67 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Finland stresses the need to strengthen the monitoring of household debt and establish 

a credit registry system.  

Recitals 

Finland  is  undergoing  demographic  and  technological  changes  as  described  in  recital  12.  As  a 

consequence, the CSR calls on the need to promote continuous training and reskilling of the workforce 

through flexible ways of learning. This will ensure an alignment with future market needs.  

Opportunities 

In recommendation 1, as well as in recital 9, the CSR for Finland points out the necessity to ensure 

equal access to healthcare. One of the main issues being the long waiting lists affecting in particular 

people  outside  the  workforce.  In  this  domain,  eHealth  solutions  could  be  implemented  in  order  to 

manage more efficiently these challenges, improve the cost-effectiveness of the system and promote 

inclusivity. 

Concerning recital 18, it is highly recommended to Finland to establish a central credit registry that 

collects information on debtors of its major banks. This implies an opportunity to promote digitalisation 

within the Finnish banking sector.  

Thematic Objective 11 

There are no recommendations, recitals or opportunities linked to TO11 in the CSR for Finland. 

3.9.4  National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Finland’s NRP.84 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Modernisation  of  health  and  social  services:  The  purpose,  among  others,  is  to  provide 

better integration between health and social services on the one hand and between basic and 

specialised  services  on  the  other,  and  to  ensure flexible  and  correctly  timed  access to  the 

services. Furthermore, the objective is also to improve the shared use of client and patient 

data and to have better electronic services.  

•  Programme  to  recruit  experts  on  new  technologies  for  growth  companies:  This 

programme is connected to the growth programme for micro enterprises and SMEs and the 

recruitment programme for highly educated people. It aims to find highly educated experts on 

automation, robotics and AI sectors, and to successfully tackle the matching challenges in the 

tourism sector.  

84 Finland National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 21 October 2019.  

68 

 
 
 
•  Digital measures supporting the integration of immigrants: On one side, and as part of 

the Talent Boost action plan, there will be actions  supporting the largest university cities to 

prepare  coordinated  service  models  (Talents  Hubs)  to  support  interaction  between 

international talent, companies and innovation actors. On another side, Finland will provide 

training  to  migrants  in  their  own  mother  tongue  and  the  usability  of  electronic  tools  as  a 

guidance  instruments  will  be  considered.  Finally,  the  country  will  also  implement  a  new 

vocational  and  training  legislation  aiming  to  enhance  study  skills  to  strengthen  linguistic, 

mathematical  and  information  technology  skills,  as  well as  to  help  the  students  to  improve 

their study techniques.  

•  Enhancement  of  tertiary  education  through  digital  skills:  Finland  will  boost  tertiary 

education by increasing flexible study paths, recognition of prior learning and digital learning 

environments. This should facilitate completion of studies and a better reconciliation of work 

and  studies.  Additional  funding  will  be  allocated  to  increase  cooperation  between  higher 

education institutions from the perspective of digitalisation. Education and student-orientation 

will  also  be  developed.  And  finally,  this  funding  should  also  be  channelled  through  the 

development of continuous learning.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Plan  for  the  digitalisation  of  the  education  system:  The  New  Comprehensive  School 

action  plan,  aims  at  long-term  development  of  the  comprehensive  school  though  the 

digitalisation  of  teaching,  introduction  of  new  curricula  and  the  development  of  teacher 

competence.  The  introduction  of  digital  material  and  new  learning  environments  will  be 

speeded  up  by  means  of  digi-pedagogical  supplementary  education  and  through  trial  and 

innovation  projects.  Moreover,  a  gradual  changeover  to  a  digital  matriculation  examination 

began in 2016 and the spring 2019 examination was planned to be already fully digitalised. 

•  EU  Funds  for  innovation:  The  European  Regional  Development  Fund  will  support  the 

development of innovation and competence structures in regions and companies’ innovation 

activities. A total of about EUR 573 million in funding was allocated for the purpose between 

2014 and 2018. Guidance and advisory services in competence and training, expert networks 

for employers, teachers and instructors as well as novel teaching and studying methods are 

also extensively developed with European Structural Fund support.  

•  New  programme  on  Research  and  Development:  A  development  programme  (2017  – 

2021)  will  continue  to  be  implemented  in  order  to  carry  out  research  infrastructures  and 

services  in  data  management  and  computing.  Access  to  and  use  of  public  data  reserves, 

research material, methods and results will be improved as well.  

3.9.5  Operational Programmes  

For the funding period 2014-2020, the ‘Sustainable Growth and Jobs – Finland’s structural funds 

programme’85  OP  is  specifically  dealing  with  themes  related  to  TO2  and  TO11.  The  OP  will 

85 Sustainable growth and jobs 2014-2020 – Structural Funds Programme of Finland. Accessed on 9 December 2019. 

69 

 
 
 
contribute  to  Finland  reaching  the  key  EU  and  national  development  priorities  along  with  the 

Europe 2020 objectives. 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Enhancement  of  digital  and  ICT  skills:  Literacy,  number  skills  and  ICT  skills  are  a 

prerequisite for full participation in the labour market. In order to support citizens’ access to 

jobs, lifelong learning should be possible to adapt, change and renew skills. The government 

intends to put in place opportunities and learning tools accessibilities. 

•  Reduction of administrative burdens by promoting electronic communication between 

the different entities: In order to enhance electronic communication between the government 

and the citizens, agencies will cooperate to remove unnecessary or duplicate requirements 

on data provision. In addition, various processes will become electronic such as tax filing. The 

government aims to abide by the once-only principle. 

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Development of a platform for the sharing of digital information and resources: Public 

and private sector as well as academia should work together towards developing services and 

platforms for everyday needs. The modernisation of public services will also create new jobs 

amongst  the  developer  community.  The  development  of  digital  information  resources, 

business  processes  through  open  data,  procurement  and  systems  interoperability  are 

important for the Finnish economy. In addition, new ICT services will better link the remote 

areas of Finland in order to access public services. 

70 

 
 
3.10  France 

3.10.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in France’s CSR of 2019.86 

France is experiencing economic imbalances related to high public debt and weak competitiveness 

dynamics in a context of low productivity growth. Currently in the preventive arm of the Stability Growth 

Pact, the government plans the headline deficit to increase from 2.5% of GDP in 2018 to 3.1% of GDP 

in 2019 and eventually decline to 1.2% of GDP in 2022. The general government debt-to-GDP ratio is 

expected to increase to 98.9% of GDP in 2019 and to decline thereafter to 96.8% in 2022. The medium-

term budgetary objective, a structural deficit of 0.4% of GDP, is not planned to be achieved over the 

period covered by the 2019 Stability Programme.  

The  French  level  of  public  expenditure  at  56%  of  GDP  remains  the  highest  in  the  EU.  Despite  a 

renewed fiscal consolidation strategy, expenditure on healthcare has steadily increased over time. Its 

success will depend on the set up of clear legal and organisational framework that provides the right 

incentives and fosters collaboration between public and private actors. At local level, public spending 

exceeded the planned growth target in 2017 as the territorial reform reduced the number of regions 

but not considerably the number of municipalities. Concrete actions need to be taken to reduce the 

expenditure-to-GDP ratio by 2022 and tackle sustainability changes.  

In 2018, the employment rate continued to increase while the unemployment decreased. The labour 

market  remains  nonetheless  highly  segmented  and  almost  85%  of  new  hires  are  on  temporary 

contracts. Moreover, the employment rate for non-EU born people is one of the lowest of the EU at 

57.7%  in  2018.  Indeed,  the  impact  of  socioeconomic  and  migrant  background  on  educational 

performance is high and stills hampering labour market integration. Labour market conditions improve 

overall, but shortages of skilled workers are increasing in some specific sectors and may create higher 

long-term unemployment.  

France’s innovation performance remains below that of EU innovation leaders, even though there is a 

high level of public support. The country needs to implement simplification measures to ensure better 

coordination between national and regional support to innovation. Cooperation of the public and private 

sectors is envisaged by initiatives such as the Innovation and Industry Fund. Its main goal is to provide 

funding for artificial intelligence and related technologies such as the Internet of Things, 5G networks, 

high performance computing and, more generally, the data economy. High investment is required to 

mitigate significant regional differences in the energy sector and to improve the interconnections with 

the internal EU energy market.  

The French tax system is characterised by a high level of complexity due to tax expenditures, inefficient 

taxes  and  taxes  on  production  that  drain  away  the  activity  of  businesses  and  SMEs  in  particular. 

86 COM (2019) 409 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of France and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of France, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 25 September 2019. 

71 

 
 
 
Moreover,  efforts  to  discontinue  barriers  to  entry  and  to  increase  competition  in  business  services 

should be pursued.  

3.10.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in France since 2018. The 

information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of France.87  

Political Communications 

On 1 February 2018, the Prime Minister announced the first measures relating to the transformation 

of public action carried out as part of the Public Action 2022 initiative. On 29 of  October, a second 

Inter-ministerial Committee on Public Transformation was launched. The transformation plan included 

precise and quantifiable indicators to measure and report on the success of the programme. Later, in 

September  2018,  the  National  Plan  for  inclusive  Digital  and  launch  of  Digital  in  common(s)  was 

launched, the first event bringing together all the actors of digital mediation in the nation. Concerning 

healthcare, a new comprehensive eHealth-based plan aiming to restructure the health system, and 

named Ma santé 2020 plan, was launched. In the justice field, the Procédure pénale numérique, which 

is an eJustice project to enable a digital criminal procedure, started in 2018 as well. In what regards to 

Artificial Intelligence, one year after the announcement of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, 

DINSIC  and  DITP  launched  a  second  invitation  for  expressions  of  interest  from  administrations  to 

experiment  with  artificial  intelligence  in  public  services.  More  recently,  on  28-29  May  2019,  a 

conference  was  organised  by  the  University  of  Lille  on  Blockchain,  Open  Education  and  Digital 

Citizenship  and  later,  in  April  2019,  the  French  government  launched  Techgouv,  the  roadmap  to 

accelerate the digital transformation of public services 

Legislation 

Regarding  legislative  measures  related  to  digital matters,  the  French  government  launched  several 

different actions. The first one was the Personal Data Protection Act which was implemented on 20 

June  2018.  The second  was  the  implementation  of  the  Law  for a  State  at  the Service  of  a  Trusted 

Society, which allows for experiments in the exchange of information between administrations by API, 

in August 2018. Finally, regarding legislations on specific domains, three laws were implemented in 

2018 actually: one related to eJustice is the Justice Programming and Reform Act 2018-2020, another 

related to eHealth, draft law on the transformation of the health system, and finally a bill for a school 

of trust.  

Governance 

Bertrand  Pailhès  was  appointed  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  National  Coordinator  Artificial 

Intelligence  in  September  2018;  Nadi  Bou  Hanna  as  Inter-ministerial  Director  of  Digital  and  State 

Information on 24 October 2018; and Cedric O as Secretary of State for Digital Technology in April 

2019. 

87 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, France. Accessed on 3 October 2019.  

72 

 
 
 
Infrastructure 

Since 23 January 2018, for all online processes on impots.gouv.fr, users benefit from a new way of 

connecting with FranceConnect, a portal which allows each individual to connect to the various online 

services of public administrations, using the digital identity of their choice.  

Services 

Since mid-October 2018, the Directorate General of Public Finance (DGFiP) provided public authorities 

and their users with an enhanced, secure and modern online payment service, PayFiP.  

3.10.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for France88 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.89  

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

In recommendation 3, the CSR for France stresses the need to invest further on interconnections with 

the  rest  of  the  Union  and  on  digital  infrastructures  to  benefit  from  the  digital  economy,  improve 

efficiency of public support and reduce territorial disparities. Recital 24 specifies the need to improve 

broadband coverage.  

Recitals 

The CSR for France makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding TO2. 

Opportunities 

In recommendation 2, the CSR for France encourages to take action in addressing skills shortages 

and mismatches. The labour market will be strengthened by more equal opportunities for low qualified 

workers  and  better  opportunities  for jobseekers.  This  is also  an  occasion  to  enhance  the  eSkills  of 

citizens, who can enter the job market more easily, with the necessary technological skills for the digital 

economy. 

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for France makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO11. 

Recitals 

The CSR for France makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding TO11. 

88 COM (2019) 510 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of France and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of France, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 25 September 2019. 
89 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on France to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit France. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

73 

 
 
 
Opportunities 

France’s  tax  system  is  characterised  by  its  high  complexity.  In  recital  25,  the  CSR mentions  that  it 

leads to inefficiency and barriers. As a solution, the implementation of eTax could help decreasing the 

intricacy of the system.  

In recommendation 3, France is called on taking action in increasing the performance of the innovation 

system. This can be done through efficient public support schemes and better transfer of knowledge 

between  public  institutions,  academia  and  the  private  sector.  Through  this,  the  efficiency  of  all 

stakeholders would be increased. 

3.10.4 National Reform Programme  

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in France’s NRP.90 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Digital measures to improve the quality of public services: The NRP for France points out 

that the government is pursuing its efforts to achieve the objective of making all public services 

accessible online. Moreover, in 2018 the second meeting of the Interministerial Government 

Transformation Committee took place, setting up several cross-cutting initiatives including the 

digital transformation of the public action by way of the EUR 700 million Government Action 

Transformation Fund.  

•  Vocational schools reform for the future: France understands the importance of investing 

in skills for a 21st century economy. That is why the vocational schools reform focuses on the 

development of training courses aimed at boosting the professions for the future. Moreover, 

the  Career  Choice  Act  signed  in  2018,  established  the  creation  of  a  digital  application  to 

consult, obtain information, register and pay for trainings. This tool will be available in autumn 

2019.  

•  Measures  to  support  investments  in  robotics  and  digital  technology  in  the  business 

sector: Since 2018, the government envisages several measures in order to support new key 

sectors of the economy. First, a new depreciation allowance of 40% on investments in robotics 

and digital transformation tools in 2019 and 2020 will be set. Moreover, French Fab loans from 

BPI  France  (the  French  Private  Investment  Bank)  will  support  investments  in  robotics  and 

digital technology for SMEs.  

•  Digital  measures  to  simplify  the  creation  and  growth  of  businesses:  The  Business 

Growth and Transformation Action Plan adopted in April 2019 establishes the creation of an 

online one-stop shop to help with procedures relating to setting up and running a business.  

•  High Speed Broadband coverage: With a EUR 20 billion investment, France is still working 

towards achieving its goal of very high-speed Internet by 2022. The investment stems from 

the private sector, the government and the European Union. 

90 France National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 14 October 2019. 

74 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 11 

• 

Investment in innovation: In order to increase productivity and the employment rate, as well 

as to achieve savings in public spending, France envisages to implement a Great Investment 

Plan of EUR 57 billion to support competitiveness and innovation, the digital economy, the 

skills sector and the ecological transition. Its goal is to boost not only innovation and research 

but  to  finance  the  main  objectives  of  energy  transition,  skills  transformation,  innovation  in 

industry and government transformation. Additionally, an industry and innovation fund of EUR 

10 billion was allocated in 2018 to support innovation among start-ups and SMEs.  

•  Creation of the Innovation Board: Co-chaired by the ministers responsible for the economy 

and research, the Board’s objective is to help breakthrough innovation emerge, improve the 

management  of  innovation  policy  and  make  proposals  regarding  that  main  trends  and 

priorities in this field. It is also tasked with deciding on the use of the Innovation and Industry 

Fund’s annual credits. This fund will be allocated to address mainly major challenges related 

to innovation, a Deep Tech Plan and the 2022 Nano Plan. 

3.10.5 Operational Programmes 

A thorough evaluation of France’s national OPs for the 2014-2020 financing period has revealed that 

there are no initiatives planned under TO2 and TO11 that would fall under the scope of this study. 

75 

 
 
3.11  Germany  

3.11.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Germany’s CSR of 2019.91 

Germany is currently experiencing macroeconomic imbalances, particularly a slowly declining of the 

account surplus, which is expected to continue in the coming years due to more domestic demand. In 

its 2019 Stability Programme, the government plans a budget surplus of between 0.5% and 0.75% of 

GDP over 2019-2023. The medium-term budgetary objective continues to be overachieved and the 

general government debt-to-GDP ratio is estimated to fall below 60% of GDP Treaty reference value 

in 2019 and to gradually decline until 2023.  

In general, public investment has been increasing robustly for the last 3 years. However, there are still 

more opportunities to pick up on at the regional and municipal levels. Public expenditure on education, 

in  turn,  was  at  4.1%  of  GDP  in  2017,  slightly  below  the  4.6%  EU  average.  Promising  legislative 

changes  allowing  direct  investment  by  the  federal  government  in  digital  education  have  been 

implemented but have yet to show results. Spending on education, digitalisation, and on research and 

innovation will be crucial for sustaining Germany’s growth and adapting to technological change.  

Regarding the business environment, research and development intensity of SMEs continues to fall 

behind EU average while large companies benefit more from public support. Investment in this area is 

crucial to boost productivity and to transition to a low-carbon and circular economy. Also, digitalisation 

is progressing slowly among SMEs. This is partly due to a lack of connectivity, especially in rural areas, 

and the lag in the deployment of very high-capacity broadband at national level. A boost in digital public 

services, eHealth and ePrescription is required as the current performance remains far below the EU 

average. Additionally, changes in the regulation of businesses services to increase competition would 

boost the efficiency and effectiveness of investment and economic activity. 

Since  2015,  both  rents  and  house  prices  have  increased  than  their  long-term  averages.  Hence, 

German  elders  face  an  excessive  cost  burden  compared  to  Europeans  levels.  Moreover,  the  tax 

system  is  characterised  by  its  complexity,  which  leads  to  inefficiency  and  distortions  on  decision-

making.  The  corporate  tax  system  is  also  complex,  burdening  the  government  with  high  tax 

administration costs as well as distorting the level and location of investments. 

The  labour  market  of  Germany  remains  strong,  reaching  a  record low  of  3.2% in  unemployment  in 

2019. Youth unemployment is among the lowest in the EU, however, labour shortages are becoming 

increasingly apparent and hindering production in some regions and sectors. Additionally, the labour 

market  potential  of  certain  groups,  particularly  women  and  people  with  a  migrant  background,  is 

underused.  Wage  growth  is  also  moderate  throughout  the  country,  and  the  number  of  low-wage 

earners  remains  high.  The  income  inequality  and  the  percentage  of  population  at  risk  of  poverty  is 

declining, thanks to the solid social protection system. However, population is ageing, and Germany’s 

pension expenditure is steadily growing. By 2040 the country is expected to face one of the largest 

91 COM (2019) 505 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Germany and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Germany, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 26 September 2019. 

76 

 
 
 
increases in spending on public pensions in the EU. The high levels might deteriorate adequacy, and 

people with low wages and breaks in working experience are mostly at risk of poverty in old age. 

Concerning  education,  little  progress  in  reducing  the  influence  of  socio-economic  background  on 

educational outcomes has been made. Germany has a good track record of integrating recently arrived 

migrants  and  refugees  into  education  and  training,  however  they  still  facing  more  challenges  than 

native-born students. Finally, the future share of adult population that is low-skilled remains a problem, 

especially because adult learning is below the EU average. 

3.11.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Germany since 2018. 

The information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Germany.92 

Political Communications 

The  implementation  strategy  Digitalisierung  gestalten  –  Umsetzungsstrategie  der  Bundesregierung 

was adopted in November 2018 and aims to ‘shape’ the future of digital transformation that Germany 

will undertake in the coming years. The main goal of the strategy is to further increase the quality of 

life for all German citizens in order to be able to develop additional economic and ecological potential 

and secure social cohesion. 

Legislation 

The eIDAS Implementation Act entered into force on 29 July 2017 in Germany. The core of the eIDAS 

Implementation Act is the Trust Service Act (VDG). It regulates the nationally required clarifications for 

the  effective  implementation  of  the  eIDAS  Regulation.  On  28  February  2019,  the  Trust  Services 

Ordinance  (VDV)  came  into  force,  providing  the  final  specifications  of  the  requirements  for  trust 

services and trust service providers, such as accessibility and financial security. 

Governance 

In March 2018 Ms. Dorothee Bär was appointed to the newly established post of State Minister for 

Digitisation at the Federal Chancellery. 

Infrastructure 

The eInvoicing Service for the Federal Government (eRechnung) was launched on 27 November 2018. 

Services 

As  part  of  the  current  digitalisation  programme,  digital  government  services  are  developed  in 

digitalisation laboratories. These laboratories represent a multi-stakeholder approach where different 

experts and users are brought together to achieve user-oriented solutions. 

92 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Germany. Accessed on 3 October 2019.  

77 

 
 
 
3.11.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Germany93 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.94 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR issued by the Commission for Germany makes no recommendation of the need to intervene 

in the field of TO2. 

Recitals 

Recital 10 explains the slow progress of digitalisation throughout the country, in both society and the 

economy. High-capacity broadband is lagging, and there is a persistent disparity amongst urban and 

rural areas in terms of Internet speed. One of the main problems is the small territory covered with 

high-performance fibre-based access networks, as it was cheaper to upgrade only the existing copper 

cable networks. Furthermore, digital public service delivery and eHealth services are below the EU 

average performance. 

Opportunities 

The  CSR  for  Germany  does  not  describe  needs  that  can  be  linked  to  opportunities  to  intervene 

regarding TO2. 

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Germany stresses in recommendation 1 the need to focus investment-related economic 

policy on research and innovation, digitalisation and very high capacity broadband among others. 

Recitals 

The CSR for Germany makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding 

TO11. 

Opportunities 

The  CSR  for  Germany  explains  there  is  scope  to  improve  digital  public  services  and  public 

procurement in recital 7. It would be convenient then to invest on an eProcurement solution in order to 

boost the digitalisation of the public administration. 

The tax system in Germany remains complex. This leads to inefficiencies and distortions in investment, 

financing,  and  labour  market  participation.  Moreover,  the  high  tax  administrations  costs  are  also 

burdening the system. For these reasons, recital 15 raises the opportunity for Germany to become 

more focused on investing in an eTax system. 

93 COM (2019) 505 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Germany and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Germany, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 26 September 2019. 
94 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Germany to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Germany. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

78 

 
 
 
3.11.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Germany’s NRP.95 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Set  up  of  digital  infrastructure  at  national  level:  In  order  to  let  people  benefit  from  the 

digitalisation of the country, the federal government aims to work together with private sector 

operators.  Federal  funds  of  EUR  4.4  billion  will  be  used  to  expand  the  fibre  optic  cable  in 

underserved  regions.  A  joint  effort  between  the  private  sector  and  the  state  will  support 

broadband rollout. Germany plans to become the leader in 5G networks and is continuously 

researching and setting up trials of the modernised mobile communication standard. 

•  Preparation  of  digital  education  for  citizens:  The  government  plans  to  provide  students 

with  a  digital  infrastructure  learning  environment  in  all  subjects  through  a  digital  education 

initiative of EUR 3.6 billion. This way, children are becoming accustomed to a wide variety of 

digital  technologies  that  will  be  needed  in  the  future  workforce  and  the  German  digital 

economy. Digital is also planned to be present in higher education, especially for teaching in 

universities.  Lifelong  learning  amongst  adults  is  also  an  investment,  especially  for  digital 

knowledge. As for adults no longer in the education system, centres for digitalisation will be 

made available for them to strengthen digital literacy for all ages. 

•  Digitalisation  of  the  business  sector:  The  federal  government  fully  supports  the 

modernisation  of  the  private  sector.  The  digitalisation  of  businesses  is  one  of  the  most 

important  factors  towards  achieving  globalisation.  Competition  is  more  overseen  by  the 

government,  especially  in  favour  of  German  digital  companies,  which  aim  to  achieve  an 

international base.  

•  Support to start-ups and SMEs with digital equipment: There are various types of support 

possibilities  available  to  start-ups.  The  ones  that  are  dealing  mostly  with  digitalisation  can 

compete towards receiving further funding and support from the government. Start-ups are 

important  to  strengthening  the  innovation  environment  of  Germany.  Several  SMEs  were 

chosen to purchase digital equipment for them, in order to ensure high-quality and modern 

training.  The  government  supports  SMEs  because  many  are  specialising  in  digital-related 

topics, such as IT architecture and enhancing digital societies. 

•  Digitalisation of public services: In addition to the eGovernment Act, a supplementary law 

was adopted that obliges the federal and state governments to make all their administrative 

services available on one portal. The implementation of a single, unified digital portal will be 

available for citizens and businesses. 

•  Development  of  digital  technologies:  The  German  digital  economy  is  seizing  various 

opportunities through digital technology advances. The cooperation between academia and 

95 Germany National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 14 October 2019.  

79 

 
 
 
the  industry  is  important  and  receives  funding.  The  aim  of  the  funding  is  to  adopt  new 

technologies such as blockchain, Internet of Things and Big Data. 

•  Digitalisation in the health care sector: Germany is pursuing several measures in order to 

expedite  the  expansion  of  the  telematics  infrastructure  and  the  introduction  of  digital 

applications,  particularly  electronic  patient  records,  to  move  forward  with  research, 

development and the practical implementation of digital innovations, and to identify faster and 

better ways to incorporate these innovations into the health care system. 

•  Preparation  of  a  digital  administration:  All  German  administrative  services  are  to  be 

digitalised and available online for the citizens by the end of 2022 in a simple, secure and fast 

manner. In  connection  with  this,  existing  administrative  processes  are to  be  examined  and 

made less bureaucratic where possible. 

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Establishment  of  an  Artificial  Intelligence  Centre:  In  order  to  expand  the  activities  of 

Industry 4.0, the federal government set up a Centre for Artificial Intelligence, together with 

French partners. To further enhance this digital innovation, Germany and Poland made a joint 

research agreement. 

3.11.5 Operational Programmes  

A  thorough  evaluation  of  Germany’s  national  OPs  for the  2014-2020  financing  period  has  revealed 

that there are no initiatives planned under TO2 and TO11 that would fall under the scope of this study.  

80 

 
 
 
3.12   Greece 

3.12.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Greece’s CSR of 201996. 

Greece is currently in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact and is subject to the debt 

rule.  In  2018,  the  country  was  exempt  from  the  monitoring  and  assessment  under  the  European 

Semester  since  it  was  subject  to  a  macroeconomic  adjustment  programme.  However,  in  the  2019 

Stability Programme, the Greek government plans a headline surplus of between 1.1% and 1.7% of 

GDP for the period 2019-2022. The general government debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to gradually 

decline to 153.3% by 2022.  

The country’s unemployment rate in  Greece is still one of the highest in the Union.  In addition, the 

share  of  long-term  unemployed  is  particularly  high,  representing  70%  of  the  unemployed  in  2018. 

Youth unemployment and low labour market participation of women also pose serious threats to the 

future of the country’s labour market. In addition, Greece faces high income inequality and has the 

lowest impact of social transfers on reducing the risk of poverty in the EU.  

Despite recent improvements, the Greek judicial system still faces significant challenges and presents 

some  inefficiencies,  as  decisions  are  not  taken  fast  enough,  and  backlogs  weigh  on  the  courts’ 

productivity and effectiveness.   

After the financial crisis, Greece experienced several years of underinvestment which have led to major 

investment  gaps  in  the  country.  In  addition,  the  digital  transformation  of  the  economy  and  society 

remains a challenge for Greece. In fact, the country has very limited access to high-speed broadband 

networks and access to digital skills is well below the Union’s average. The country particularly needs 

to  invest  in information  and  communication  technology, in  order  to  keep  up  with  the  other  Member 

States. 

Greece adopted a far-reaching reform on its healthcare system in 2017, which was crucial to ensure 

access to primary healthcare for all Greek citizens. Nevertheless, this reform will need to be coupled 

with further investments in the system, through the deployment of local healthcare units.   

3.12.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following overview entails the most relevant digital government highlights that have occurred in 

Greece since 2018. The information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of Greece.97 

Political Communications 

The Greek government launched two new financial actions with a total budget of 100 million euros. 

The  Digital  Step  and  Digital  Leap  are  aimed  at  supporting  businesses  in  all  sectors  for  targeted 

investments  in  Information  and  Communication  Technologies  (ICT).  In  addition,  the  new  digital 

96 COM(2019) 508 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Greece and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Greece, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 24 September 2019. 
97 Digital Government factsheet 2019, Greece. Accessed on 24 September 2019.  

81 

 
 
 
General Commercial Registry and One Stop Services for Business were adopted. They are flagship 

projects  to  facilitate  eBusiness  in  Greece.  Their  main  objective  is  the  upgrade  of  the  General 

Commercial Register, so that it becomes a modern and complete register for the benefit of business 

and administration. 

Legislation 

Greece transposed Directive 2016/1148/EU of the European Parliament and the Council, which relates 

to measures for a high common level of network and information security throughout the Union and 

other provisions. The country also adopted Law 4601/2019 on the issuing of electronic invoices in the 

context  of  public  procurement  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Directive  2014/55/  EU  of  the 

European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014.  

Infrastructure 

There  have  been  some  achievements  in  terms  of  infrastructure  in  the  last  year.  First,  Greece 

implemented the Citizens’ Register in January 2018 to include all the population data on demographic 

and registry events available to organisations certified in the system. In addition, the country will put in 

place a Central Infrastructure for the Electronic Exchange of Documents between public bodies with 

“Advanced Digital Signatures”.  

Services 

Citizens  and  businesses  now  also  have  several  new  digital  public  services  available  for  their  use. 

Citizens  can  access  their  personal  health  records  online  through  a  new  application  called  IDIKA. 

Citizens can now create their own company without having to visit any public service now that a new 

digital  platform,  One  Stop  Shop,  has  been  put  in  place. Lastly,  Greece  created  a  new portal  called 

AADE,  which  provides  and  supports  eServices  to  citizens,  businesses  and  public  sector  bodies  to 

achieve tax fairness and transparency.  

3.12.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Greece makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2. 

Recitals 

Recital  18  urges  Greece  to  invest  in  information  and  communication  technology,  as  the  country 

significantly lags behind other Member States in terms of high-speed broadband networks. In fact, the 

digital transformation of the economy and society remain a particular challenge for the country, creating 

major bottlenecks for dynamic export-oriented businesses.  

Opportunities 

Recital  19  advises  Greece  to  reverse  its  current  scarce  technological  development.  To  do  so,  the 

country could focus its future investments on new technologies so as to fully tap into the potential of 

start-ups and scale-ups.    

82 

 
 
In  2017,  Greece  implemented  a  far-reaching  reform  of  its  healthcare  system.  However,  further 

investments  are needed  to  ensure healthcare access  to  all.  This  could  be  the  opportunity  to  put  in 

place eHealth tools and services so as to ensure and facilitate access to healthcare even in remote 

areas and regions of the country.  

The Greek educational system continues to face various challenges due to its underachievement and 

lack of basic, especially digital, skills. Thus, in recital 11, the country is encouraged to promote a new 

type of inclusive education and training system, as well as to establish closer links between education 

and the new needs of the labour market. This could be the opportunity for the deployment of eSkills in 

education and training, so as to counter current skills mismatches and foster job creation.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Greece makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO11. 

Recitals 

The CSR for Greece makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding TO11. 

Opportunities 

As recital 9 mentions it, challenges in the Greek judicial system continue to weigh on the productivity 

and efficiency of the courts. Hence, using the eJustice approach could make any legal action process 

more effective.  

3.12.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Greece’s NRP.98 

Thematic Objective 2 

• 

Improvement and digitalisation of schools’ curricula: The country has decided to upgrade 

its  educational  curricula  and  to  create  new  learning  materials  for  primary  and  secondary 

students, with a strong emphasis on making digital material accessible to all. This will also 

provide students with the necessary digital knowledge and skills to tackle the requirements of 

the future labour market. 

•  Creation of a simplified licensing framework to improve the business environment:  The 

country  aims  to  create  a  simplified  licensing  framework  for  economic  activities  so  as  to 

establish a climate of trust between the entrepreneurs and the public administration, and thus 

improve  the  business  environment  overall.  It  wishes  to  do  so  by  developing  new  digital 

technologies  and  introducing  new  administrative  tools  that  will  make  business  procedures 

simpler and less time-consuming.  

•  Support  for  small-  and  medium-sized enterprises:  The  Greek  Ministry  of  Economy  and 

Development has launched a support network for SMEs in order to provide tailor-made and 

98 Greece National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 7 October 2019.  

83 

 
 
 
personalised  business  information  on  policies  supporting  entrepreneurship,  to  small 

businesses.  This  will  allow  them  to  improve  their  competitiveness,  develop  new  innovative 

products  and services  and  adopt  appropriate  digital  technologies  that,  for the moment,  are 

only available to big corporations, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, etc.   

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Modernisation  and  digitalisation  of  corporate  law:  Greece  recently  passed  a  bill  to 

modernise the existing legal framework concerning companies. It aims to do so through the 

expansion of the number of procedures and actions carried out by electronic means.   

3.12.5 Operational Programmes  

For the funding period 2014-2020, two national OPs of Greece are specifically dealing with themes 

related to TO2 and TO11. The OP on the ‘Reform of the Public Sector’99 has three funding priorities: 

strengthen  capacity;  promote  eGovernment;  and  develop  human  resources.  The  OP  on 

‘Competitiveness,  Entrepreneurship  and  Innovation’100  contributes  to  achieving  the  Europe  2020 

targets for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Digitalisation of administrative procedures: In order  to enhance interoperability, internal 

communication  will  be  digitalised  thanks  to  the  ‘Reform  of  the  Public  Sector’  OP.  This  will 

drastically change the routine of the public sector. The administration will record documents 

through  electronic  data  formats.  The  priority  is  to  create  an  environment  of  digital 

collaboration/communication between departments and public officials. This will also enhance 

the accessibility of citizens to digital services. The government will provide a single platform 

of multi-channel services in order to enhance electronic communication. 

•  Enhancement of eParticipation: In order to improve the services provided to citizens and 

businesses, their participation in the design, implementation and monitoring of public policies 

is essential. The strengthening of participatory democracy through ICT services is one of the 

main actions of the ‘Reform of the Public Sector’ OP. 

•  Enhancement of ICT and digital services’ infrastructures: In order to promote the growth 

of  the  economy,  Greece  will  invest  in  its  digital  service  infrastructures.  New  generation 

networks such as broadband technology will be installed throughout the country in order to 

bridge  the  digital  divide  between  urban  centres  and  peripheral  areas  of  Greece.  The 

computing infrastructure in the government will be secure, interoperable, cost-effective and 

will  actively  promote  the  sharing  of  electronic  resources.  Digitalisation  through  the 

‘Competitiveness,  Entrepreneurship  and  Innovation’  OP  funds  will  promote  eGovernance 

without borders. 

•  Digitalisation  of  businesses:  Greece  is  below  the  EU  average  of  Internet  usage.  For 

example, eCommerce within enterprises and SMEs, i.e. online purchases, were limited. These 

99 Greece Reform of the Public Sector Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019. 
100 Greece Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019. 

84 

 
 
 
companies  should  target  international  markets  and  put  in  place  a  strategy  to  enhance  ICT 

usage.  The  demand  and  offer  for  ICT  by  businesses  is  constantly  growing,  therefore  new 

technologies such as cloud computing, data processing and management, digital content and 

various solutions will lead the development of the market. These actions will be funded from 

the ‘Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation’ OP. 

•  Development of new technologies: The government is leveraging open data and big data 

to  enhance  digital  entrepreneurship  through  the  ‘Competitiveness,  Entrepreneurship  and 

Innovation  OP.  Other  technologies  such  as  machine  to  machine  transaction,  contactless 

systems, software solutions, digital public services and cloud computers are currently being 

developed. 

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Development  of  information  systems:  In  order  to  further  enhance  the  communication 

between all levels of government as well as various agencies, a common language will be 

used to bind standards and have a unified interface. Another action is, for example, identifying 

and implementing a unified policy for the supply, use, management and maintenance of basic 

IT infrastructure in public administration bodies. The transparency and credibility of the state 

will be enhanced as well, as depicted in the ‘Reform of the Public Sector’ OP. 

•  Enhancement of civil servants’ digital and ICT skills: The civil servants’ digital illiteracy 

should  be  tackled,  and  IT  skills  should  be  strengthened  through  the  ‘Reform  of  the  Public 

Sector’  OP.  The  action  includes  pre-entry  training,  developing  knowledge,  skills  and 

competences.  Furthermore,  there  will  be  training  in  the  use  of  new  devices,  in  order  to 

modernise  the  public  administration.  ‘On  the  job  training’  for  current  employees  will  be 

promoted through eLearning solutions, possible to do at employees’ desks. 

85 

 
 
3.13  Hungary 

3.13.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Hungary’s CSR of 2019.101 

Hungary is currently in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth pact and subject to the debt rule. 

The government expects to improve the headline deficit to 1.8% of GDP in 2019 from 2.2% on the 

previous  year.  The  deficit  is  forecasted  to  continue  improving  to  1.2%  in  2021  and  to  a  balanced 

budgetary  position  in  2023. After some  readjustments, Hungary  would  be  close  to its  medium-term 

budgetary objective in 2022 and would achieve it in 2023. The general government debt-to-GDP ratio 

is expected to decline gradually to below 60% in 2022. 

On  22  June  2018  and  following  a  reported  significant  deviation  from  the  medium-term  budgetary 

objective, the Council recommended to ensure that the nominal growth rate of primary government 

expenditure does not exceed 2.8% in 2018. Nonetheless, the country did not take effective action in 

response.  Despite  further  recommendations  made  to  the  country  on  June  2019,  no  further  actions 

have been taken, leading the Commission, in its spring forecast, to report a risk of deviation from that 

recommended adjustment. Additionally, under unchanged policies, there is also a risk of deviation from 

the requirements made to comply with the Stability and Growth pact for 2020. 

The  robust  economic  trend  has  favoured  the  employment  rate  but  not  equally  for  all  groups.  The 

gender employment gap, for instance, remains wide due to the limited supply of good quality childcare. 

On top of that, the public work scheme remains the main active labour market policy, the scheme is 

found to be insufficiently focussed with limited effectiveness in reintegrating participants in the open 

labour market. The CSR proposes to keep improving employability by developing digital skills among 

population. Another challenge related to public transport arises: weak connectivity and high commuting 

costs are contributing to unemployment in disadvantaged areas.  

The  share  of  people  at  risk  of  poverty  and  social  exclusion  is  falling  but  Roma  and  people  with 

disabilities remain vulnerable. Furthermore, education outcomes are below the EU average and show 

wide  territorial  disparities.  The  shortage  of  teachers  also  remains  a  challenge,  especially  in 

underpopulated areas. And the education system not only hinders social mobility, but Hungarian higher 

institutions  have  the  lowest  financial  autonomy  in  the  EU  which  raises  concerns  over  academic 

freedom.  

The  healthcare  system  in  Hungary  stills  facing  various  difficulties:  poor  health  outcomes  due  to 

unhealthy  lifestyles,  low  levels  of  healthcare  spending,  an  inefficient  allocation  of  resources  and  a 

limited effectiveness. Besides that, Hungarians are among the most likely in the EU to suffer premature 

death due to bad air quality and important shortages of healthcare staff thwarts access to care in poorer 

areas.  

101 COM (2019) 517 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Hungary 
and delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Convergence Programme of Hungary, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 24 September 
2019.  

86 

 
 
 
Concerning research and innovation, Hungary has a modest performance. There is a small number of 

innovative businesses, a lack of science-business cooperation and research and development policies 

turned out to be inefficient. Public underfunding and uncertainty in academic and research forums may 

result in the emigration of top research talent.  

The CSR for Hungary expresses concerns regarding the attempts to prevent and prosecute corruption, 

as it appears to have increased over the past years. Some measures to fight low level corruption seem 

to have been applied with success, but there are still no signs of further action to prosecute corruption 

involving  high-level  officials.  Moreover,  judicial  independence  seems  to  be  gradually  compromised 

since the National Judicial Council faces increasing difficulties in counter-balancing the powers of the 

President of the National Office for the Judiciary. With regard to the public procurement framework, it 

has  improved  in  recent  years  but  obstacles  to  competition  remain,  these  are  mainly  related  to  the 

opacity of the system. Therefore, the CSR recommends the wider use of eProcurement in order to 

increase efficiency and transparency. 

While Hungary did implement measures to improve its tax system, some problems are yet to be solved. 

The tax wedge on labour remains high in EU comparison and the overall complexity of the tax systems 

is still found to be a weakness. 

3.13.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following overview entails the most relevant digital government highlights that have occurred in 

Hungary since 2019. The information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Hungary.102 

Political Communications 

The new Cybersecurity Strategy was adopted at the end of December 2018 and the Digital Success 

Programme initiated the establishment of the Hungarian Artificial Intelligence and 5G Coalitions. 

Governance 

In terms of digital governance, as the legal successor of the Ministry of National Development, the new 

Ministry  for  Innovation  and  Technology  became  responsible  for  IT  infrastructure  development  and 

information  society  related  tasks.  For  high  level  coordination  and  strategy-making  related  to  info-

communications  and  eGovernment,  the  Department  for  eGovernment  and  IT  Developments  of  the 

Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office is in charge instead of the former prime minister’s office.  

Infrastructure 

The Superfast Internet Programme 2.0 was launched in January 2019. It aimed to further develop the 

networks, to raise the capacity to at least 100 Mbps available anywhere in the country, and to further 

develop optical networks with Gigabit capabilities to expand the Gigabit broadband network coverage. 

Moreover, 70 public administration bodies were connected to the KKSZB Central Government Service 

Bus interoperability platform in 2018. Altogether, 135 registries and services have been integrated to 

the platform. In addition, eServices already integrated into the Central Authentication Agent service 

and  can  be  accessed  via  electronic  identification  with  the  use  of  the  Hungarian  eID  card  since  1 

102 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Hungary. Accessed 3 October 2019.  

87 

 
 
 
February 2018. The national central eProcurement System was launched in January 2018 as well. Its 

use became obligatory from 15 April 2018, meaning that paper-based administration of procurements 

ceased. For eInvoicing, from 1 July 2018 online data provision became obligatory regarding invoices 

that include output VAT of more than 100 000 HUF (approximately 320 EUR) issued between domestic 

taxpayer  businesses.  For  this  purpose,  the  National  Tax  and  Customs  Administration  (NTCA) 

developed  and  launched  a  central  Online  Invoice  system  that  can  be  connected  to  the  financial 

management  software  or  ERP  system  of  businesses  via  machine  to  machine  interface,  thus  the 

automated data provision does not need bureaucratic steps. 

Services  

In January 2019, the new Vehicle Service Platform (JSZP) was launched. Clients can now check the 

data for all vehicles registered in Hungary free of charge on the szuf.magyarorszag.hu portal. From 1 

January 2019, business organisations are obliged to access the electronic administration and use their 

Company Gate digital mailbox for official communications with the State.  

3.13.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Hungary103 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.104  

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Hungary makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2. 

Recitals 

The  CSR  for Hungary  points  out  that  developing  digital skills could  help improve  employability  and 

reduce the several territorial and gender gaps. 

Opportunities 

In recommendation 2, Hungary is encouraged to keep improving education outcomes and increasing 

the participation of disadvantaged groups, particularly Roma. For this, several digital solutions could 

be implemented such as the launch of online courses or eLearning platforms.  

Recital  12  indicates  the  Hungarian  healthcare  system  is  found  to  have  limited  effectiveness.  The 

primary care takers are not sufficiently equipped to function as gatekeepers and there is a shortage of 

medical staff in the poorest areas as well. The CSR thus highlights the need to rationalise hospital 

resources and target investments to strengthen primary care services. By introducing eHealth systems 

to strengthen the ICT applications in the sector these required improvements could be facilitated.  

103 COM (2019) 517 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Hungary 
and delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Convergence Programme of Hungary, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 24 September 
2019. 
104 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Hungary to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Hungary. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

88 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Hungary makes no specific mention in the recommendations of the need to intervene 

regarding TO11. 

Recitals 

The CSR for Hungary sets out in recital 18, that, to strengthen the anti-corruption framework, reinforce 

the prosecutorial efforts and improve transparency and competition in public procurement, data gained 

from the eProcurement system should be accessible to the public. The necessity to improve public 

procurement is also stressed, in a more general way, in recommendation 3.  

Opportunities 

The  CSR  for  Hungary  describes  in  recommendation  4  the  need  to  reinforce  the  anti-corruption 

framework and strengthen judicial independence. To achieve this goal, a solution could be to achieve 

digitalisation in the judicial administration. This would enhance transparency of the system and improve 

service delivery in the long run. 

3.13.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Hungary’s NRP.105 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Measures  to  foster  digitalisation  of  businesses:  The  government  launched  the  Modern 

Sample Plant Programme, which provides development plans and services for SMEs ready 

for renewal. To this date, 6 demonstration factories have been set up in the programme. SMEs 

can  gain  direct  experience  of  how  industrial  digitalisation  works.  Moreover,  interested 

companies  will  learn  about  the  operation  of  unique  digital  industrial  devices  in  a  separate 

Technology Center. So far, 47 on-site preparedness assessments have been carried out as 

part  of  the  programme,  and  194  have  been  involved  in  local  consultations,  while  15 

beneficiaries  have  received  investment  support  for the  implementation  of  the  programme's 

development plan. 

•  Enhancement  of  the  eGovernment  portal  for  citizens:  A  new  customer-friendly 

administration interface (SZÜF) will replace the current government portal magyarorszag.hu 

by  December  2019.  It  will  enable  an  easier  access  to  e-administration  and  enhance 

competitiveness by making the administration more efficient and simplifying the administrative 

processes on the client side.  

•  Enforcement of ICT use in public education: In less developed regions, EU funding has 

been used to develop digital literacy and programmes to achieve a quality and fair education 

system. Within the framework of the developments, broadband internet and wireless networks 

105 Hungary National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 17 October 2019.  

89 

 
 
 
are being built in public education institutions and modern IT equipment has been acquired. 

Infrastructure and wireless network have been developed as well, which is supplemented by 

further training of teachers using ICT tools. Finally, 45.630 laptops have been distributed to 

teachers  and  classrooms  and  24.000  tablets  have  been  distributed  to  students  to  spread 

digital education. 

•  Enhancement  of the digital portal for education: New features have been added to the 

National  Public  Education  Portal,  resulting  in  significantly  more  content  being  accessed 

including a best database-level interconnection with digital public collections repositories. The 

portal also helps students with special needs and coming from ethnic minorities to learn. 

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Development of the Digital Wellbeing Programme: Hungary will adopt more than 20 new 

development proposals and industry strategies in 2019 and 2020 in order to deploy the Digital 

Wellbeing Programme. The next Digital Prosperity Programme 2030 aims to define the exact 

organisation  and  mission  system  for  the  digital  state,  data  policy,  data  assets,  robotics, 

network research, competence development, affordable access and digitalisation of SMEs. 

•  Development of an electronic public procurement system: As of 15 April 2018, the use of 

the  electronic  public  procurement  system  is  compulsory  for  the  Hungarian  contracting 

authorities. This measure aimed at further reducing the administrative burden on contracting 

authorities  and  economic  operators.  The  platform  was  improved  to  enable  a  more  user-

friendly display.  

•  Strategy  for  the  Digital  Workforce  Programme:  Hungary  aims  at  implementing  a  new 

vocational training strategy focused on improving the general and industry-specific digital skills 

of  the  employees,  increasing  the  number  of  adults  undergoing  training,  and  deploying 

guidance for the digital skills training system.   

3.13.5 Operational Programmes  

For the funding period 2014-2020, out of all the Hungarian OPs, the ‘Public Administration and Civil 

Service  Development  OP’106  of  Hungary  is  specifically  dealing  with  objectives  related  to  TO2  and 

TO11. Various funding will reinforce the services provided by the public authorities. 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Digitalisation of services to facilitate citizens’ administrative procedures: As a first step 

towards  the  harmonisation  of  administrative  procedures,  physical  one-stop  shops  will  be 

established  at  regional  and  local  levels.  The  development  of  eSolutions  consists  mostly  of 

allowing citizens to firstly start administrative processes online. Some procedures will soon be 

available to be conducted fully online. Citizens want to be able to file their taxes online, for 

example. 

106 Hungary Public Administration and Civil Service Development Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

90 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 11 

•  Enhancement  of  technology  in  government:  The  current  procedures  in  government  are 

not standardised. The government has started adopting a more modern (electronic) form of 

administration.  Broadband  communications  infrastructure  is  also  currently  being  developed 

towards more efficient eGovernment. The harmonisation of technology is important because 

of  the  varying  office  systems  at  different  level  of  government.  In  addition  to  enhancing  the 

system,  administrative  processes  are  also  enhanced,  such  as  document  verification, 

document delivery and basic building blocks. 

•  Development  of  public  service  employees’  digital  literacy  and  skills:  Public  service 

employees lack continuous feedback and collaboration. This will be remedied by eLearning, 

courses,  exchange  of  ideas  and  training.  People  entering  in  new  functions  have  to  pass 

several exams, one of which will measure their proficiency.  

• 

Implementation of eProcurement: The use of eProcurement solutions is still in the initiation 

phase in Hungary. There are several problems hindering full implementation which are, for 

example,  absence  of  standardised  application,  fragmentation  of  market  solutions  and  high 

costs.  eProcurement  will  also  increase  transparency,  through  an  electronically  structured 

system.  The  administrative  burden  on  procurers  will  be  greatly  lessened  thanks  to  online 

consultations, online support, eSignature and SMS notifications. 

91 

 
 
 
3.14  Ireland 

3.14.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Ireland’s CSR of 2019.107 

Ireland is currently in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact and is subject to the debt 

rule.  The  government  expects  the  headline  balance  to  improve  to  0.2%  of  GDP  in  2019  and  then 

continue to improve thereafter to reach 1.3% of GDP by 2023. The general government debt-to-GDP 

ratio is expected to fall to 61.1% in 2019 and to continue declining to reach 51.6% by 2023. Ireland is 

expected to comply with the provisions of the Stability and Growth Pact in 2019 and 2020. 

In 2019, Ireland is urged to continue its fight against aggressive tax planning, so as to ensure fairer 

and more efficient tax systems. Ireland has already taken some measures in this regard, but the high 

level of royalty and dividend payments as a percentage of GDP suggests that Ireland’s tax rules are 

used  by  companies  that  engage  in  aggressive  tax  planning.  Very  few  companies  based  in  Ireland 

withhold taxes on outbound payments (i.e. from EU residents to third country residents). This may lead 

to those payments escaping tax altogether. 

Due to the rapidly ageing population, the Irish healthcare system is under pressure and Ireland faces 

fiscal sustainability risks related to the cost of ageing. Spending on healthcare is projected to rise from 

4.1% of GDP in 2016 to 5.1% in 2070. Although some sectors of the Irish healthcare system work well 

and are improving, the overall system continues to be inefficient, struggling to meet demand and not 

delivering a coordinated and integrated care. Recently, the Irish government approved and set up the 

Sláintecare Implementation Strategy to comprehensively reform and modernise Ireland’s health and 

social care services. This programme will render the system accessible and sustainable for everyone 

and meeting the high demand of an ageing population.  

Ireland  has  been  suffering  from  a  tightening  labour  market  and  increasing  skills  shortages  and 

mismatches  in  certain  sectors.  This  should  encourage  Ireland  to  increase  its  investments  in  skills, 

particularly  digital  ones,  that  will  better  need  today’s  labour  market  needs.  Further  investment  in 

education and training as well as in social inclusion are essential for improving Ireland’s productivity 

and  long-term  inclusive  growth.  In  addition,  digital  skills  remain  crucial  for  domestic  companies  to 

effectively use digital technology and to ensure a thriving domestic information and communications 

technology sector. 

Ireland continues to suffer from low levels of public research and development with only 1.05% of GDP 

dedicated  to  it,  compared  to  a  Union  average  of  around  2.0%.  Nevertheless,  the  country  recently 

adopted the Future Jobs Ireland 2019 programme, which provides a promising framework to stimulate 

innovation  and  technological  change  and  improve  the  productivity  of  small  and  medium-sized 

enterprises. 

107 COM (2019) 507 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Ireland and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Ireland, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 25 September 2019. 

92 

 
 
 
3.14.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Ireland since 2018. The 

information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of Ireland.108 

Political Communications 

In  2018,  Ireland  adopted  the  National  Public  Procurement  Policy  Framework,  which  defined  the 

overarching  policy  framework  for public  procurement  in  the  country.  It  established  the  procurement 

procedures to be followed by Government Departments and State Bodies under national and EU rules. 

In addition, in April 2018, the Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and 

Data protection signed the EU Declarations on Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Innovation Radar 

which aimed at harnessing opportunities for Ireland in the sector.  

Legislation 

Concerning eGovernment legislation, Ireland signed into law the Data Sharing and Governance Act 

2019 (the ‘Act’) on 4 March 2019. The Act came in the wake of the GDPR and Data Protection Act 

2018 and its purpose was to provide a generalised legal basis for the sharing of data between public 

bodies while also setting out appropriate safeguards under which such sharing could take place. 

Governance 

A single governance group, the Digital Leaders, was established in early 2019. Its main purpose is to 

drive and oversee digitalisation of services within the Irish Civil Service.  

Infrastructure 

In light of infrastructural changes related to eGovernment, Ireland has undertaken various innovative 

initiatives. The country implemented a new website, which is a central portal for online government 

services, allowing citizens to search and find all government services in a single, convenient manner.  

The  Government  Network,  which  is  a  privately  managed,  wide  area  multi-carrier,  national  network 

connecting  public  service  agencies  on  a  data,  voice  and  video  capable  network,  also  expanded  its 

work. In fact, in 2018, the Government Network broadened the provision of high speed, high capacity 

networks to smaller towns that until now had relied on lower capacity links. 

Services 

As part of the eGovernment services, Irish citizens can now request a new passport online as a result 

of the new Passport Renewal Service.  It can be used by Irish citizens living anywhere in the world and 

is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  

108 Digital Government factsheet 2019, Ireland. Accessed on 25 September 2019.  

93 

 
 
 
3.14.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Ireland109 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.110 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR issued for Ireland makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2. 

Recitals 

Recitals 13 and 14 point to the low percentage of workers with basic digital skills, one of the lowest in 

the EU. Thus, further investments in workplace-based training and upskilling of the adult workforce are 

crucial to improve Ireland’s productivity and growth. Further investment in digital skills will also benefit 

domestic companies who are lacking basic knowledge of digital technologies.  

Opportunities 

In recommendation 1 and in recital 11, there is a reference to the expected increase in age-related 

expenditure. The CSR thus suggests to ensure a more cost-efficient healthcare system and to pursue 

the envisaged pension reforms. These reforms could include the introduction of eHealth applications 

so as to increase the overall efficiency of the health sector. 

In recital 17, the CSR mentions the need to create stronger links between multinationals and domestic 

firms,  so  as  to  improve  the  diffusion  of  innovation  throughout  the  economy.  In  addition,  a  closer 

cooperation between firms and public centres would also increase Ireland’s innovation potential. This 

could be the opportunity to develop new measures to digitalise the business sector and help it to make 

the most out of new technologies. The digitalisation of businesses will boost investments and ensure 

a better and more efficient communication and cooperation between public and private entities. 

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

Recommendation 3 urges Ireland to focus investment-related economic policy on digital infrastructure. 

Indeed, further developing ultrafast broadband has become a key measure for the country in order to 

diminish barriers to business investment, as mentioned in recital 14.  

Recitals 

The CSR issued for Ireland makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding 

TO11. 

109 COM (2O19) 507 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Ireland and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Ireland, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 20 September 2019. 
110 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Ireland to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Ireland. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

94 

 
 
 
Opportunities 

Recital  10  mentions  the  need  for  Ireland  to  fight  against  aggressive  tax  planning  and  tax  evasion. 

Although some actions have been taken in this regard, the situation does not improve fast enough. 

Hence, the introduction of eTax solutions could help Ireland fight against aggressive tax planning and 

make the tax system more efficient and fairer for all. 

3.14.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Ireland’s NRP.111 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Further  development  of  digital  skills  in  education  and  training:  The  Irish  government 

developed  a  range  of  different  ICT  programmes  in  the  educational  sector,  for  individuals 

wanting  to  acquire  or develop  digital  skills.  These  programmes  particularly  target  the  adult 

working-age population, who lacks basic digital skills. The government also presented a new 

programme targeted at women wishing to pursue a career in the technology sector. Indeed, 

the  Skillnet  Ireland’s  Women  ReBOOT  programme  is  an  innovative  initiative  to  create 

opportunities  for  talented  women  to  work  in  the  technology  sector,  by  fostering  their 

professional and digital skills. Lastly, the Irish Science Foundation launched a new training 

programme for 700 postgraduate students in identified future skill needs in the digital, data 

and ICT areas.   

•  Digitalisation of the healthcare system: Ireland’s new National Development Plan for 2018-

2017  disposes  of  enough  budget  to  make  significant investments  in  the  healthcare system 

and its overall services. Ireland also implemented new health strategies and policies, including 

the adoption of eHealth services, which it wishes to further develop and expand. 

• 

Investment  in  the  development  and  deployment  of  innovative  technologies:  Project 

Ireland 2040, the overarching framework for the social, economic and cultural development of 

Ireland, has decided to allocate some funds (€500 million) to invest in the development of new 

innovative technologies to tackle national challenges. 

Thematic Objective 11 

Ireland’s NRP makes no specific reference to measures related to TO11. 

3.14.5 Operational Programmes  

A thorough evaluation of Ireland’s OPs for the 2014-2020 financing period has revealed that there are 

no initiatives planned under TO2 and TO11 that would fall under the scope of this study. 

111 Ireland National Reform Programme. Accessed on 8 October 2019.  

95 

 
 
 
 
3.15   Italy 

3.15.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Italy’s CSR of 2019.112 

Italy is still in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact and subject to the debt rule. According 

to  the  2019  Stability  Programme,  the  headline  deficit is projected  to  increase  from  2.1% of  GDP  in 

2018 to 2.4% in 2019, and then gradually decline thereafter. The medium-term budgetary objective is 

not planned to be reached within the programme period. In addition, the general government debt-to-

GDP ratio is projected to increase and reach 132.6% in 2019, and then decline to 128.9% by 2022. A 

debt-based excessive deficit procedure has been warranted to Italy due to its non-compliance with the 

debt rule in 2018. 

Italy’s taxation system continues to significantly weigh on the factors of production, to the detriment of 

economic growth, as the high tax burden on labour and capital prevents employment and investment 

growth. Efforts should be done to use tax bases that have a lesser impact on growth, such as property 

and consumption, and to reduce the complexity of the tax code as a way of fighting against tax evasion, 

which  is  particularly  high  in  Italy.  The  new  mandatory  electronic  transmission  of  receipts  for  all 

commercial transactions will prove beneficial in this regard.  

The fight against corruption remains a challenge for the country, especially with regard to the business 

environment and public procurement. Recently, the country has made some progress in improving its 

anti-corruption framework by giving a stronger role to the National Anti-Corruption Authority and by 

enacting a new anti-corruption law. However, the fight against corruption will remain ineffective as long 

as gaps will persist in the prosecution framework for specific offenses, in particular for embezzlement 

of public money. 

Italy’s old-age pension expenditure is among the highest in the EU and is expected to follow this trend 

in  the  medium  term,  due  to  the  worsening  old-age  dependency  ratio.  The  2019  budget  further 

increased pension expenditure. This situation impedes public spending on other social and growth- 

enhancing sectors such as education or investment. In addition, income inequality and risk of poverty 

are high, well above the EU average.  

Investments have consistently been below the Union’s average since the early 2000s and to change 

this, the country will need to further focus on technology transfer and to invest in intangibles. In addition, 

business and public expenditures on research and development are almost half the average level of 

the  other  euro  area  countries.  However,  investment  is  strongly  needed  to  raise  the  quality  and 

sustainability of the country’s infrastructure, in both the transport and energy sectors.  

Labour market conditions improved in 2018 but at a slower pace than in previous years. In fact, the 

country’s employment rate exceeded pre-crisis levels but is still far below the EU average. In addition, 

regional  gaps  remain  substantial  and  the  labour  market  remains  significantly  segmented,  with  an 

112 COM (2019) 512 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Italy and delivering a Council opinion on 
the 2019 Stability Programme of Italy, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 17 September 2019. 

96 

 
 
 
increase in the share of temporary workers. Lastly, long-term and youth unemployment remain high, 

which impedes on the country’s growth and social cohesion.  

3.15.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Italy since 2018. The 

information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of Italy.113 

Political Communications  

In March 2019, Italy’s Minister for Simplification and Public Administration, Giulia Bongiorno, approved 

the Three-Year Plan for Information Technology in public administration 2019 - 2021. In particular, the 

new  plan  introduced  a  novel  perspective  to  understand  the  digital  transformation  by  identifying  the 

areas of intervention and by defining the roles of the main actors involved. 

Legislation 

As  part  of  the  initiatives  for  the  digital  transformation  of  public  administrations,  Circular  No.  3  of  1 

October  2018,  was  approved.  It  urged  all  public  administrations  to  identify  within  them  a  person 

responsible for the transition to digital. 

Infrastructure 

In  2018,  Italy  created  the  Innovative  procurement  portal,  which  is  meant  to  promote  the  use  of 

innovation contracts, to support Italian public administrations in carrying out procurement procedures 

and  to  match  supply  and  demand  of  innovative  solutions  by  encouraging  effective  collaborations 

between public administrations, companies and research institutions, in line with the provisions of the 

Italian Digital Agenda.  

Services 

In 2018, the main change in digital public service delivery for citizens has been the possibility to rely 

on an Electronic Health File (FSE), which contains the set of digital data and documents of a health 

and social-health nature generated by present and past clinical events concerning patients. In addition, 

a new initiative called PagoPA, has been put in place to allow citizens and businesses to electronically 

pay public administrations, on the basis of rules, standards and tools defined by the Agency for Digital 

Italy and accepted by public administrations, banks, post offices and other payment institutions.  

3.15.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The  CSR  for  Italy114  is  analysed  according  to  TO2  and  TO11.  Furthermore,  for  each  TO  there  is  a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.115 

113 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Italy. Accessed on 20 September 2019. 
114 COM(2019) 512 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Italy and delivering a Council opinion on 
the 2019 Stability Programme of Italy, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 17 September 2019. 
115 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Italy to take action in domains related 
to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Italy. Thirdly, opportunities are issues brought 
up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

97 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

In  an  effort  to  fight  against  corruption,  recommendation  1  calls  on  the  Italian  government  to  better 

control and encourage the use of ePayments by imposing lower legal thresholds for cash payments. 

In recommendation 2, Italy is urged to improve its educational outcomes, by fostering upskilling and 

strengthening its digital skills. In addition, recital 19 also mentions the need to further invest in digital 

skills and digital infrastructure. In order to do so, the country needs to firstly invest in human capital so 

as  to improve  the  employability  of  its  workers.  Indeed,  the  country  needs  to  boost  adult  learning in 

order to meet the future needs of the labour market and this could be done through the acquisition of 

eSkills. 

Recitals 

The CSR issued for Italy makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding 

TO2. 

Opportunities 

The  CSR  issued  for  Italy  does  not  describe  needs  that  can  be  linked  to  opportunities  to  intervene 

regarding TO2.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

In  recommendation  3,  Italy  is  encouraged  to  improve  the  effectiveness  of  its  public  administration 

through  investments  in  the  skills  of  public  employees,  acceleration  of  digitalisation  and  increase 

efficiency of public services.  

Recitals 

In recital 24, the CSR for Italy urges on the need to enforce eInvoicing in all public administrations.  

Opportunities 

In recommendation 4, Italy is urged to reduce the length of its civil trials at all instances by enforcing 

and streamlining procedural rules. This can be seen as an opportunity for eJustice measures, and thus 

the use of ICT tools to improve efficiency. 

In addition to the use of ePayments suggested in recommendation 1, Italy could promote the use of 

eTax solutions to handle all types of financial administration processes. This would be beneficial for 

the fight against tax evasion, which is one of the main challenges faced by the country.  

3.15.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Italy’s NRP.116 

116Italy National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 9 October 2019.  

98 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 2 

• 

Investment in innovative and new technologies: Italy has invested €9.2 billion to develop 

key technologies, including supercomputers and artificial intelligence for the future of  Italy’s 

innovative  sector.  One  additional  sector  of  particular  interest  is  that  of  the  blockchain 

technology, which is increasingly central in the development of digital technologies in Italy, 

both in the private and public sectors. It is attracting significant investments and proposing 

regulatory issues which are particularly relevant and interesting. 

•  Launch  of  the  project  ‘Piazza  Wifi  Italia’:  In  order  to  stimulate  the  demand  for  digital 

services,  a  further  boost  has  been  given  to  the  WiFi.Italia.IT  plan.  With  this  project,  the 

government strives to make Italy a 4.0 country. For the realisation of this objective, the project 

'Piazza Wifi Italia' has been started, which will allow all citizens to connect, free of charge and 

in  a  very  simple  way  through  a  dedicated  application,  to  a  free  wi-fi  network,  covering  the 

whole national territory. The project will contribute to the lessening of regional disparities that 

continue to be a significant issue in Italy.    

•  Digitalisation  of  the  healthcare  system:  The  Health  Pact  2019-2021  contains  new 

measures aimed at implementing an Electronic Health File in all Italian regions. In addition, 

the government wishes to put in place a system of interconnectedness and interoperability of 

the National Health Service that will allow to track the patients’ health records. Lastly, the Pact 

has envisaged the implementation of an electronic reservation system to access healthcare 

facilities.  

• 

Implementation of eID: The Italian government has completed the design of the IT platform 

aimed at introducing the electronic identity card for all. The government is currently working 

on the last stage before its implementation and subsequent usage.  

•  Digitalisation  of  businesses,  especially  small-  and  medium-sized  enterprises:  The 

country also introduced financial benefits for small- and medium-sized enterprises, in line with 

the ‘Piano Impresa 4.0’. These financial investments will enhance the digital transformation of 

businesses and support the capitalisation of small- and medium-sized enterprises.  

•  Continuation of the National Digital School Plan: The Plan deals with the development of 

students’ digital skills as well as the training of teachers. In 2019, the government decided to 

put in place a National Digital School award and to continue the promotion of educational and 

digital innovation in schools throughout the whole territory, particularly focusing on rural areas. 

In  fact,  in  January  2019,  the  government  identified  60  schools  located  in  Italy’s  sub-urban 

areas where it invested €2 million to foster digital education and learning.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  More  efficient  use  of  eProcurement  tools:  Italy  continues  to  invest  in  the  digital 

transformation of its public entities, to endow its citizens with increasingly more digital tools 

to access essential services such as social security and civil registries. In addition, the country 

continues to reform its public administration through a programme called Programma per la 

razionalizzazione degli acquisti nella PA,  which aims at making more efficient and effective 

the use of eProcurement tools for both the public administration and businesses. 

99 

 
 
•  Further digitalisation of judicial procedures: In order to improve the efficiency and quality 

of the judicial system's performance, besides the reforms that have already been carried out 

at national level, the government also developed a dispute resolution platform to simplify and 

speed-up disputes. In addition, it set up a digital interoperable platform to deal with the fluxes 

of documents that circulate everyday between judicial offices and local authorities.   

•  Adoption  of  electronic  payments:  In  order  to  fight  against  tax  evasion,  the  country 

reinforced its use of ePayments, by lowering the legal limits for cash payments. Since January 

2019,  it  is  also  mandatory  to  dispose  of  electronic  invoices.  Together, these  measures  will 

help to tackle the problems of fiscal fraud, which remains a significant issue in the country.  

3.15.5 Operational Programmes 

For the funding period 2014-2020, four national OPs of Italy are specifically dealing with the themes 

related to TO2 and TO11. The OP ‘Education’117 on improving the efficiency of public administrations 

and public services through increased access to and interoperability of public data on education, as 

well as the definition and development of quality standards and quality management systems. In the 

OP ‘Governance and Institutional Capacity’118 the modernisation of Italy’s public administration as to 

increase  transparency,  interoperability  and  access  to  public  data  is  seen  as  a  key  priority.  The 

reduction of administrative burdens and the improvement of the judicial system are also at the centre 

of the funding priorities, along with the enhancement of online public services and digital inclusion. The 

OP ‘Social Inclusion’119 addresses the needs to improve skills and employability of marginalised people 

and to find new systems and models for social intervention. This includes the provision of training to 

public  servants  to  boost  their  ability  to  deliver  services.  Finally,  the  OP  ‘Employment’120  supports 

operations for reinforcing the administrative capacity of the labour market systems. 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Enhancement  of  interoperability  and  access  to  public  data:  in  order  to  achieve  a 

successful  modernisation  and  digitalisation  of  the  Italian  public  administration,  the  OP 

‘Education’ recognises the need to enhance the interoperability of and access to public data. 

This  concerns  also  school  administrations,  which  are  more  and  more  implementing  new 

administrative procedures embracing the ‘open government’ approach, and providing digital 

services, like online enrolment. 

•  Promotion of digital skills: The OP ‘Employment’ stresses the importance of increasingly 

promote  and  disseminate  the  necessary  digital  skills  both  in  the  schools  and  for  the  adult 

population, especially to guarantee the digital inclusion of groups of potentially disadvantaged 

people. 

117 Italy Operational Programme ‘Education’ 2014-2020. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
118 Italy Operational Programme ‘Governance and Institutional Capacity’ 2014-2020. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
119 Italy Operational Programme ‘Social Inclusion’ 2014-2020. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
120 Italy Operational Programme ‘Employment’ 2014-2020. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

100 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 11 

•  Adoption of innovative teaching methods with the help of ICT tools: According to the OP 

‘Education’, digitally equipped schools will be promoted as a way to foster the emergence of 

innovative teaching methods in order to tailor them to the evolving needs of the students. This 

entails also the possibility of accessing the didactic material through online means. 

• 

Improvement of the justice system: The OP ‘Governance and Institutional Capacity’ aims 

to improve the efficiency and performance of judicial offices through technological innovation 

and support the computerisation and digitalisation of the judicial offices. This aims to reduce 

the length of both civil and criminal proceedings and make the judicial process more efficient. 

•  Digitalisation and modernisation of the public administration: The OP ‘Governance and 

Institutional  Capacity’  contains  actions  aimed  at  supporting  the  digitalisation  on  the  public 

administrations in order to strengthen transparency, accountability and citizens’ participation 

through the development of open data and open government. This in turn aims to achieve the 

integration and simplification of the processes that affect citizens and businesses, with a focus 

on the simplicity and usability of services and online communication, as well as on the digital-

by-default principle and a reduction of administrative burdens. 

• 

Improvement of online services for citizens and businesses: One of the priorities of the 

OP ‘Governance and Institutional Capacity’ is to increase the use of online services. In order 

to do that, the aim is to provide better and interoperable digital public services to both citizens 

and businesses. 

•  Enhancement  of  civil  servants’  digital  literacy:  The  OP  ‘Governance  and  Institutional 

Capacity’ mentions actions aimed to strengthen the digital skills of the civil servants involved 

in the management and provision of services like ePayments, eInvoicing and eID. 

• 

Increased  transparency,  interoperability  and  access  to  public  data:  The  OP  ‘Social 

Inclusion’  highlights  the  need  to  improve  the  integration  of  information,  statistical  and 

administrative  databases  by  developing  shared  systems  in  the  social  policy  field  aimed  at 

simplifying citizens’ access to public data, as well as allowing the use of existing information 

by the public administrations themselves, thus reducing administrative burden. 

101 

 
 
 
 
 
3.16   Latvia 

3.16.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Latvia’s CSR of 2019.121 

Latvia is currently in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth pact. The government plans an 

improvement of the headline balance from a deficit of 1.0% of GDP in 2018 to a deficit of 0.5% of GDP 

in 2019 and 0.4% of GDP in 2020. The medium-term budgetary objective is planned to be reached in 

2019  and  the  general  government  debt-to-GDP  ratio  is  expected  to  decrease  to  33.1%  of  GDP  by 

2022.  

The  income  inequality  in  Latvia  stills  amongst  the  highest  in  the  EU  due  to  the  low  redistribution 

produced by the tax-benefit system. It limits the correct delivery of public services such as healthcare 

and  social  inclusion.  At  the same  time,  tax  burden  on  labour  remains  high  for low-wage  earners  in 

comparison to EU levels, and the share of the shadow economy is higher as well. On another hand, 

and as a result of tightened regulations, money laundering risk in Latvia has significantly decreased 

since May 2018.  

The country faces challenges on delivering social protection and inclusion principles, as poverty risk 

among the elders and the people with disabilities is high, and benefits do not keep pace with wage 

growth. Further investments are then required to address social exclusion.  

Because of adverse demographic developments and emigration, the labour market is tightening. In 

addition, employment varies between regions and skills levels. The labour force is limited due to the 

low level of digital skills that languishes businesses and their potential for innovation. Concerning the 

education system, it performs well in terms of learning achievement but access to quality education 

remains dependent on the place of residence and type of school. Vocational school environment has 

improved due to recent reforms, but further investments are required in order to align education with 

the future needs of the labour market. 

Despite  undergoing  reforms  and  increased  funding,  the  Latvian  health  system  needs  to  tackle 

inefficiencies such as workforce shortages, especially of nurses, and ensure timely and equal access 

to healthcare for everyone. Early phase reforms to address these issues should be accelerated. 

Moreover, Latvia’s investment gap in innovation is important as research funding relies almost entirely 

on  European  Union  Funds.  Therefore,  the  country  is  a  moderate  innovator  with  strengths  in 

information, communication and technology infrastructure but weaknesses in human resources, public-

private cooperation and investments in intellectual property.  

Regional disparities arise regarding the competitiveness and quality of  public services. Investments 

needs to address significant differences in mobility and digital infrastructure. Following the uncovering 

of  several  high-profile  corruption  cases,  some countermeasures  have  been  adopted.  Nevertheless, 

the  procurement  process  still  lacks  transparency.  Finally,  the  CSR  for  Latvia  stresses  that  public 

121 COM (2019) 514 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Latvia and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Latvia, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 20 September 2019. 

102 

 
 
 
services  have  not  been  adjusted  to  the  declining  and  ageing  population.  Hence,  infrastructure  and 

public  services  are  underused  in  the  rural  areas.  For  this,  a  territorial  reform  is  planned  to  be 

implemented in 2021. 

3.16.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Latvia since 2018. The 

information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Latvia.122 

Political Communications 

In  2018,  the  Office  of  Citizenship  and  Migration  Affairs  launched  the  Modernisation  of  the  Natural 

Persons Data Service project for the European Regional Development Fund. Its objective is to develop 

the  information  system  for  the  Register  of  Natural  Persons,  which  will  be  based  on  the  existing 

Population  Register, and  extending  the  population  register to  foreign  nationals  who  enter  into  legal 

relations  with  the  state.  During  the  same  period,  the  National  Blockchain  Working  group  has  been 

developed by the Ministry of Economics. A policy planning document was written to inform the Cabinet 

of Ministers about the perspectives and advantages that the blockchain technology can bring to the 

public and private sector. 

Legislation 

The eID Decision on ‘Possible financing solutions for the provision of certification services in personal 

certificates (eID) and how a single and priority means for ensuring the electronic identity of a person’ 

was approved by Cabinet of Ministers on 28 August 2018 and submitted to Parliament for enactment 

on 1 January 2021. It endorsed the recommendation to make a personal certificate (eID) a mandatory 

personal  identification  document  for  all  Latvians  during  the  transitional  period.  In  the  field  of  data 

protection,  through  Article  29  of  the  Personal  Data  Protection  Act,  the  Data  State  Inspectorate 

oversees determining violations and imposing penalties against those in violation of the Act. Finally, 

Latvia has six laws and acts related to base registries, the population, civil, enterprise, land, and vehicle 

registries Laws. 

Governance 

The  legal  successor  to  Kaspars  Gerhards,  the  Minister  of  Environmental  Protection  and  Regional 

Development, is now Juris Pūce. 

Infrastructure  

Concerning digital infrastructure, the Latvian government implemented two main measures. The most 

recent one being the Latvia’s eIDAS-Node: this software is a sample implementation of the eIF eIDAS 

Profile.  The  software contains  the  necessary  modules  to  help  Member States  to  communicate  with 

other eIDAS-compliant counterparts in a centralised or distributed fashion. In 2017, the eIDAS solution 

was implemented for use by Latvia’s and EU eServices, in accordance with eIDAS regulations. The 

CEF  eID  Digital  Service  Infrastructure  (DSI)  allows  citizens  of  one  European  country  to  use  their 

national eIDs to securely access services provided in other European countries.  

122 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Latvia. Accessed on 1 October 2019.  

103 

 
 
 
Services 

In 2018, Latvia implemented a mobile application, Ceļo droši (Travel Safe) which provides citizens with 

information to prepare for cross-border trips, warns of possible risks abroad and gives directions in the 

event of an emergency. In addition, the country implemented a register for the safety of travellers. The 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided an option for travellers to register their travel data so that the foreign 

service could offer assistance in case of emergency.  

3.16.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Latvia123 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.124 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

In recommendation 3, the CSR for Latvia encourages to focus investment-related economic policy on 

innovation and, amongst others, digital infrastructure. This shall be done taking into account regional 

disparities.  

Recitals 

The CSR for Latvia makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding TO2.  

Opportunities 

In recommendation 2, Latvia is urged to consider upskilling of low-skilled workers and jobseekers. The 

education in eSkills to improve digital literacy of unemployed citizens or those working low-skilled jobs 

could therefore be an opportunity to prepare the future labour market.  

Both, in recommendation 2 and recital 12, the CSR stresses the need of increasing accessibility, quality 

and  cost-effectiveness  in  the  healthcare  system.  By  introducing  eHealth  services,  the  three  issues 

could be addressed.  

Thematic Objective 11  

There are no recommendations, recitals or opportunities linked to TO11 in the CSR for Latvia 

3.16.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Latvia’s NRP.125 

123 COM (2019) 514 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Latvia and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of Latvia, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 20 September 2019.   
124 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Latvia to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Latvia. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 
125 Latvia National Reform Programme. Accessed on 20 September 2019.  

104 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 2 

•  Development of the eHealth system: The Latvian government has made an eHealth system 

available  to  residents,  medical  institutions  and  pharmacies  since  12  September  2016.  By 

January 2018 its use became mandatory. The eHealth portal www.eveseliba.gov.lb provides 

residents  access  to  their  electronic  healthcare  and  enables  medical  practitioners  to  write 

medical documents such as ePrescriptions, eSick leaves and execute eRefferals. A further 

development of eHealth system is planned using funding from EU funds programming period 

2014-2020.  On  another  side,  there are  intentions  to  introduce  an  IT solution  to  ensure the 

availability  of  clinical  guidelines,  as  well  as  drafted  clinical  algorithms  and  paths  of  clinical 

patients to medical practitioners.  

•  Development of eGovernment and eServices on a one-stop-shop principle: Latvia has 

ensured  the  availability  of  basic  services  necessary  to  residents  and  entrepreneurs 

electronically  in  the  single  electronic  contact  point  www.latvija.lv.  In  2019  it  is  planned  to 

organise a design thinking workshop on the development of content of the business section 

of the Portal.  

•  Digitalisation  of  cultural  heritage  content:  In  2017  the  National  Library  of  Latvia  in 

cooperation  with  the  culture  Information  Systems  Cetre  and  other  institutions  started  the 

implementation of the ERDF project Digtialisation of Cultural Heritage Content (Round 1). It 

is planned to develop single open information system platform stage one and its components, 

to create cultural heritage digitalisation competence centres. In 2019 extensive digitalisation 

of cultural heritage collection was carried out.  

•  Promotion of a wider use of an eID card: The Cabinet of Ministers supported the proposal 

to determine eID as a mandatory and primary means of personal identification starting from 

2023 envisaging a transition period from 2019 until 2022.  

•  Development  of  eSkills:  In  order  to  foster  the  development  of  information  society,  the 

opportunity will be given to the Latvian population to learn eSkills relevant to their education 

and professional activity. The eSkills development policy includes, among others, the following 

activities: improvement of eSkills of the population, entrepreneurs and employees of public 

administration; training of the employed organised in a form of partnership; and eSkills training 

for the unemployed and job seekers. Additionally, a programme envisaged to end in 2020 will 

be launched to inform society about various state and municipal eSolutions.  

•  Support measures to reduce unemployment: Several measures were introduced in 2018 

to  help  young  people  and  unemployed  to  develop  practical  digital  skills  and  to  foster  the 

possibility for them to find a job. 31 online trainings were organised for young people and a 

survey tool available online was improved in order to better monitor the quality of trainings for 

unemployed.  

• 

Introduction  of  modern  teaching  methods:  The  Cabinet  of  Ministers  approved  several 

reforms on education in order to promote technologies and engineering sciences among the 

pupils.  A  new  curriculum  was  developed  for  examinations  in  Physics,  Chemistry,  Natural 

Sciences as well as for 12 diagnostic tests in STEM subjects. Moreover, digital teaching is 

being  encouraged  and  particular  attention  is  paid  to  the  supply  of  STEM  interest-related 

105 

 
 
education programmes, such as the organisation of the Baltic and Nordic Regional Informatics 

Olympiad in 2020.  

•  Modernisation  of  the  material-technical  base  of  higher  education  institutions:  A 

territorially focused infrastructure of the studies and scientific works is being enhanced by the 

provision of advanced devices, equipment and new technologies. Fields of studies such as 

natural  sciences,  mathematics,  information  technologies,  engineering,  manufacturing  and 

construction are the ones targeted by the measure.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Reduction  of  administrative  burden  in  municipalities  through  digital  processes:  A 

measure was taken in 2018 to effectively reduce administrative burden at local level by putting 

in place a new digital infrastructure. It aims at improving the cooperation between different 

levels of public regulatory authorities by digitalising information exchange processes.  

• 

Improvement of the system for prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing: 

A plan was approved in 2018 providing an extensive range of infrastructure measures to be 

taken  in  order  to  improve  the  system  for  prevention  of  money  laundering  and  terrorist 

financing. Several measures were taken among which, the need of introducing information 

technology solutions for timely and efficient data management.  

•  Shadow economy combating measures: From October 2017 an electronic working hours 

registration  in  construction  was  introduced  aiming  to  arrange  the  construction  sector, 

improving  payment  of  taxes  for  employees,  preventing  illegal  employment  and  incorrect 

registration of working hours, as well as improving traceability of economic activity.  

3.16.5 Operational Programmes  

For the funding period 2014-2020, one OP of Latvia is specifically dealing with themes related to TO2 

and TO11. The OP ‘Growth and Employment’126 focuses on promoting the information society; ensure 

competitiveness and innovation of SMEs; promoting employment and work force mobility; investments 

in education; skills and lifelong learning; enhance social inclusion and fight against poverty and efficient 

administration of the EU funding.  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Digitalisation of rural areas: To reduce the digital divide between low and high economic 

interest  areas,  Latvia  plans  to  contribute  to  the  continuation  of  the  2007-2013  project 

‘broadband  communication  infrastructure  in  rural  areas.  The  aim  is  to  ensure  increase  the 

mobility  of  the  rural  population  and  the  business  community  by  using  the  high-quality 

broadband  service  benefits,  e.g.  access  to  e-services,  high-volume  data  transfer  or  e-

commerce.  

•  Promotion of ICT in businesses: Latvia acknowledges the benefits of ICT and its application 

in  the  commercial  and  socio-economic  environment,  in  particular  regarding  information 

126 Latvia Growth and Employment Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

106 

 
 
 
exchange.  To  support  the  continuous  use  of  ICT  in  economic  activity,  there  is  a  need  for 

broadband network development and the development of digital infrastructure.  

•  Creation  of  eHealth  infrastructure:  Latvia  plans  to  continue  the  efforts  on  the  eHealth 

integration platform that was set up in the 2007-2013 planning period. Furthermore, systems 

that  will  transform  the  health  sector, like  eReferral,  electronic  health  records,  ePrescription 

and a single eHealth portal will be put in place. To ensure a successful implementation in the 

EU framework, eHealth solutions for interoperability and standardisation will be considered.  

•  Fostering  of  eLearning:  Investments  are to  be  continued  to  develop  eLearning  solutions. 

Latvia aims to expand the educational information system’s current capacity by integrating it 

in  other  information  systems.  Furthermore,  ICT  investments  to  ensure  digital  teaching 

materials and a digitalisation of the education will be made.  

•  Development of eCulture: To ensure that the Latvian cultural heritage is as widespread as 

possible and can be freely available online, the process of digitalisation of cultural resources 

is ongoing. ICT opportunities to access culture promote not only cultural presence online but 

also  promote  new  products  and  services.  Latvia  intends  to  continue  to  finetune  the  earlier 

investments made to protect cultural heritage, including the creation of the digital library of 

eServices.  The  next  step  entails  the  set-up  of  publicly  accessible  digital  collections  and 

making cultural content resources available to the general public. Furthermore, the cultural 

guidelines ‘Creative Latvia’ will be digitalised.  

•  Creation of an ICT platform for spreading the use of digital tools among the population: 

Latvia indicated to foster its ICT infrastructure by establishing a centralised administration and 

ICT platform with interfaces transformation, modernisation and semantic technology.  

•  Provision of eServices: To enhance the operational process of public administration as well 

as  the  service  delivery,  Latvia  intends  to  invest  in  transformation  and  optimisation  through 

ICT. By establishing electronic services, the most cost-effective solutions such as the one-

stop  shop  principle  and  user  support  security  can  be  established.  Furthermore,  these 

innovations will raise the possibility of ICT use for citizens.  

•  Enhancement  of  digital  administration:  Latvia  aims  to  foster the  use  of  eServices  by  its 

citizens. Therefore, it will not only ensure the citizens possess the adequate skills to benefit 

from  digital  services  but  also  enhance  the  digitalisation  process  of  the  health,  education, 

justice  and  cultural  services,  continuing  the  transformation  towards  fully  digitalised 

administrations.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Establishment  of  an  open  data  system  to  improve  data  exchange  among  the  public 

administration:  Latvia  will  deploy  the  SAM  framework  to  enhance  and  improve  data 

exchange, data publication and availability of data. A centralised information interoperability 

platform will be established that ensures full public electronic data exchange between systems 

and  increase  opportunities  for  local  information  systems  to  transfer  data  to  the  state 

information systems in a secure way and open for citizens.  

107 

 
 
•  Stimulation  of  eInvoicing:  The  government  will  stimulate  the  development  of  information 

and data services that can be used in the creation of services for private sector e-business 

and  eCommerce  solution.  Furthermore,  it  considers  eInvoicing  as  one  of  the  e-business 

development-enhancing aspects of ICT investment. 

•  Development of eGovernment and interoperability: To ensure Latvian integration into the 

European single market and to ensure cross-border cooperation, it is planned to provide the 

national e-solution for interoperability with the EU solutions, including the creation of machine 

translation technology base. 

•  Digitalisation of the justice system: To ensure a timelier processing of the case load and 

related problems, Latvia will develop a wide range of modern ICT based solutions to use in 

judicial  proceedings.  These  eSolutions  include  an  investigations  and  judicial  proceedings 

eFile  solution  and  also  introduce  the  process  of  eProceedings.  Furthermore,  a  centralised 

electronic archive data system will be introduced to monitor the judicial process quality.  

• 

Investment  in  innovation  capacity  building:    Latvia  intends  to  respond  to  the  current 

challenges  in  the  field  of  research  and  development.  Therefore,  it  will  invest  in  innovation 

capacity building with particular attention to knowledge-based development and scientific and 

technological development of human capital, including in the field of ICT.  

108 

 
 
 
3.17  Lithuania 

3.17.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Lithuania’s CSR of 2019.127  

Lithuania is currently in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact. The Government intends 

to reach a headline surplus of 0.4% of GDP in 2019 and 0.2% in 2020, and then steadily decrease to 

reach 0.1% by 2021. The general government debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to fall from 34.2% of GDP 

in 2018 to 32.9% in 2022. The Commission’s 2019 spring forecast states that Lithuania’s structural 

balance is forecasted to register a deficit of 1% of GDP in 2019 and 0.9% in 2020, in compliance with 

its medium-term budgetary objective.  

Despite significant efforts and measures to fight the shadow economy and tax evasion, Lithuania’s tax 

compliance  remains  low.  In  fact,  the  country  continues  to  have  one  of  the  largest  value  added  tax 

(VAT) gaps in the EU. The tax base should be broadened so as to close this gap and improve tax 

collection.  

In  2018,  a  new  pension indexation  formula  was introduced  to  ensure the  fiscal  sustainability  of  the 

Lithuanian pension system, which is expected to diminish public pension expenditure in the long-term. 

Nonetheless, the current system is driven by a decline in employment, which may negatively impact 

pension adequacy as pension benefits would not be able to keep up with wage growth. The pension 

benefit ratio is expected to continue its steady decline, although it is already one of the lowest in the 

Union.  

One of the main challenges faced by Lithuania is the high proportion of people at risk of poverty and/or 

social  exclusion.  This  poses  a  threat  to  any  prospect  of  inclusive  economic  growth for the  country. 

Although some reforms have been put in place, such as an increase in the universal child benefit, more 

efforts are still needed for the country to converge towards the Union’s average levels of social security.   

As a consequence  of  robust  economic  growth  and  adverse  demographic  developments,  including 

emigration, Lithuania’s labour market significantly tightened. As a result, the country continues to face 

skills  shortages  and  mismatches.  Thus,  significant  steps  are  still  needed  to  consolidate  the  higher 

education network and provide everybody with the relevant skills. Reforms in vocational education and 

trainings are also needed so as to modernise the curricula. The Lithuanian economy could also benefit 

from further investments in upgrading, especially digital skills and innovation. 

Lithuania’s healthcare system also lacks investments and requires deep reforms. These measures are 

needed  to  improve  the  quality  of  primary  care  services  and  ensure  a  better  and  more  systemic 

cooperation between public health offices and primary care. In addition, measures to tackle and fight 

corruption in the healthcare system are particularly needed.    

127 COM (2019) 515 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Lithuania and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Lithuania, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 25 September 2019.  

109 

 
 
 
3.17.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Lithuania since 2017. 

The information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of Lithuania.128 

Political Communications 

In the first quarter of 2019, Lithuania adopted a National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence. The strategy 

details the importance of development and harnessing of AI by state institutions and the private sector. 

It also lays down six priority areas and detailed policy recommendations for each.  

Legislation 

The Lithuanian government adopted several pieces of legislation relating to eID and Trust services in 

2018.  One  of  them  is  the  Law  on  Electronic  Identification  and  Trust  Services  for  Electronic 

Transactions, which ensures the compliance of Lithuania’s legal framework with the eIDAS Regulation. 

Its  main  purpose  is  to  create  a  legal  basis  for  the  effective  operation  of  electronic  identification,  to 

ensure the best possible protection of the users’ interests.  

Governance 

The  Lithuanian  Ministry  of  the  Economy  and  Innovation  is  now  the  main  governmental  body 

responsible for the policy setting and coordination in the digital government domain.  

Infrastructure  

In 2018, the Information Society Development Committee started to implement a new project to create 

appropriate  organisational  (management),  methodological,  legal  environment  and  tools  for  smooth, 

operational-oriented  and  secure  state  information  resource  infrastructure  consolidation  and  provide 

cloud services. In addition, the same Committee started a project to develop and deploy information 

and communication technology infrastructure for state cloud services and form human resources which 

need to provide state cloud services. 

Services 

Two  main  services  for  citizens  entered  into  force  in  2018.  The  first  one  relates  to  the  expanded 

functionalities of the Information System of Legal Entities Participants. In fact, it is now possible for 

users  to  provide  data  about  members  and  shareholders  of  cooperative  companies  and  agricultural 

companies online. The second service is a Passenger’s portal, where travellers can fill in and present 

to Lithuanian Customs various types of declaration including travellers’ declaration, cash declaration, 

etc. The portal also contains various information for travellers.  

128 Digital Government factsheet 2019, Lithuania. Accessed on 29 September 2019.  

110 

 
 
 
3.17.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Lithuania129 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is 

a subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.130 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Lithuania makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2.   

Recitals  

The  CSR  identifies  in  recital  14  the  need  for  Lithuania  to  invest  in  digital  skills  in  order  to  support 

competitiveness and innovation, which are significantly lacking in Lithuanian firms. In fact, there is a 

shortage of information and communication technology specialists, who are strongly needed, so as to 

foster a shift towards a more knowledge-based economy. In addition, recommendation 2 and recital 

11 point out that Lithuania’s labour market is suffering from significant skills shortages and mismatches. 

Hence, eSkills could also be included in educational and training systems so as to help jobseekers 

and workers meet the future needs of the labour market.  

Opportunities 

Recommendation  2  and  recital  12  explain  how  Lithuania’s  healthcare  system  faces  continuous 

challenges and is overall ineffective. In addition, despite new measures and reforms, corruption and 

irregularities in the sector persist. Hence, eHealth measures could serve as tools to curb these issues 

in the sector.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Lithuania makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO11.   

Recitals 

The CSR for Lithuania makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding 

TO11.  

Opportunities 

The CSR for Lithuania points out in recommendation 1 and recital 8 that the country should take new 

and stronger measures to fight against tax evasion. This could be the opportunity for Lithuania to set 

up eTax solutions so as to ensure all financial administrative processes undergo and are controlled by 

the same IT system. This tool would harmonise the procedures and reduce tax evasion.   

129 COM(2019) 515 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Lithuania and delivering a Council 
opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Lithuania, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 25 September 2019. 
130 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Lithuania to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Lithuania. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

111 

 
 
 
3.17.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Lithuania’s NRP.131  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Deployment  of  new  technologies:  Lithuania  aims  to  test  blockchain  technology  in  the 

country by issuing digital coins. It also wishes to build and enhance basic artificial intelligence 

competences, to then make them accessible to all business bodies and public administrations. 

In  2018,  an  electronic  licence  application  was  introduced  in  the  market  and  in  2019,  the 

government  plans  to  investigate  and  test  the  potentials  of  robotics  and  to  automate  some 

measures using a robot.  

•  Creation of an open data portal: The country wishes to increase the scale and opportunities 

of using new technologies. To do so, it needs to further open up public sector data by creating 

an open data portal, which is currently being developed. It will publish all public sector data 

and guidelines for public sector institutions, which will simplify the process of data opening.  

•  Digital  transformation  of  the  business  sector:  High-tech  companies  are  increasing  the 

country’s industrial competitiveness,  productivity  and  integration,  into  the  high-added  value 

chains of Europe. To continue the country’s industrial digitalisation, the Ministry of Economy 

and  Innovation  adopted  an  Action  programme  promoting  two  main  activities.  The  first  one 

relates  to  the  conduct  of  technological  audits  of  industrial  SMEs  so  as  to  evaluate  the 

possibilities and prospects of further digitalisation processes. The second activity refers to the 

installation  of  a  manufacturing  process  equipment  for  SMEs,  which  includes  integrated 

digitalisation technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, automation, smart sensors, 

clouds, etc.  

• 

Improvement  of  electronic  health  services:  New  measures  have  been  put  in  place  to 

improve  the  Lithuanian  Electronic  Health  System.  These  intend  to  limit  the  administrative 

burden on healthcare professionals and enhance the transparency of the whole healthcare 

system. The ePrescription functionality is also being successfully used.  

•  Creation of new electronic services for citizens: As the number of people with access to 

the internet increased, there is also a growing number of Lithuanians who uses public and 

administrative electronic services. The goal for 2019 is to create new services or update older 

ones in order to better respond to citizens’ needs and provide them with secure, advanced, 

user-friendly and responsive services.  

•  Enhancement of eSkills: In the framework of the Digital Europe Programme, Lithuania has 

expressed  the  need  to  further  develop  the  digital  skills  of  its  population,  particularly  in  the 

fields of high-performance computing and cybersecurity.  

131 Lithuania National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 14 October 2019.  

112 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 11 

•  Electronic  measures  to  simplify  tax  procedures:  The  State  Tax  Inspectorate  (STI) 

introduced an electronic system for dealing with administrative services (iAPS). It intends to 

promote voluntary tax payments and to simplify tax procedures by collecting, processing and 

saving income and expenditure data of those engaged in individual activities and by making 

more rigorous preparatory declarations of their personal income taxes.    

3.17.5 Operational Programmes 

For the funding period 2014-2020, one OP of Lithuania is specifically dealing with themes related to 

TO2 and TO11. The OP ‘Growth and Employment’132 focusses on promoting the information society; 

ensure  competitiveness  and  innovation  of  SMEs;  promoting  employment  and  work  force  mobility; 

investments in education; skills and lifelong learning; enhance social inclusion and fight against poverty 

and efficient administration of the EU funding.  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Enhancement of broadband internet access: to meet the objectives set out in the Digital 

Agenda,  Lithuania  will  speed  up  the  process  of  providing  a  minimum  of  30Mbps  internet 

access  across  all  households.  This  will  benefit  not  only  households  but  also  business 

enterprises and public sector institutions.  

•  Creation of a safer digital environment: As the amount of security incidents monitored by 

the  Lithuanian  National  Computer  Emergency  Response  Team  continues  to  grow,  the 

Government set out the objective to put strengthen the protection of ICT infrastructure and 

resources. Furthermore, Lithuania aims to ensure that ICT infrastructure meets the highest 

safety requirements using the following strategy: identify objects of the information structure 

of  particular  importance,  develop  and  implement  methodology  to  monitor  these  objects, 

provide support for the protection of ICT infrastructure with the necessary technological tools.  

•  Promotion of the reuse of public data: Lithuania intends to encourage the reusing of public 

sector data as it believes this creates considerable opportunities for setting up new businesses 

and jobs. This objective is aimed at developing tools to ensure a transparent, efficient and 

convenient  way  to  make  public  sector  information  available  for  reuse  and  encourage 

businesses and other stakeholders to actively use this information for the development and 

delivery of new digital services and products. In this way the objective will contribute to the 

development of new business opportunities, including electronic commerce.  

•  Enhancement  of  the  use  of  Internet:  Lithuania  would  like  to  increase  the  share  of  the 

population  that  uses  Internet  and  eServices.  Therefore,  it  will  provide  free-of-charge  public 

access to Internet for individuals in public libraries to enhance digital competences. This way, 

citizens can discover the potential of Internet without making the investment in putting in place 

infrastructure themselves first. 

132 Lithuania Operational Programme for EU Structural Funds Investments for 2014-2020. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

113 

 
 
 
•  Delivery  of  eServices:  To  ensure  advanced  eServices  for  individuals  and  businesses, 

Lithuania  will  deploy  ICT  solutions  in  administrative  procedures  and  digitalise  public 

administration.  The  aim  is  to  develop  customer-oriented  administrative  eServices.  The 

investments will come from the Administrative Public eService Design, Typing and Evaluation 

Model  and  will  include  electronic  public  procurement;  expansion  of  the  electronic  health 

system and electronic health services; dissemination of the Lithuanian cultural digital content; 

expansion  of  electronic  democracy  (development  of  measures  for  openness,  transparency 

and involvement of citizens) and advanced ICT solutions for intelligent transport systems and 

universal post service. 

•  Establishment  of  a  digital  business  environment:  The  Government  of  Lithuania  will 

support SME projects that focus on the implementation of eSolutions for businesses. These 

include efforts that aim to optimise business processes such as customer service, logistics, 

eMarketing and resource management using information technologies. 

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Development  of  eProcurement  system:  To  improve  the  existing  public  procurement 

system,  Lithuania  provides  funding  to  tackle  the  transparency  and  efficiency  of  public 

procurement. This implies setting out activities related to the development of electronic and 

centralised procurements.   

114 

 
 
 
3.18  Luxembourg 

3.18.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Luxembourg’s CSR of 2019.133   

Luxembourg  is  currently  in  the  preventive  arm  of  the  Stability  and  Growth  Pact.  The  government 

expects a decrease in the headline surplus from 2.4% in 2018 to 1.0% of GDP in 2019, followed by an 

almost  steady  increase  thereafter,  reaching  a  2.2%  surplus  in  2023.  The  medium-term  budgetary 

objective continues to be overachieved and the government debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to remain 

well below the 60% of GDP Treaty reference value. The structural balance is forecast to register a 

surplus of 0.9% of GDP in 2019 and 0.5% of GDP in 2020. 

The public expense, despite recent reforms and a proven viability of the social security system until 

2041, is expected to increase markedly in the long term due to the ageing of the population. Additional 

holistic  reforms  have  been  suggested  as,  for  now,  more  than  three  quarters  of  long-term  care 

expenditure comes from public sources. In order to diminish recent labour shortages and to sustain 

social cohesion and public finances, demographic policies need to concur with educational and training 

policies to tackle the challenges of the future digital economy.  

The  labour  market  is  performing  well  but  the  employment  rate  is  stagnating,  in  particular  for  older 

people. Further measures need to be envisaged to improve their participation to the workforce of the 

country. A draft law submitted to Parliament in 2014 which aims to encourage firms to hire and retain 

old workers is still pending. Luxembourg continues its efforts to diversify the economy into areas such 

as  the  information  and  communication  technologies  industry  and  the  space  sector.  However,  this 

significant public investment has not spilled over yet. The CSR for the country encourages to invest in 

digital skills, employability and education to align with the labour market needs.  

Concerning the housing market, investment and supply appear insufficient which may affect negatively 

to Luxembourg’s attractiveness. Two main issues arise: on the supply side, insufficient land availability 

and lack of incentives for private owners to sell land or buildings is the main bottleneck. On the demand 

side, high population and employment growth increases the prices. As a result, traffic congestion and 

pollution have exacerbated, and concerns rise about the sustainability of household debt. 

Lastly, the CSR for Luxembourg points out to the fact that tax rules are used by companies engaged 

in aggressive tax planning. Moreover, the majority of the foreign direct investment is held by special 

purpose  entities.  Luxembourg  takes  positive  steps  to  tackle  the  taxpayers  aggressive  planning 

strategies, an essential measure to prevent distortions of competition between firms.  

133 COM (2019) 416 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Luxembourg and delivering a Council 
opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Luxembourg, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 26 September 2019. 

115 

 
 
 
3.18.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The  following  are  some  of  the  digital  government  highlights  having  occurred  in  Luxembourg  since 

2018. The information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Luxembourg.134 

Political Communications 

In Luxembourg, the third national strategy on Cybersecurity was approved and implemented for the 

period  2018-2020.  The  Government  Council  approved  on  1  March  2019,  the  Luxembourg  NIF 

(National Interoperability Framework) defining the principles, the objectives, the governance and the 

recommendations  in  the  field  of  interoperability.  In  an  effort  to  fortify  the  digital  competitiveness  of 

Luxembourg  &  Europe,  the  government  signed  a  European  high-performance  computing  (HPC) 

declaration.  Known  as  EuroHPC,  the  move  promised  collaboration  in  setting  up  an  EU-wide  HPC 

network  initiated  by  Luxembourg.  Furthermore,  a  5G  taskforce  was  established  and  a  national  5G 

strategy was defined and launched on 12 September 2018. 

Legislation 

First of all, the Luxembourg Parliament adopted a new law on public procurement in 2018. Then, the 

law on electronic invoicing in public procurement and concession contracts passed on 26 March 2019. 

The  Law  of  14  September  2018  relating  to  a  transparent  and  open  administration  defined  the 

framework for the implementation of a policy of opening up to citizen’s administrative documents held 

by government departments, municipalities, local authorities and public institutions placed under the 

supervision of the State or under the supervision of the municipalities. And a new Law amending the 

amended Law of 1 August 2001 on the circulation of securities was published on 1 March 2019. The 

purpose of this new law was to create a legal framework enabling the circulation of securities created 

by new secure electronic registration technologies, in particular those based on the ‘Blockchain’, with 

the aim of increasing legal certainty in this area. 

Governance 

A Ministry of Digitalisation was put in place to promote ICT and contribute to the development of digital 

infrastructure  and  Prime  Minister  Xavier  Better  became  Minister  for  Digitalisation.  Moreover,  Marc 

Hansen also became Minister Delegate for Digitalisation.  

Infrastructure 

The new Cybersecurity Competence Centre (C3) promoted the national cybersecurity ecosystem by 

focusing  on  three  areas  of  expertise:  observation,  training  and  testing.  On  30  January  2019, 

Luxembourg  became  the  first  European  country  to  launch  an  AI  partnership  with  NVIDIA,  a  global 

pioneer in AI technology & GPU computing. As part of this national agreement, a joint AI laboratory 

will be set up in Luxembourg. Additionally, The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Principality of 

Monaco agreed in 2018 to launch a study to safeguard sensitive data in a Luxembourg Data Centre 

with  immunity  guarantees  and  privileges  resembling  those  of  the  Estonian  Data  Embassy  in 

Luxembourg.  Among  other  websites,  the  public  service  portals  guichet.lu,  douanes.public.lu  and 

fonctionpublique.public.lu were relaunched in 2018.  

134 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Luxembourg. Accessed on 3 October 2019.  

116 

 
 
 
Services 

New digital government services for citizens in Luxembourg in 2018 are the following: Informing the 

Ministry  of  Foreign  and  European  Affairs  of  a  decision  to  stay  abroad;  applying  for  a  certificate  of 

authenticity concerning a driving licence; online payment of a standard fine; contesting a fine or penalty 

notice when caught by a speed camera; registering on the electoral rolls; application to vote by post; 

consultation and/or modification of the bank details indicated to the Children’s Future Fund (CAE); and 

receive certain official documents in electronic format. Moreover, new digital government services for 

businesses in Luxembourg were launched in 2018 and are the following: New version of applying for 

a business permit; online services for maritime companies; mandatory reporting of infectious diseases; 

certifying Luxembourgish documents for use abroad; cooperation of professionals in the fight against 

money  laundering;  declaration  of  withholding  tax  on  directors'  fees;  declaration  of  apprenticeship 

vacancy; and staff delegate elections..  

3.18.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Luxembourg135 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there 

is a subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.136 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Luxembourg makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2. 

Recitals 

The CSR for Luxembourg makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding 

TO2.  

Opportunities  

In recommendation 1, the CSR for Luxembourg tackles the issue of the low employment rate of older 

people. In order to keep them engaged in the labour market, recital 8 points out that comprehensive 

measures  need  to  be  taken  to  improve  their  employability  and  to  increase  labour  market  options. 

Therefore, the training of older people aiming to develop eSkills could be a solution to raise their labour 

market opportunities.  

Thematic Objective 11 

There are no recommendations, recitals or opportunities linked to TO11 in the CSR for Luxembourg. 

135 COM (2019) 516 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Luxembourg and delivering a Council 
opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Luxembourg, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 26 September 2019.  
136 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Luxembourg to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Luxembourg. Thirdly, opportunities 
are issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

117 

 
 
 
3.18.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Luxembourg’s NRP.137  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Measures to improve lifelong learning and digital skills: The Luxembourgish government 

will implement the measures of the white paper on the national strategy for lifelong learning. 

Hence, in order to improve the quality in the area of adult training and to secure jobs for older 

people, the Luxembourg Digital Skills Bridge pilot projects will be launched.  

•  Digitalisation  of  administrative  procedures  through  a  portal:  The  one-stop  shop 

Guichet.lu  was  completely  redesigned  and  modernised  in  2018.  The  use  of  the  portal  in 

general,  and  in  particular  the  transactional  process  offered  online,  have  grown  rapidly  and 

exponentially  in  recent  years.  For  instance,  the  use  of  eGovernment  procedures  has 

increased by more than 500% in four years.  

•  Measures to boost digitalisation in the business sector: Luxembourg has made significant 

investments in the integration of digital technologies in companies and is now one of the most 

advanced European countries in terms of digitalisation. Various specific actions are envisaged 

in the 2019 innovation strategy such as: strengthening digital infrastructure by setting up an 

HPC  skills  centre;  supporting 

industry 

in 

integrating  digital 

technologies 

through 

experimentation  and  innovation;  and  the  setting  up  a  Digital  Innovation  Hub  for  industrial 

companies  of  all  sizes.  Moreover,  a  legal  and  financial  environment  conductive  to  the 

development of a data-driven economy will be created.  

•  Creation  of  the  e-commerce  platform  LetzShop.lu:  The  Government  launched  an  e-

commerce platform project within the framework of the Pact PRO Commerce, together with 

the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  Luxembourg  Confederation  of  Commerce  and  the  larger 

municipalities. The aim of the platform is to function as a digital showcase for all businesses 

in Luxembourg and to enable traders to strengthen their visibility and/or enhance their image. 

Furthermore,  the  customer services  are increased  by  offering  a  dynamic,  fast  and  efficient 

online shopping experience for the customers.   

•  The  European  High-Performance  Computing  initiative:  This  initiative,  launched  by 

Luxembourg, will oversee the pooling of resources within the EU to develop and stimulate the 

use  of  supercomputers.  High  performing  computing  is  key  to  digitalising  industry  and  the 

economics of data.  

•  Open  Science  platform  cOAlition  S:  An  open  science  policy  for  scientific  data  and 

publications is to be determined. By increasing the flow of scientific knowledge through open 

access  to  scientific  data  and  publications  resulting  from  publicly  funded  research  the 

exploitation of scientific results will be maximised. Several national research funding bodies, 

137 Luxembourg National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 14 October 2019.  

118 

 
 
 
with  the  support  of  the  European  Commission,  have  already  launched  cOAlition  S,  a  joint 

initiative to achieve open and full access to research publications in 2020.  

•  Measures  to  support  innovation  through  digital  platforms:  With  regards  to  activities 

promoting  and  supporting  innovation,  an  innovation  portal  centralising  all  information  on 

Research Development and Innovation has been set up by the government. Moreover, a site 

which includes all innovative solutions originating in Luxembourg intended to promote the use 

of innovative solutions in public contracting. Finally, as a national contact point, Luxinnovation 

advises and supports researchers and companies.  

•  Enhancement  of  the  public  transport  network  through  technologies:  The  sustainable 

mobility  strategy,  MoDu  2.0,  aspires  to  the  development  of  public  transportation,  to  more 

intense use of the soft mobility concept and to the establishment of a near real time Public 

Transport Telematics System. 

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Smart specialisation strategy: Since 2017, the government is pursuing its efforts in adopting 

and implementing a smart specialisation strategy which recommends specific actions plans 

for developing priority sectors: manufactory industry 4.0, clean technologies, smart mobility 

and  the  circular  economy,  health  technologies  and  ICT.  These  areas  will  provide  the 

foundation for an innovative economy and a smart society.  

•  Action Plan for digitalisation in SMEs: In 2019, during the announcement of the 5th edition 

of the SME Action Plan in Luxembourg, it was decided that digitalisation of retail and craft 

businesses is one of the priorities. Furthermore, initiatives aimed at raising the awareness of 

business leaders and supporting them in their strategic approaches to implement digital tools 

will be supported by the government. Finally, the programme Fit4Digital will ensure the digital 

transformation of companies, and an SME support programme carried out with the support of 

Luxinnovation.  

•  Programmes to promote technology industries:  The Joint Research programme is being 

developed  to  promote  solid  public-private  partnerships  on  a  long-term  basis  between 

Research  and  Technology  Organisations  and  industries  in  areas  deemed  priority  by  the 

government. The first calls for projects should be launched in 2019. Moreover, the 2018-2023 

government programme stresses that intellectual property rights must be taken into account 

in  a  cross-functional  manner,  particularly  as  part  of  the  digital  innovation  strategy  for  the 

development of a sustainable data-driven and trust-based economy. Finally, the Luxembourg 

Cluster  initiative  will  stimulate  synergies  and  emulation  amongst  members  by  promoting 

networking  between  the  public  and  private  sectors,  open  innovation  and  exchange  of 

technologies  in  the  following  fields:  Biohealth,  eco-innovation,  ICT  and  automobility among 

others.   

3.18.5 Operational Programmes 

A  thorough  evaluation  of  the  Luxembourg’s  national  OPs  for  the  2014-2020  financing  period  has 

revealed that there are no initiatives under TO2 and TO11 that would fall under the scope of this study.  

119 

 
 
3.19   Malta 

3.19.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Malta’s CSR of 2019.138   

Malta is currently in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact. The Government projects a 

decline in its headline surplus from terms for 2.0% of GDP in 2018 to 0.9% in 2019, followed by a slight 

increase until 2022. The general government debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to remain below the 60%-

of-GDP Treaty reference value. The Commission 2019 spring forecast expects the structural balance 

to register a surplus of 0,6% of GDP in 2019 and then reach 0.8% of GDP by 2020, which is above the 

medium-term  budgetary  objective.  Nonetheless,  the  expenditure  developments  should  be  carefully 

monitored, especially in light of possible future risks of the robustness of revenues.  

Malta’s employment rate is now above the EU average and is still increasing. However, the gender 

gap persists and remains one of the largest in the Union as women’s participation in the labour market 

significant decline from their mid-thirties. More labour market support could help address this gap. 

Malta continues its fight against aggressive tax planning, which is essential to make tax systems more 

efficient  and  fairer.  However,  the  persistent  high  level  of  royalty  and  dividend  payments  as  a 

percentage of GDP indicates that Malta’s tax rules are still used by companies that carry out aggressive 

tax planning. To counter this, Malta has set up a Notional Interest Deduction regime, whose anti-abuse 

rules would guarantee close monitoring to counter any mistreatment for aggressive tax planning.   

Malta  invests  high  amounts  in  education  and  training.  However,  this  has  not  translated  into  better 

outcomes for all, nor has it reduced the numbers of early school leavers, which continues to be one of 

the highest rates in the Union and thus remains an important challenge for the country. To be in line 

with  the  EU’s  Social  Pillar  principle  on  quality  and  inclusive  education,  Malta  should  focus  its 

investment strategy on ways to tackle and correct the social disadvantage that persists in the country.  

Malta has increased its age-related public spending in the pension system. This may represent a  risk 

for the long-term sustainability of public finances, but it has helped to increase the supply of labour and 

prolong working lives, with positive impacts on overall employment, particularly for women and older 

workers.   

Regarding the healthcare sector, Malta has fostered the decentralisation of services from hospitals to 

primary care and took measures to improve the provision of long-term care services. However, these 

actions are not enough to decentralise services from hospitals to primary care level. The country has 

started  to  use  eHealth in  order  to  counter these  challenges  and  should  be  encouraged  to  continue 

doing so.   

The country has continued to improve the independence of its judiciary and justice system, by adopting 

an important reform on the establishment of a new prosecution service, independent from the Attorney 

138 COM(2019) 518 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Malta and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Malta, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 25 September 2019. 

120 

 
 
 
General  and  the  police.  However,  Malta  should  further  invest  in  strengthening  its  governance 

framework, by promoting an effective and anti-corruption enforcement.  

3.19.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Malta since 2017. The 

information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of Malta.139 

Political Communications 

Malta launched in 2018 various initiatives aimed at improving the country’s digital governance. These 

included  the  National  Cyber  Security  Awareness  and  Education  Campaign,  which  served  as  a 

framework to protect information systems, networks and information on the internet, together with the 

respective users of the services that they provide, including the government, the private sector and 

civil  society.  In  addition,  the  eSkills  Malta  Foundation  decided  to  develop  a  new  National  eSkills 

Strategy for the period of 2019 to 2021. It aims to complement initiatives at both the local and EU levels 

to address the need for existing and new digital skills that will be required by nearly all jobseekers in 

the medium-term.    

Legislation 

The eInvoicing Directive 2014/55/EU was transposed into Maltese local legislation in November 2018.  

Infrastructure 

In  2018,  Malta  became  one  of  only  four  Member  States  to  meet  the  regulatory  deadline  for  the 

recognition of other Member States’ eID schemes under the eIDAS Regulation. In addition, Malta also 

implemented  My  Personal  Kiosk,  which  is  an  mAdministration  service  to  provide  public  service 

employees  with  the  opportunity  to  access  their  leave  balance  (sick  and  vacation)  and  view  their 

payslips.  

Services 

As  a  means  of  enabling  digital  government  services  for  those  citizens  who  require  some  form  of 

assistance, servizz.gov, the national portal for citizens, set up five regional hubs across Malta to deal 

with education, taxes and family services.  

3.19.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Malta140 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.141 

139 Digital Government factsheet 2019, Malta. Accessed on 25 September 2019.  
140 COM(2019) 518 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Malta and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of Malta, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 25 September 2019. 
141 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Malta to take action in domains related 
to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Malta. Thirdly, opportunities are issues 
brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

121 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Malta makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2.  

Recitals 

Recital 7 mentions the gradual use of eHealth to decentralise services from hospitals to primary care 

level, which is needed to improve the provision of long-term care. This is a positive step for Malta, who 

should continue investing in eHealth to improve the overall efficiency of the healthcare sector.  

Opportunities 

Recital 11 states that Malta is lacking in innovative enterprises. To counter this, the country should 

invest in research and innovation, with a focus on smart specialisation and digital skills, in order to 

contribute to growth in productivity.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Malta makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO11.  

Recitals 

The CSR issued for Malta makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding 

TO11.  

Opportunities 

Malta’s justice system still needs significant reforms to counter problems of corruption. Although some 

efforts have recently been made, such as the creation of a new independent  prosecution service, a 

strengthened  governance  framework  is  still  needed.  The  establishment  of  eJustice  could  prove 

advantageous  for  the  country,  as  it  would  make  all  legal  actions  more  effective,  and  thus  make 

corruption less likely.  

Malta has also taken measures against tax planning. However, these have proved to be insufficient. 

Hence, the country could take this opportunity to invest in eTax so as to handle all financial processes 

through one single IT system, which could help to avoid tax evasion.  

3.19.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Malta’s NRP.142  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Development of primary health care services through electronic initiatives: By 2020, the 

country hopes to have introduced an Electronic Patient Record system, that will replace the 

current  paper-based  on.  This  will  significantly  cut  down  the  costs  related  to  health  care 

142 Malta National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 14 October 2019. 

122 

 
 
 
services and it will reduce the current administrative burdens faced by the personnel. This is 

intended to improve the overall health care provisions.   

•  Development  of  a  national  strategy  for  artificial  intelligence:  The  Maltese  government 

established  a  MALTA.AI  Taskforce  through  which  it  aims  to  foster  a  National  Strategy  for 

Artifical Intelligence. Through this taskforce, the government intends to discuss and consult 

with all relevant stakeholders in order to form a nationwide AI Framework, which will determine 

the policy, regulatory and fiscal measures that will bolster Malta’s appeal as a hub for AI. In 

addition, the Framework will determine the required skill base and infrastructure needed to 

support AI.  

• 

Introduction  of  blockchain  technology  in  education:  In  2018,  Malta  became  the  first 

country  to  use  emerging  blockchain  technologies  to  deliver  digital,  tamper-proof  and  self-

sovereign accreditations in the education system. The country aims to expand the usage of 

blockchain to other sectors and thus reinforce its strategic position as a “Blockchain island”. 

In addition, Malta put in place the Fintech Accelerator Programme so as to offer affordable 

facilities and services to start-up Fintech companies. The programme intends to capitalise on 

Malta’s growing importance as a global centre for blockchain innovation.   

•  Enhancement of citizens’ digital skills: The new Digital Malta Strategy aims at transforming 

Malta into a digitally enabled nation by empowering its citizens with basic digital skills that will 

allow them to take on new opportunities in the technology and digital sectors. The Strategy 

also wishes to make digital services more affordable, secure and accessible to all. Through 

the  eSkills  Malta  Foundation,  the  country  continues  to  focus  on  the  cooperation  between 

Government, education and businesses, with a strong focus on enhancing ICT skills that are 

fundamental to the country, if it wishes to sustain its Digital Economy. In 2018, the Foundation 

also launched the National eSkills Strategy 2019-2021 to sustain basic and advanced digital 

sills and to further develop IT professions. 

Thematic Objective 11 

•  New ICT reforms for the national justice system: In recent years, the Maltese government 

has embarked on a variety of initiatives to reform the national justice system. Indeed, since 

2018, the use of ICT tools allows advocates, notaries and procurators to scan certain judicial 

acts faster. In addition, other eJustice initiatives and the promotion of alternative measures of 

dispute resolution were put in place, in order to reduce bureaucratic barriers and delays in 

civil courts.  

3.19.5 Operational Programmes  

For the funding period 2014-2020, two OPs of Malta are specifically dealing with themes related to 

TO2  and  TO11.  The  OP  ‘Investing  in  human  capital  to  create  more  opportunities  and  promote  the 

wellbeing of society’143 will focus on employment, social inclusion, strengthening education and training 

systems  and  improve  administrative  capacity  and  efficiency.  The  OP  ‘Fostering  a  competitive  and 

143 Malta Investing in Human Capital Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

123 

 
 
 
sustainable economy to meet our challenges’144 sets out the ambitions to strengthen competitiveness 

of SMEs; promote social inclusion and invest in education.  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Empowerment  of  persons  with  special  needs:  To  ensure all  citizens  are empowered  to 

seize opportunities that will improve their lives, the Maltese government aims in OP ‘Investing 

in human capital’ to eliminate all barriers to training, education and other support measures 

which socially excluded persons and vulnerable groups might face, including digital illiteracy. 

Efforts will be made to provide the most vulnerable citizens with basic ICT skills, which is key 

in today’s society.  

•  Enhancement of students’ digital literacy and knowledge through ICT tools: Malta aims 

at  improving  the  educational  experience  of  children  by  enhancing  the  use  of  digital 

technologies and IT applications. The general aim is to better integrate digital technologies 

into the Maltese national curricula by providing appropriate technology equipment, including 

electronic  tablets,  and  further  online  learning  tools.  To  ensure  a  smooth  implementation, 

according  to  the  OP  ‘Investing  in  human  capital’,  complementary  trainings  in  ICT  will  be 

organised for teachers and schools’ staff.  

•  Enhancement  of  eServices:  As  indicated  in  the  Digital  Malta  Strategy,  various  entities 

providing  services  such  as  healthcare,  welfare,  justice,  tourism,  utilities  and  transport, 

amongst others, require specific ICT programmes which enable them to serve customers and 

cut across boundaries. In addition, through specific IT platforms and data sets, Government 

aims to improve service delivery and enable the shift towards new technologies To this end, 

the Government states in OP ‘Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy’ it will aim to 

simplify digital public services, extend Government transparency, make government services 

accessible and increase citizens’ engagement with government, amongst others, by further 

developing eGovernment services. 

•  Provision of better eHealth services: To provide eHealth services, Malta will facilitate the 

accessibility of health and clinical data through electronic means to enable more efficiency, 

flexibility and transparency in the delivery of healthcare practises for citizens as pointed out in 

OP  ‘Fostering  a  competitive  and  sustainable  economy’.  Both  the  eHealth  and  m-services 

developed  in  the  Digital  Malta  Strategy  are  planned  to  provide  citizens  secure  and  easy 

access to their health records as well as equip health care providers with secure access to 

patients’ records.  

•  Development  of  public  clouds:  To  reduce  the  administrative  burden  and  smoothen  the 

interface  between  Government  services  and  enterprises,  Malta  will  support  measures  to 

develop innovative public clouds. This will happen, according to OP ‘Fostering a competitive 

and sustainable economy’, through the provision of online Government certified ICT services. 

Furthermore,  as  a  measure  for  increasing  competitiveness  and  innovation,  Malta  is 

considering opening the access to its base registers. 

144 Malta Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy to meet our challenges Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 
2019.  

124 

 
 
 
•  Modernisation  and  digitalisation  of  businesses:  The  Government  plans  financial 

incentives in OP ‘Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy’ to support enterprises’ 

transformation  towards  innovative  and  digital  enterprises  that  allow  users  to  transmit 

information electronically, embrace smart application of web technologies and ICT products. 

The support measures include infrastructural investments for cloud computing mechanisms, 

and efforts to raise productivity and efficiency through the use of ICT and e-based solutions. 

Furthermore, the provision of a ‘single window’ system will be created to simplify information 

flows between trade and Government in cross-border interventions. As particular sector Malta 

is investing in, is digitalising the tourism sector to interact electronically on BDB and B2C level. 

The government is thus fostering both eCommerce and eTourism services.  

•  Enhancement of digital learning: Malta acknowledges in OP ‘Fostering a competitive and 

sustainable economy’ more efforts are needed to encourage digital learning amongst citizens. 

As eSkills are necessary to ensure access to the benefits of ICT, such as better employment 

prospects and social inclusion, the government plans more investment in actions that develop 

ICT skills. Besides focusing on citizens only, the Digital Malta Strategy also targets to increase 

ICT  entrepreneurial  activities  and  support  businesses  in  being  more  digitally  literate  and 

innovative  

•  Stimulation  of  ICT  in  the  private  sector:  As  set  out  in  OP  ‘Fostering  a  competitive  and 

sustainable  economy’,  Malta  will  allocate  8%  of  its  European  Regional  Development  Fund 

resources to stimulate investment in ICT and e-based solutions within the private sector. For 

the  period  of  2014-2020,  the  government  will  build  on  the  existing  framework  to  further 

increase  the  take  up  of  eServices  by  enterprises.  Actions  will  be  installed  to  facilitate  the 

exploitation of digital technologies to increase competitiveness.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Reform of the justice system: Based on OP ‘Investing in human capital’, the justice reform 

in  Malta  will  include  an  upgrade  of  the  existing  infrastructure  as  well  as  investment  in  ICT 

technology. Furthermore, the capacity building and training of court personnel to support this 

digital reform will be put in place.  

•  Reduction of administrative burdens through the implementation of eGovernment and 

other ICT tools: Malta recognises in OP ‘Investing in human capital’ ICT as a key contributor 

towards the reduction of administrative burden. Its application through eGovernment acts as 

an  enabler,  making  ICT  considered  as  an  important  tool  that  contributes  towards  the 

simplification of procedures as well as adopting a more customer-oriented approach. In this 

regard,  Government  will  ensure that  ICT  will  continue  to  be  leveraged  through  appropriate 

capacity  building  interventions  to  achieve  simplification  and  reduction  in  administrative 

burden.  Investment  within  this  area  will  provide  employees  within  the  public  administration 

with  the  necessary  skills  so  as  to  reach  the  main  aims  of  the  National  ICT  Interoperability 

Framework (NIF).  

•  Establishment  of  eProcurement:  As  the  investments  made  in  ICT  tools  in  the  public 

procurement field increased efficiency, the Maltese government indicates in OP ‘Investing in 

human capital’ to continue investment in a transformation towards an eProcurement system.  

125 

 
 
One  ambition  is  to  meet  the  provisions  of  the  revised  directives in  terms  of  eProcurement, 

making sure all public tenders with an estimated value exceeding the EU thresholds are being 

published as electronic tenders.  

126 

 
 
3.20  Netherlands 

3.20.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Netherlands’ CSR of 2019.145 

The  Netherlands  is  currently  in  the  preventative  arm of  the  Stability  and  Growth  Pact.  The  Stability 

Programme expects a decrease in the general government surplus from 1.5% of GDP in 2018 to 0.0% 

of GDP in 2022. In addition, the government debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast to fall from 52.4% of GDP 

in 2018 to 44.6% in 2022. Based on the Commission 2019 spring forecast, the structural balance is 

set to decrease slightly from a surplus of 0.8% of GDP in 2018 to 0.7% in 2019 and reach 0.2% by 

2020,  above  the  medium-term  budgetary  objective.  Lastly,  general  government  debt  is  forecast  to 

remain on a stable downward trend.  

The Netherlands can rely on qualified professionals with strong technical and digital skills that boost 

the country’s innovative capacity and productivity growth. Nevertheless, the country should continue 

on this path and further invest in training, including in new digital skills, and to promote flexible upskilling 

and reskilling opportunities. The Netherlands should focus these investments in training those at the 

margins of the labour market, so as to boost their employability and create an inclusive environment.   

Vast levels of household indebtedness are one of the key challenges in the Netherlands, with rigidities 

and distortive incentives that built up over decades. This, in turn, distorts housing finances and sectoral 

savings  patterns.  Since  2012,  the  government  has  implemented  a  series  of  measures  that  partly 

addressed  the  situation.  The  government  also  announced  an  accelerated  reduction  in  mortgage 

interest tax deductibility. However, this law will only be effective from 2020 onwards. Despite these 

efforts,  the  tax  relief  on  mortgage  payments  will  remain  generous  and  will  continue  to  result  in  a 

substantial debt bias for households.  

Regarding taxation, the Netherlands still needs to take action to fight against aggressive tax planning 

in  order  to  make  tax  systems  fairer  and  more  efficient.  The  country  has  already  adopted  some 

measures to counter this situation, but the high level of dividend, royalty and interest payments made 

via  the  Netherlands  suggests  that  the  country’s  tax  rules  continue  to  be  used  by  companies  that 

engage  in  aggressive  tax  planning.  In  addition,  the  absence  of  withholding  taxes  on  outbound 

payments, i.e. from EU residents to third country residents, encourages this behaviour and may lead 

to some payments avoiding tax altogether.  

Finally, despite a well-functioning labour market, with low unemployment and growth in employment, 

some  groups  continue  to  face  important  challenges.  However,  the  recent  employment  growth  has 

mainly  been  due  to  temporary  employment  and  self-employment.  Thus,  the  government  has  been 

focusing on solutions to make it easier to hire permanent employees and make flexible contracts more 

rigid. In addition, the country should focus on fostering equal opportunities as people with a migrant 

background and women are often left at the margins of the labour market.  

145 COM(2019) 519 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of the Netherlands and delivering a Council 
opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of France, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 27 September 2019. 

127 

 
 
 
3.20.2 Country Digital Government Outlook  

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in the Netherlands since 

2017. The information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of the Netherlands.146 

Political Communications  

In July 2018, the government published a new Digital Government Agenda, which is connected to the 

broader Dutch Digitalisation Strategy. The value driven digital government agenda is aimed at making 

optimal  use  of  digitalisation,  and  at  the  same  safeguarding  public  values,  like  autonomy  of  the 

individual citizen, and promoting inclusion.  

Legislation 

The Digital Government Law (wet Digitale Overheid) was sent for adoption to Parliament in June 2018. 

The proposed law has as objective to ensure a safe login for the Dutch citizens and businesses to the 

(semi) government entities. The law also arranges the competence to appoint mandatory standards. 

Governance 

Political responsibility for digital government in the Netherlands lies with the State Secretary for the 

Interior and Kingdom Relations. Sectorial ministers are responsible for ICT in their domains. 

Infrastructure 

In  preparation  of  a  National  Application  Programme  Interface  (API)  strategy  several  activities  were 

started  including  the  formation  of  a  national  API  alliance  which  drafted  a  National  API  strategy 

(currently in consultation), and an API platform is being developed. An API Platform was started by 

Geonovum,  in  cooperation  with  the  Bureau  Standardisation  Forum,  Chamber  of  Commerce,  VNG 

Realisation and the Land Registry. Given the development towards a digital society where many digital 

services must be able to work together easily, the Dutch government benefits from Knowledge Platform 

APIs which jointly looks at strategic and tactical issues related to  the development and use of APIs 

outside and within the government.  

3.20.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for the Netherlands147 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO 

there is a subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.148  

146 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, the Netherlands. Accessed on 27 September 2019.  
147COM (2019) 519 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of the Netherlands and delivering a Council 
opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of the Netherlands, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 27 September 2019. 
148 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on the Netherlands to take action in 
domains related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit the Netherlands. Thirdly, 
opportunities are issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

128 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR issued for the Netherlands makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field 

of TO2. 

Recitals 

Recital  15  and  recommendation  2  encourage  the  Netherlands  to  strengthen  and  upgrade  its  skills 

knowledge, notably its digital ones. This would enhance its innovative capacity and productivity growth. 

The  Netherlands  should  particularly  focus  on  making  these  skills  available  to  everyone,  especially 

those on the margins of the labour market. In doing so, the country would foster equal opportunities 

and inclusivity, which remain important challenges.  

Opportunities 

The CSR issued for the Netherlands does not describe needs that can be linked to opportunities to 

intervene regarding TO2.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR issued for the Netherlands makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field 

of TO11. 

Recitals 

The CSR issued for the Netherlands makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene 

regarding TO11. 

Opportunities 

Recital 12 and recommendation 1 urge the Netherlands to address the challenges of the tax system 

that  facilitate  aggressive  tax  planning.  In  particular,  the  country  should  focus  on  countering  the 

problems related to outbound payments. It could be the opportunity to implement eTax solutions so as 

to  handle  all  financial  and  administrative  processes  through  one  single  IT  platform.  This  would 

harmonise all the procedures and limit tax evasion.  

3.20.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in the Netherlands’ NRP.149  

Thematic Objective 2 

• 

Implementation  of  fast  fixed-connection  broadband  internet  for  all:  To  remain  a  top 

leader  in  the  digitalisation  of  industry,  the  Netherlands  have  drafted  a  Digital  Connectivity 

149 The Netherlands National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 14 October 2019. 

129 

 
 
 
Action  Plan.  Its  aim  is  to  set  out  guidelines  for  the  government  to  achieve  its  objective  of 

granting access to fast fixed-connection broadband internet to all Dutch people by 2030.  

Thematic Objective 11 

The Netherlands’ NRP makes no specific reference to measures related to the TO11. 

3.20.5 Operational Programmes  

A  thorough  evaluation  of  the  Netherlands’  national  OPs  for  the  2014-2020  financing  period  has 

revealed that there are no initiatives under TO2 and TO11 that would fall under the scope of this study.  

130 

 
 
3.21   Poland 

3.21.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Poland’s CSR of 2019.150 

Poland is currently in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact. In the 2019 Convergence 

Programme, the government expects a small deterioration of the headline deficit of 0.4% of GDP in 

2018 to 0.6% in 2020. It also plans a deficit of 1.7% of GDP for 2019, which should however turn into 

a surplus of 0.2% by 2020. The Programme also expects a decrease in the general government debt-

to-GDP ratio from 48.9% of GDP in 2018 to 40.6% by 2022.   

Over recent  years,  Poland’s  public spending  increased as  a  share of  GDP.  In  addition,  in  the  near 

future, Poland’s public finances will face pressures for higher spending, in particular due to population 

ageing. Hence, the need for new tools to strengthen expenditure management are strongly needed. 

While Poland’s fiscal framework is generally strong, the country is the only member state without an 

independent fiscal council.   

In recent years, the performance of the Polish labour market has been strong and employment rates 

continued to increase. In addition, unemployment rates have, after many years of decline, stabilised 

at  a  historical  low  of  below  4%  in  2018.  Nevertheless,  some  groups,  particularly  the  low-skilled  or 

persons with disabilities, are poorly represented in the labour force. Additionally, while measures were 

set out in 2017, in an attempt to address the labour market segmentation, the Polish share of temporary 

contracts still remains one of the highest in the Union.  

To boost future growth prospects, Poland needs to invest in a quality education and training system, 

taking a life-long perspective. Both pupils and adults need to be equipped with adequate skills and 

competences to find employment in a rapidly changing labour market. The participation of Polish adults 

in  education  and  training  is  amongst  the  lowest  in  the  Union,  leading  to  weaknesses  in  literacy, 

numerical and digital skills. Despite recent reforms in vocational and higher education, sufficient and 

effective coordination of adult learning are still lagging behind.  

As the unstable regulatory framework and other administrative barriers impede the expansion of firms 

in Poland, the country’s investment activity and productivity remain low. Indeed, legal certainty and 

trust in the quality and predictability of regulatory, tax and other policies and institutions are important 

factors for the investment environment. However, for the moment, the Commission still considers that 

Poland could be at risk of a serious breach of the rule of law. Thus, the country should focus on setting 

up an effective dialogue with all stakeholders to find measures to improve the quality of legislation and 

thus contribute to the stability of the business and justice environments. 

150 COM (2019) 521 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Poland and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Convergence Programme of Poland, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 26 September 2019. 

131 

 
 
 
3.21.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Poland since 2018. The 

information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of Poland.151  

Political Communications 

In 2018, the Polish Ministry of Digital Affairs published guidelines to prepare and share data for re-use. 

Then, the same Ministry elaborated open data standards to ensure higher quality of data were provided 

by  the  public  administration.  Open  data  may  now  be  reused  for  research  or  business  purposes. 

Opening public data makes the activities of public administration more transparent and allows civic 

control over these activities. 

Legislation 

In  2018,  the  Polish  government  also  adopted  various  legislations  intended  to  create  a  more  digital 

environment. In fact, it endorsed an Act on a national cyber security system. Its purpose is to ensure 

cyber security at the national level, including uninterrupted provision of essential services and digital 

services, by achieving an appropriate level of security involving information systems used to provide 

these services, and by providing incident handling. In addition, the government also amended the Act 

on trust services and electronic identification. The Act was first approved in 2014, but the amendment 

increased  the  availability  of  electronic  services  in  Poland  through  a  national  node.  This  is  an 

organisational and technical solution that integrates at a single point all ICT systems in which public 

online services are made available, with various electronic identification systems used to confirm the 

identity of users of online services.  

Governance 

As  a  consequence  of  Poland’s  new  Rules  of  Procedure,  the  Ministry  of  Digital  Affairs  has  been 

reshaped. The Department of Systems Maintenance and Development was divided into two separate 

units, namely Department of Systems Maintenance and Department of Systems Development while 

the  latter  also  absorbed  the  tasks  of  the  Department  of  State  Infrastructure,  which  has  been 

dissembled. The State Information Architecture was also created with three processes: Management 

of  Digital  Administration  Development,  Architecture  Assurance  and  Principles  and  Standards 

Management.  

Infrastructure 

On  top  of  internal  adjustments,  the  Ministry  of  Digital  Affairs  also  launched  the  RP  Portal,  a  single 

website for all government institutions. The intent is to have a one-stop shop for citizens and business 

interacting with public administrations. between the citizens and companies on the one hand and the 

government on the other. While the RP Portal serves as a single point of contact with the government, 

Poland also set out the Electronic Platform of Public Administration Services. This system allows public 

institutions  to  provide  administrative  services  to  the  public  via  electronic  communications  channels. 

The portal will enable citizens and enterprises to manage their administrative procedures and official 

matters  over  the  internet  without  repeatedly  having  to  fill  out  the  same  information.  Moreover,  the 

151 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Poland. Accessed on 26 September 2019. 

132 

 
 
 
Polish government also adopted an open data portal (Dane.gov.pl) to offer access to public data from 

various  categories  such  as  education,  the  environment,  budget  and  finance,  culture,  security,  etc. 

Some other initiatives were also put in place including a Registry of Sexual Crimes, an mCitizen mobile 

application which is designed as a container for mobile documents and an Electronic court payment 

system, which allows the users to pay court fees electronically.  

Services 

In 2018, several services for citizens were implemented in Poland. These included a Patient’s Internet 

Account (IKP), where every citizen now has online access to personal health information, including 

received  e-Prescriptions,  e-Referrals  and  the  benefits  provided.  In  addition,  Polish  citizens  with 

disabilities  and  Polish  citizens  living  abroad  can  now  submit  an  application  for  voting  by 

correspondence, which was not possible before.   

3.21.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Poland152 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.153  

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Poland makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2.  

Recitals 

Recital  13  and  recommendation  2  highlight  the  need  to  equip  both  children  and  adults  with  the 

necessary skills, especially digital ones, so as to foster their employability in the rapidly changing labour 

market. Poland should focus on enhancing the use and  bettering the quality of ICT tools for Polish 

citizens, so as to boost their market accessibility.  

Opportunities 

Recital 15 points out the problematic effectiveness of and access to the Polish healthcare services. In 

fact,  in  2017,  the  country’s  public  healthcare  expenditure  only  totalled  4.7%  of  GDP,  which  is  well 

below the EU average of 7% of GDP. In addition, the numbers of practicing doctors and nurses relative 

to the population size are among the lowest in the Union. These challenges could be tackled by putting 

in place eHealth measures so as to increase and improve the overall efficiency of the Polish health 

sector.  

Recommendation 3 urges the country to strengthen the innovative capacity of its economy, which is 

currently lagging behind. In fact, Poland’s economic structure continues to rely too much on low-tech 

sectors. While some measures have already been taken to improve the situation, the country should 

152COM(2019) 521 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Poland and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of Poland, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 26 September 2019. 
153 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Poland to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Poland. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

133 

 
 
 
focus its future investments on developing new technologies so as to deliver faster and more efficient 

services.  

Thematic Objective 11  

Recommendations 

The CSR for Poland makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO11. 

Recitals 

The CSR issued for Poland makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding 

TO11. 

Opportunities 

The CSR for Poland suggests, in recital 18, to strengthen the role of social and public consultations, 

as  a  tool  to  improve  the  quality  of  legislation  and  increase  the  predictability  of  the  regulatory 

environment.  In  addition,  the  implementation  of  eJustice  measures  would  substantially  help  to 

minimise the administrative burden resulting from  frequent changes in the law, increase investment 

and promote sustainable economic growth in the long-term. 

3.21.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Poland’s NRP.154  

Thematic Objective 2 

• 

Introduction  of  the  registered  electronic  delivery  service:  The  Polish  Ministry  of 

Digitalisation introduced a new service allowing for the electronic delivery of correspondence 

with  legal  effect:  the  eDelivery  service.  It  can  be  applied  to  all  administrative  processes 

requiring  delivery  and  it  should  reduce  the  costs  linked  to  the  process  of  traditional 

correspondence as well as accelerate the overall procedures. All citizens and entrepreneurs 

will have access to it and will thus be able to engage in an electronic communication with the 

entities of the public sector. The scope is to enable a quick and responsive communication 

with all public entities.  

•  Development  of  new  digital  services  in  the  healthcare  sector:  In  order  to  improve  the 

quality  and  effectiveness  of  medical  services  and  the  reduction  of  public  expenditures  on 

healthcare, the Polish government adopted various new measures. These include the “eBlood 

project”, which intends to apply ICT tools to improve the quality of public blood services and 

develop a new blood treatment supervision. Another project aims at expanding the electronic 

medical documentation systems, to improve citizens’ access to medical data and enhance the 

effectiveness of the treatments through the implementation of eServices for patients, such as 

eRegistration, eAnalyses, eOrders, etc.  

154 Poland National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 17 October 2019. 

134 

 
 
 
•  Enhancement  of  protection  of  industrial  property  rights:  Within  the  framework  of  the 

Electronic  Service  Platform  project,  the  Polish  Patent  Office  developed  a  strategy  for  the 

eNotice system, that would automatically notify businesses on the expiration of the protection 

period of their intellectual and property rights. 

•  New provisions for stimulating business activities through digital means: Poland put in 

place  new  digital  provisions aimed  at  facilitating  and stimulating  the  business  activity  of  its 

enterprises.  These  include  the  possibility  to  store  employee  and  payroll  files  online  in 

electronic format and to use electronic signatures. 

•  Enhancement of workers’ digital skills: Poland also launched the Future Industry Platform 

whose  role  is  to  enhance  Polish  entrepreneurs’  competitiveness  through  their  digital 

transformation. It aims to reinforce their knowledge and skills in terms of automation, artificial 

intelligence, ICT technologies and other digital competences.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Full digitalisation of public procurement procedures: One of the main points of the Polish 

Strategy  for  Responsible  Development  aims  at  increasing  the  effectiveness  of  public 

procurement. For this purpose, the Ministry of Digitalisation is working on the implementation 

of an eProcurement platform which will be an effective digitalised system offering eServices 

that will facilitate and shorten public procurement procedures for the clients. The platform also 

intends  to  facilitate  access  to  information  regarding  all  procurement  procedures,  thus 

significantly diminishing the cost and time of preparation of the documents.    

•  Development  of  the  electronic  invoicing  platform for  public  finances:  To  complement 

the  digitalisation  of  public  procurement,  the  Polish  Ministry  of  Entrepreneurship  and 

Technology is currently developing an electronic invoicing platform for public finances. Its aim 

is to carry out the implementation of electronic invoices by the public administration, which is 

obligatory  based  on  Directive  2014/55/EU  on  electronic  invoicing.  The  platform  will 

significantly increase transparency and promote the participation of Polish entrepreneurs in 

public procurement procedures across the EU.  

3.21.5 Operational Programmes  

For the funding period 2014-2020, two OPs of Poland are specifically dealing with themes related to 

TO2 and TO11. The OP ‘Knowledge, Education and Development’155 focusses on key challenges in 

the fields of employment, social inclusion, health, education and public administration. The OP ‘Digital 

Poland’156  sets  out  the  deployment  of  fast  broadband  networks;  the  improvement  of  citizen’s  digital 

competences and the development of eServices as main objectives.  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Enhancement of digital literacy in education: To develop the key competences of students 

to  enter  the  labour  market,  OP  ‘Knowledge  Education  Development’  indicates  attention 

155 Poland Knowledge Education Growth Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
156 Operational Programme Digital Poland. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

135 

 
 
 
dedicated to ICT skills. They will be strengthened by using e-books and developing e-learning 

materials that accompany the existing e-textbooks.  

•  Creation of eServices: The Polish government sets out its ambition in OP ‘Digital Poland’ to 

make electronic means available for public sector information and services. In this respect, 

new services will be made electronic and the functionality and e-maturity of existing services 

will  be  improved.  This  includes  establishing  the  government  Cloud  services,  common 

eService  platforms  and  IT  security  policies.  Furthermore,  a  common  platform  of  public 

administration eServices will be set up as well as interoperable public registers. 

•  Development of digital literacy for citizens: To enable all citizens to benefit from the wider 

use  of  ICT  in  social  and  economic  life,  Poland  plans  in  OP  ‘Digital  Poland’  to  provide  the 

citizens with tailored mechanisms to acquire and increase digital competences. This includes 

computer  and  internet  skills but  also  ability  to  use  the internet access  and  online  services, 

public eServices in particular.  

•  Development  of  security  standards:  OP  ‘Digital  Poland’  points  out  that,  to  prevent  and 

counteract  fraud  and  corruption  in  the  area  of  ICT,  the  Polish  government  will  use  the 

experience from the 2007-2013 Remedial Action Plan and develop, based on this, standards 

to prevent fraud and corruption.  

• 

Implementation  of  eInclusion  measures:  Poland  indicated  in  OP  ‘Digital  Poland’  it  will 

implement measures in the field of digital competences to ensure eInclusion will be provided 

at the national level. A forum will be set up for cooperation to programme and implement the 

measures  and  solutions  as  well  as  exchange  knowledge  and  information  on  digital 

competences.  Furthermore,  guidelines,  good  practices  and 

recommendations  on 

development of digital competences will be drafted.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Development  of  eProcurement:  According  to  OP  ‘Knowledge  Education  Development’, 

Poland will conduct trainings and workshops for authorities that focus on the use of electronic 

tools  for  procurements.  Furthermore,  the  website  of  the  Public  Procurement  Office  will  be 

equipped with electronic tools.  

•  Establishment of broadband networks:  Poland will support activities that enable the largest 

possible access to broadband networks of at least 30 Mbps bandwidth. Solutions that enable 

further improvement of bandwidth will be promoted as OP ‘Digital Poland’ set out.  

•  Digital training of public administration staff: Poland plans in OP ‘Digital Poland’ to train 

the workers that need to deliver specific public eServices. The aim is to provide them with the 

competences  needed  to  ensure  an  efficient  use  of  the  instruments  put  in  place  for  the 

informatisation of government services.   

•  Establishment of an Open Data system: To provide digital availability of the public sector 

information,  Poland  said  in  OP  ‘Digital  Poland’  it  will  improve  the  quality  of  data;  make 

information  available  online  with  the  use  of  professional  teals,  especially  programming 

interfaces; ensure electronic online access to national registries; build infrastructure to store 

shared information and set up a security and standardisation system for the use of this data.  

136 

 
 
3.22  Portugal 

3.22.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Portugal’s CSR of 2019.157   

Portugal is in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact. The country is currently experiencing 

macroeconomic imbalances in a context of low productivity growth. Hence the CSR stresses the need 

for measures to tackle large stocks of net external liabilities, private and public debt and a high share 

of non-performing loans. The government expects to attain a headline deficit of 0.2% of GDP in 2019, 

a surplus of 0.3% in 2020 and a further improvement to a 0.7% of GDP by 2022. The medium-term 

budgetary objective is planned to be achieved in 2020 and the general government debt-to-GDP ratio 

is forecasted to reach 118.6% in 2019, 115.2% in 2020 and 103.7% in 2022. The budgetary impact of 

wildfires  occurred  in  2017  (about  0.04%  of  GDP)  was  significant  but  sustainability  would  not  be 

compromised as a temporary deviation from the adjustment path was allowed.  

Sustainable fiscal consolidation via structural improvement in public finances still needs to be achieved 

through  stronger  revenue  collection  and  expenditure  controls.  For  this  purpose,  efforts  regarding 

effective  enforcement  of  the  commitment  control  law,  strict  and  timely  presentation  of  the  budget, 

continued  spending  review  and  rationalisation  efforts  are  key.  Increasing  the  net  incomes  of  state-

owned  companies  and  reducing  their  debt  would  help  to  make  Portuguese  public  finances  more 

sustainable as well. Concerning pensions and healthcare, new measures have been taken, such as 

the launch of a new programme to address hospital arrears, but more efforts are still needed.   

The labour market stills under ongoing implementation of some measures to decrease segmentation 

and precariousness, but the proportion of temporary workers exceeds the EU average. However, fewer 

people are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Income inequality decreases progressively but remains 

high and the low effectiveness of social transfers could be severely tested in case of a future economic 

slowdown.  Moreover,  the  low  qualification  level  of  workers  is  an  obstacle  to  investment  and 

productivity,  particularly  concerning  digital  skills.  The  low  share  of  graduates  in  information  and 

communication  technologies,  natural  sciences,  mathematics  and  statistics  may  hinder  Portugal’s 

productivity growth and capacity to innovation.  

Reforms  aimed  at  administrative  simplification  are  insufficient,  therefore  administrative  barriers 

continue  to  hinder  investment  and  efficient  allocation  of  resources.  Shortcomings  in  planning  and 

monitoring  public  procurement  hinder  competition  as  well.  On  another  side,  the  justice  system  is 

becoming more efficient but continues to face challenges with lengthy proceedings and a high backlog 

of cases, especially in the administrative and tax courts.  

Research and development are gradually improving in terms of investment but remains unsatisfactory. 

Increasing the shares of value-added in high-tech manufacturing, and in knowledge-intensive services 

as well as promoting managerial, financial and digital skills will be critical to enable firms to grow and 

boost  their  innovation  capacity.  Finally,  the  CSR  for  Portugal  stresses  the  need  to  develop  a 

157 COM (2019), 522 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Portugal and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Portugal, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 27 September 2019.   

137 

 
 
 
comprehensive  and  sustainable  Iberian  plan  towards  maritime  and  railway  connections.  Further 

measures are needed to anticipate the adverse effects of climate change, such as floods and forest 

fires.  

3.22.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Portugal since 2018. 

The information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Portugal.158 

Political Communications 

Portugal  signed  the  Digital  9  (D9)  charter  in  November  2018,  thus  integrating  into  the  network  of 

advanced digital nations that includes Canada, Estonia, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, 

United Kingdom and Uruguay. In signing this charter, Portugal committed itself to working towards the 

following  principles:  user  needs;  open  standards;  open  source;  open  markets;  open  government; 

connectivity; teach children to code; assisted digital and commitment to share and learn. 

Legislation 

Law  no.  46/2018  was  adopted,  which  established  the  legal  regime  for  the  security  of  cyberspace, 

transposing  Directive  2016/1148  of  the  European  Parliament,  and  of  the  Council  of 6  July  2016  on 

measures to ensure a common level of network and information security throughout the Union. 

Governance 

In 2018, Ms. Mariana Vieira da Silva took office as the Minister of the Presidency and of Administrative 

Modernisation.  She  is  responsible  for  the  modernisation  of  public  administration  and  digital 

government.  

Infrastructure 

The ePortugal portal, launched in February 2019, replaced the Citizen Portal as the main channel for 

accessing digital services offered by the public administration. It is the central repository for all services 

dedicated to citizens and companies, and in addition a directory of addresses, websites and mobile 

applications of the Public Administration. ePortugal is dynamic and adaptable to each user, offering 

several customisation options and a reserved area that allows each user to access different information 

regarding  their  relationship  with  the  Public  Administration.  It  has  developed  a  strong  focus  on 

accessibility and usability, providing innovative support mechanisms such as the chatbot SIGMA and 

the possibility of taking digital queue tickets for onsite public services through the Citizen Map. 

Services 

The Mobile Medical Electronic Prescription (PEM Mobile), launched in February 2019 by the Shared 

Services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS), is a mobile application that allows physicians to perform 

medical prescriptions using their smartphones. The PEM Mobile is a solution for in-home consultations 

or  when  the  physician  is  away  from  the  patient,  allowing  health  professionals  to  issue  medical 

prescriptions in a secure way. On another side, the Citizen Map  – which provides geo-location and 

158 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Portugal. Accessed on 3 October 2019.  

138 

 
 
 
information for all Portuguese public services - is now available at mapa.eportugal.gov.pt, and a new 

standalone  app  will  soon  be  launched.  The  new  Social  Security  +  Close  mobile  app  launched  in 

December  2018  provides  an  easier  and  simpler  way  for Citizens  and  Companies  to  access  Social 

Security services wherever they are and whenever they want. This app is available for both Android 

and  iOS  and  allows  users  to:  see  the  amount  to  receive/the  expected  date  of  payment  of  social 

benefits, such as unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, maternity and paternity allowance; access 

the Social Security Direct message box; and synchronise the Social Security events calendar with the 

mobile device’s calendar.  

3.22.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR issued for Portugal159 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO 

there is a subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.160 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

Recommendation 2 of the CSR for Portugal explains the need to increase the skills level of the adult 

population, in particular in the digital literacy field, by strengthening and broadening the coverage of 

the training component in adult qualification programmes. Recital 15 shows they are among the lowest 

in the Union, which impedes the countries innovation potential and competitiveness. 

Recitals 

The CSR for Portugal makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding TO2. 

Opportunities 

The CSR’s first recommendation mentions the need to enhance expenditure control, cost effectiveness 

and adequate budgeting. Despite the fact that some measures have been already implemented in the 

health sector, the further actions can be envisaged such as the use of eHealth tools. It could improve 

the functioning of the hospitals with a potential positive effect on their cost effectiveness.   

In  recital  19,  the  CSR  for  Portugal  explains  administrative  barriers  are  impeding  elements  for 

investment and efficient allocation of resources. For instance, the administrative courts are facing long 

proceedings, a lack of transparency and corruption. Digital public services delivery could improve the 

proceedings and open data increase the transparency.   

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Portugal makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO11.  

159COM (2019), 522 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Portugal and delivering a Council 
opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Portugal, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 27 September 2019.  
160 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Portugal to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Portugal. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

139 

 
 
 
Recitals 

The  CSR  for  Portugal  makes  no  specific  mention  in  the  recitals  of  the  need  to  intervene  regarding 

TO11.  

Opportunities 

In recommendation 4, the CSR for Portugal encourages to increase the efficiency of administrative 

and tax court by decreasing the length of proceedings. A solution could be to implement eTax tools in 

the administration to improve these processes.  

In  recital  18,  it  is  stressed  that  shortcomings  in  planning  and  monitoring  public  procurement  are 

currently hindering competition. For this, it would be useful to promote and implement the use of an 

eProcurement solutions as it provides a comprehensive overview of all the phases of the awards.  

3.22.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Portugal’s NRP.161  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Support  the  digitalisation  of  businesses:  Through  the  Programme  Interface,  the 

government  aims  at  supporting  entrepreneurship  in  emerging  technological  areas.  Also 

noteworthy  is  the  strengthening  and  capacity  building  of  scientific  and  technological 

infrastructures, in particular the Technology Interface Centres, which will intensify the transfer 

of knowledge to the business sector and promote the internationalisation of knowledge.  

• 

Improvement of digital skills: In Portugal, 45% of the population has little or no digital skills. 

To strengthen these skills of the population, the InCode2030 Programme had been put into 

place.  The  main  objective  of  the  Programme  is  to  place  Portugal  in  the  group  of  most 

advanced  European  countries  in  terms  of  digital  skills  by  2030.  In  this  regard,  three  major 

challenges need to be tackled: generalise digital literacy; encourage employability and training 

and  professional  expertise  in  digital  technology;  and  increase  participation  in  international 

networks  of  research  and  development  and  production  of  new  knowledge  in  all  areas 

associated with the digital transformation. The intent is to invest in enhancement of learning 

contexts and skill profiles, teaching resources associated with new technologies of information 

and  communication  that  promote  digital  literacy  will  therefore  be  made  available.  Finally, 

European  Structural  and  Investment  Funds  will  also  be  allocated  to  promote  digital  skills 

among population.  

•  Production of ICT-related teaching resources: Among the many actions carried out in the 

education field, the most recent ones are the following: the creation of a Training Offer Portal 

as well as the launch of many trainings in digital literacy through the School Library Network; 

and the creation of a platform for the distribution of free textbooks and digital licenses to all 1st 

to 12th grade students nationwide. 

161 Portugal National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 21 October 2019.  

140 

 
 
 
• 

Investment in digital infrastructure: An Action Plan for the Industry 4.0 will be developed 

based on the modern digital networks, so it can be appropriate for a strong dependence on 

the digital economy. In the context of establishing this digital infrastructure, the government 

will monitor the conditions for the development of a private investment programme to extend 

the  digital  networks  by  2020.  This  would include  investment  in  the  expansion  of  optic  fibre 

networks and 4G mobile networks.  

•  Digitalisation of the culture sector: The contents of libraries and other cultural institutions 

have been made available online through virtual spaces in order to foster social inclusion and 

strengthen literacies.  

•  Geospatial  portal  to  enhance  the  Cadastral  Information  System:  Within  the  domain  of 

forest ownership, a pilot project was developed for the application of the Simplified Cadastral 

Information System, aimed at the immediate identification of the land structure and ownership 

of  rustic  and  mixed  buildings,  including  the  georeferencing  of  properties  and  the  special 

procedure of registration of rustic and mixed omitted buildings.  

•  Development of eGovernment Portals to enhance competitiveness: To strengthen both 

the competitiveness of the economy as well as the bond of trust between citizens, businesses 

and the state, the Simplex + Programme has been created. It includes the project One Stop 

Employment which aims to concentrate in a single portal all interactions of both unemployed 

citizens in their job search processes as well as employers hiring new workers.  

• 

Implementation of a Digital Court Service Area:  From November 2018, it is possible for 

any  citizen  to  consult in  the new  Digital  Court  Services Area,  at  tribunais.org.pt,  their  legal 

proceedings, whether they run in the judicial courts or in the administrative and tax courts. 

•  Measures to foster eHealth solutions within the National Health system: Given the good 

results  of  the  dematerialised  electronic  revenues  in  the  National  Health  System,  the 

implementation of the electronic prescription of Complementary Diagnostic and Therapeutic 

Means is underway. 

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Enhancement  of  digital  literacy  and  skills  in  the  public  sector:  Since  2019,  the 

Programme  Qualifica  AP  aims  to  respond  to  the  specific  qualification  needs  of  the  human 

resources of the different Public Administration bodies and services, enabling the creation of 

a model of continuous lifelong training, fundamental to meet the challenges of bureaucracy, 

digitalisation,  and  quality  of  public  service.  Moreover,  to  enhance  professional  training  of 

public  administration  employees  the  Centre  of  Juridical  Competences  (JurisAPP)  and  the 

Centre of Digital Competences of Public Administration (TicAPP) were created. 

•  Public administration ICT system revision: To improve the human resources management 

of the Public Administration, a revision of the current State Organisation Information System 

(SIOE) is scheduled for 2019, through the SIOE + platform that presents itself as a unique 

resource management information system. 

141 

 
 
• 

Implementation of eInvoice: The digital issuance, transmission, reception and processing 

of  invoices  was  established  in  2019  in  accordance  with  formats  and  rules  defined  by  the 

European Commission. 

•  Modernisation  of  the  education  system:  Several  actions  have  been  implemented  to 

improve  in  a  first  place  the  teaching  and  learning  environments  as  well  as  the  information 

management  systems.  Moreover,  curricular  and  pedagogical  references  oriented  to  the 

acquisition  of competences have  been  developed. And, finally,  strategies  that  foster digital 

literacy and inclusion have been designed and planned.   

3.22.5 Operational Programmes 

For the funding period 2014-2020, one OP of Portugal is specifically dealing with themes related to 

TO2 and TO11. The OP ‘Competitiveness and Internationalisation’162 focusses on a more competitive 

economy  based  on  knowledge  intensive  activities;  investment  in  tradable  goods  and  services; 

strengthening  the  export  orientation  of  Portuguese  companies;  improvement  of  transport  and  the 

increased efficiency of public services. 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Facilitation of public services’ delivery online: The use of ICT by citizens and businesses 

will be promoted by the delivery of public services online. In particular, the implementation of 

information system for Portugal 2020 will be updated and improved to function as the promotor 

of simplification of regulation and easy access by using electronic forms.  

•  Development of cybersecurity: Portugal plans to adopt procedures and the security tools 

needed to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of information systems. This aims to allow 

the establishment of access conditions to the insurance and differentiated information of user 

profiles.  

•  Establishment  of  eInclusion:  The  Portuguese  government  considers  equal  opportunities, 

non-discrimination and accessibility as crucial elements in the Portugal in 2020 programme. 

Therefore, it intends to minimise information and technical barriers by promoting digital literacy 

and,  more  particular,  access  to  eGovernment  to  populations  suffering  from  additional 

constraints.  

• 

Investment in new technologies and programming systems: To support the scientific and 

technological  research,  Portugal  will  invest  in  infrastructures  that  include  computer  and 

programming systems as well as communication networks that promote digital open access 

to scientific resources, such as archives and scientific databases.  

•  Creation of an eGovernment portal for citizens: To promote the intensive use of ICT and 

increase  efficiency  and  transparency  in  the  provision  of  public  service,  Portugal  plans  to 

continue its modernisation effort though establishing more digital services. In particular, there 

will be the Citizen’s Spaces and Citizen’s Stores, which are new, more decentralised formats. 

162 Portugal Competitiveness and Internationalisation Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

142 

 
 
 
The  Citizens  Spaces  provide  various  types  of  public services  in  a  mediated  way, including 

digital assistance.  

•  Development of eHealth services and facilities:  Portugal will enable the use of eHealth 

facilities  by  supporting  the  creation  of  electronic  appointment  projects.  Furthermore,  it  will 

modernise the health infrastructure already in place and extend this with the creation and use 

of platforms to share information among health services as well as between health services 

and public administration.  

Thematic Objective 11  

•  Set-up  of  a  base  register  for  prosecutors:  Portugal  will  create  a  base  register  for 

prosecutors. The system will enable them to store in a single base, all information available in 

the public administration of the beneficiary, significantly reducing the administrative burden on 

prosecutors, not holding specific visibility to users or own image.   

143 

 
 
3.23  Romania 

3.23.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Romania’s CSR of 2019.163   

Romania is currently in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact. The country is expected 

to reach a headline deficit of 2,8% of GDP in 2019 with a gradual reduction thereafter to reach 2,0% 

of GDP by 2022. The medium-term budgetary objective, which is a structural deficit of 1% of GDP is 

not expected to be reached by 2021. The general government-debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to remain 

below 40% by 2022. However, the Council found that the country regularly ignores the provisions and 

recommendations of its national fiscal framework for the planning of its budget.  

Tax compliance in Romania remains low, as the prevalence of cash payments permits tax evasion.  

The  introduction  of  electronic  cash  registers  connected  to  the  tax  administration’s  information 

technology system was put forward as a solution but is being implemented rather slowly.  

Despite  some  tentative  developments  in  recent  years,  poverty  and  income  inequality  persist  and 

remain high in Romania. Regional disparities also significantly deepened. One in three Romanians is 

at risk of poverty, with vulnerable groups such as children, the Roma or people with disabilities being 

further exposed and affected. Social services continue to lack basic services for all and are unevenly 

spread  across  the  country.  The  social  index  has  not  been  updated  since  2008  and  has  further 

deteriorated in relation to the minimum wage.   

The  Romanian  labour  market  has  increasingly  been  under  pressure,  as  the  unemployment  rate 

continues to be very low (4,2% in 2018). In addition, the labour force suffers from a steady decline and 

from significant skills shortages. Women’s activity rate is particularly low due to personal and family 

responsibilities.  Furthermore,  skills  are  not  evolving  in  line  with  the  needs  of  expanding  economic 

sectors, with 81% of employers having difficulties filling job vacancies.  

The healthcare system continues to face significant challenges such as low funding, ineffective use of 

public resources and lack of reforms. These impediments limit the effectiveness of the system and are 

a source of concern particularly for vulnerable groups of people and those living in rural areas, who 

have limited access to health services.   

Investment  in  research  and  development  is  the  lowest  in  the  Union  (0.5%  of  GDP).  The  country’s 

innovative  capacity  is  thus  very  limited  and  there  are  important  skills  shortages  in  the  sector.  In 

addition,  Romania’s  digitalisation  skills  and  capacities  are limited  and  the  country  scores  poorly  on 

many components of the Digital Economy and Social Index.  

163 COM (2019), 523 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Romania and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Convergence Programme of Romania, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 20 September 2019. 

144 

 
 
 
3.23.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Romania since 2017. 

The information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of Romania.164 

Legislation 

In compliance with the eIDAS Regulation, Romania passed a specific law on eID and trust services for 

electronic transactions. The law establishes the legal regime of the electronic signature and of the law 

documents in electronic form, as well as the conditions for the provision of reliable services. 

Governance 

Romania  has  established  the  Digital  Romania  Council,  an  expert  group  whose  chief  aim  is 

strengthening the development of information society. 

Infrastructure  

The Romania Virtual Payment Office (Ghiseul.ro) was upgraded with an access point eDelivery, which 

ensures the interconnection of the Payment Office with other information systems for data exchange. 

The platform allows citizens to make electronic payment of fines, taxes and other fiscal obligations via 

bank cards. 

3.23.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Romania165 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is 

a subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.166 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

In recommendation 3, the CSR for Romania urges the country to improve its digital skills which are 

necessary if the country wishes to foster its innovative skills and enhance its future competitiveness. 

eSkills will promote the creation of digital public services for all Romanians, improve the digital skills 

of all citizens and foster the digitalisation of businesses. Their use will also help Romania score higher 

on the components of the Digital Economy and Social Index.    

Recitals 

The CSR for Romania makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding 

TO2.  

Opportunities 

As pointed out by recital 18, the healthcare system remains below Union standards due to problematic 

healthcare access, inefficient use of resources and a lack of doctors and nurses. To improve efficiency 

164 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Romania. Accessed on 20 September 2019.  
165 COM(2019), 523 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Romania and delivering a Council 
opinion on the 2019 Convergence Programme of Romania, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 20 September 2019. 
166 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Romania to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Romania. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

145 

 
 
 
of the system, the country could deploy eHealth measures so as to improve both the management and 

communication  across  the  hospitals.  The  barriers  that  hinder  access  to  the  services  could  also  be 

lowered if patients are encouraged to use digital tools for their healthcare.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Romania makes no specific mention in the recommendations of the need to intervene 

regarding TO11. 

Recitals 

Tax compliance and collection remain a challenge for Romania, as mentioned in recommendation 1. 

Thus, in recital 9, the CSR urges the country to fasten its usage of electronic cash registers connected 

to the tax administration’s IT system. Until now, the system has been progressing at a rather slow pace 

but the usage of eTax is essential in the fight against tax evasion, which continues to be an important 

challenge in the country.    

Opportunities 

In recommendation 4, Romania is advised to improve the efficiency of its public procurement and to 

ensure  the  full  and  sustainable  implementation  of  the  national  public  procurement  strategy.  In  this 

regard, the country could develop and implement eProcurement tools to ensure a faster, simpler and 

harmonised procurement process.  

As  mentioned  in  recital  23,  Romania  is  faced  with  cumbersome  administrative  procedures  and 

regulatory requirements. There is also a high fragmentation of responsibilities and resources which 

deeply affects the consistency and availability of the public services provided, particularly at the local 

level. One solution for this, would be to introduce an eGovernment measures so as to create a more 

coherent and systematic sharing of information amongst the various public services, thus preventing 

long delays or inconsistencies of the services.  

3.23.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Romania’s NRP.167  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Digitalisation  of  the  business  environment:  To  further  develop  and  enhance  the 

digitalisation of Romanian businesses, which the government considers of high importance, it 

plans to increase the use of eGovernment solutions to offer support to businesses. The system 

Strengthening and Ensuring Interoperability of Electronic Systems Designed to eGovernment 

Services  Type  2.0  was  put  into  place  to  this  end.  It  will focus  on  making  the  life  events  of 

citizens  and  business  more sophisticated,  develop  a  governmental  cloud  and social media 

communication and set up Open Data and Big Data measures.  

167 Romania National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed 17 October 2019.  

146 

 
 
 
•  Online registration of enterprises: In order to facilitate the registration of enterprises, the 

Romanian government put in place the ONRC portal online services, which is an integrated 

IT system designed to engender benefits for both citizens and businesses as well as the public 

administration.  

•  Creation of the national cybersecurity system: Romania adopted a new Law concerning 

the  need  to  adopt  measures  for  a  higher  common  level  of  security  of  its  networks  and 

information  systems.  Thus,  it  set  up  a  national  cybersecurity  system  (SNSC)  as  a  way  of 

fighting against cyber threats and hacks.   

•  Establishment of Romania’s digital library: In order to preserve it cultural, scientific and 

educational heritage, the country set up the project eCulture: The Digital Library of Romania. 

The  project  aims  at  digitalising  Romania’s  cultural  heritage  through  modern  ICT  tools  and 

technologies,  in  order  to  safeguard,  promote  and  ensure  the  national  heritage  is  well-

preserved for future generations. As an interdependent project, the eHeritage project was also 

developed, with the goal of developing a thorough database of all historical monuments across 

Romania using ICT tools.  

• 

Improvement  of  students’  and  teachers’  skills:  The  Ministry  of  Education  recently 

implemented  the  project  Promoting  and  supporting  excellence  in  education  through  the 

development of competences in information technology, in cooperation with the government 

of Japan. The project intends to create optimal conditions for the training and development of 

high-school students, especially in the Math-IT class, by putting in place and operationalising 

60 IT training centres for them. The further digitalisation of the education system will also be 

achieved through the national project Modern Romania, Digital Romania, which will provide 

tablets, computers, smart boards in classrooms, and other technologies for every school in 

the country. In addition, the government implemented the new project IT System for School 

Management in Pre-University Eduction, with the aim of developing students’ digital skills prior 

to university.  

•  Development  of  the  eSocial  welfare  system:  The  country  wishes  to  develop  a  national 

social assistance system through the project  Developing and rendering inter-operational all 

social assistance databases and creating the eSocial welfare system, as part of the Digital 

Agenda  of  Romania.  By  doing  so,  it  hopes  to  establish  the  right  to  the  minimum  inclusion 

income through ICT tools.  

•  Digitalisation  of  the  health  system:  In  the  health  sector, projects  are continuously  put  in 

place to provide patients and citizens with the best-quality digital services. The creation of the 

Electronic  Health  Record  is  a  first  step  in  this  direction.  Moreover,  102  centres  now  have 

access to telemedicine tools, which simplify and fasten all medical procedures.  

•  Simplification of administrative burdens for citizens: The Romanian government put in 

place  a  single  platform,  named  Zero  Bureaucracy,  aimed  at  simplifying  the  administrative 

procedures applicable to citizens. This will be done through the provision of digitalised public 

services and the integration of these services with other similar ones, such as government 

cloud.  The  project  also  aims  at  facilitating  the  communication  and  interaction  between  the 

public entities and the Romanian citizens and businesses.  

147 

 
 
Thematic Objective 11 

• 

Improvement  of  tax  collection:  Romania  further  developed  and  enhanced  its  electronic 

system for payment and for checking taxpayers’ situations, in order to improve its overall tax 

collection  and  fight  against  tax  evasion.  To  do  so,  it  put  in  place  two  services:  The  Virtual 

Private Space, which is a complex IT system that facilitates communication with taxpayers 

and  helps  simplifying  the  taxing  procedures.  The  second  service  is  PatrimVen  which  is  a 

system  that  gathers,  aggregates  and  makes  available  various  information  on  the  assets  of 

taxable persons in Romania. The National Agency for Fiscal Administration also implemented 

electronic cash registers as a further measure to ensure tax compliance.   

•  Creation of the eJustice portal: The government operationalised an eJustice portal in order 

to  increase  the  access  of  Romanian  companies  to  information  on  partner  companies  from 

other Member States, which will deepen interconnections and facilitate interoperability.  

3.23.5 Operational Programmes 

For the funding period 2014-2020, two OPs of Romania are specifically dealing with themes related to 

TO2  and  TO11.  The  OP  ‘Administrative  Capacity’168  focusses  on  improving  the  efficiency,  the 

transparency  and  the  accessibility  of  Romania’s  public  administration  and  judicial  system.  The  OP 

‘Competitiveness’169  will  address  the  challenges  that  stem  from  the  low  support  for  research  and 

development and the under-developed ICT services and infrastructure.  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Promotion  of  Open  Data  practices:  The  Romanian  government  described  in  OP 

‘Administrative Capacity’ that it will invest in fostering the use of open data. More concretely, 

this will happen by improving the legal framework on freedom of information, developing the 

relevant  standards  for  presentation  data  and  increase  the  ability  of  civil  society  and 

businesses  to  use  and  integrate  information  generated  by  open  data.  Furthermore,  OP 

‘Competitiveness’  indicates  that  cloud  interoperability  and  standardisation  of  government 

databases  will  be  set  out  to  increase  quality  of  public  services.  As  part  of  Romania’s 

commitment in the Open Data initiative, an open Data portal will be functional and accessible 

from the pan-European portal.  

• 

Introduction  of  a  Cybersecurity 

infrastructure:  Romania  acknowledges 

in  OP 

‘Competitiveness’  cybersecurity  infrastructure  for  electronic  data  networks  and  electronic 

communication services is a priority. Therefore, interventions are set out to increase security 

in networks/ ICT applications in order prevent cyberattacks. These interventions will be carried 

out in compliance with EU Directive/40/2013 on attacks against information systems and cyber 

security strategy the EU 2013. In addition, action is planned to increase the trust of citizens / 

businesses in terms of security operations in cyberspace. 

168 Romania Administrative Capacity Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
169 Romania Competitiveness Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

148 

 
 
 
•  Establishment  of  a  broadband  network:  To  contribute  to  digitalisation  of  education, 

Romania  sets  out  in  OP  ‘Competitiveness’  it  will  connect  schools  in  rural  and  small  urban 

areas to high speed internet. The project has been started in the previous programming period 

and new enters into the phase of delivery, installation, testing and acceptance of equipment. 

The Romanian Digital Agenda does not only provide broadband infrastructure for schools but 

aims to develop basic broadband infrastructure throughout the country.  

•  Adoption  of  new  ICT  teaching  models:  The  Romanian  government  plans  in  OP 

‘Competitiveness’  to  adopt  teaching  models  for  ICT  with  a  particular  focus  on  the 

enhancement of digital skills. In this respect, networks and platforms will be set up to facilitate 

knowledge  exchange  and  the  government  will  invest  in  the  provision  of  infrastructure  and 

equipment. Furthermore, a digital culture in teaching will be established.  

•  Enforcement  of  eInclusion:  Romania  described  in  OP  ‘Competitiveness’  its  intentions  to 

enhance the development of ICT in disadvantaged communities. Therefore, the POC PAPI 

programme plans to finance specific infrastructures such as computers, servers and internet 

access. The aim is to achieve digital literacy in vulnerable communities and, in this way, to 

combat exclusion.  

•  Enhancement  of  the  eHealth  system:  As  said  in  OP  ‘Competitiveness’,  the  existing 

Romanian  health  information  systems  will  be  linked  to  an  integrated  eHealth  system  to 

increase the degree of interoperability. Furthermore, the healthcare system will be streamlined 

by accelerating the use of modern eHealth ICT tools.  

• 

Investments  in  eCulture:  Romania  will  ensure online accessibility  of  cultural  elements  by 

creating  conditions  for  digitalisation  and  preservation  of  content,  according  to  OP 

‘Competitiveness’.  In  addition,  investments  in  eCulture  will  be  made  to  make  culture 

accessible to the general public on the one hand and to promote tourism on the other.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Development of eJustice: Romania indicated in OP ‘Administrative Capacity’ it will continue 

its  efforts  on  the  development  of  eJustice.  To  do  so,  reliable  access  and  real-time  citizen 

information and documents recorded in registers will be provided. Furthermore, an upgrade 

of the IT systems support is planned, and IT solutions will be put in place for electronic filing 

of  cases,  e-files.  These  files  will  be  granted  improved  access  which  will  ensure  a  greater 

transparency of the judiciary.  

•  Enhancement of the public administration through ICT means: By creating an information 

society, Romania aims to increase the level of eGovernment services. This has been set out 

by OP ‘Competitiveness’. The objective is to increase the efficiency of public administration 

by means of ICT as indicated in the Digital Agenda for Europe.   

•  Development of an eGovernment and interoperability framework: Romania will support 

interventions ensuring that the institutional and administrative capacity of public institutions of 

ICT  management  will  be  strengthened,  as  stated  in  OP  ‘Administrative  Capacity’. 

Furthermore,  to  support  the  development  of  eGovernment,  the  administrative  capacity, 

legislative common standards and interoperability will be guaranteed.  

149 

 
 
•  Creation of an eProcurement system: To develop more transparency and accountability in 

the public procurement system, the use of electronic systems and support tools in Romania 

will be increased. This has been stated by the OP ‘Administrative Capacity’.  

•  Enhancement of electronic systems’ interoperability: To deal with the identified gaps of 

interoperability of electronic systems in public authorities, interventions will be put in place to 

establish end-to-end interoperability as part of the Government Enterprise Architecture. This 

corresponds with OP ‘Competitiveness’. The aim of the project is to define a uniform set of 

standards used for ICT initiatives. Furthermore, the principles of eGovernance will be aligned 

with Directive 2013/37/EU on the promotion of re-using public sector documents.  

150 

 
 
3.24  Slovakia 

3.24.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Slovakia’s CSR of 2019.170   

Slovakia  is  still  in  the  preventive  arm  of  the  Stability  and  Growth  pact.  The  Government  plans  an 

improvement of its headline balance from a deficit of 0,7% of GDP in 2018 to a balanced budget in 

2019 and to then remain stable until 2022. The 2019 Stability Programme expects the government 

debt-to-GDP ratio to gradually decline from 47.5% in 2019 to 44.4% by 2022. The nominal growth rate 

of net primary government expenditure should not exceed 4.6%, corresponding to an annual structural 

adjustment of 0.3% for 2019. Slovakia is expected to comply with the debt rule in both 2019 and 2020. 

Slovakian public finances face sustainability risks in the long term, particularly due to healthcare and 

pension expenditure which are driving up ageing costs. According to the Fiscal Sustainability Report, 

a cumulated improvement of 2.5 pps of GDP in the structural primary balance would be required to 

stabilise the debt-to-GDP ratio over the long term.  

While  some  progress  has  been  made  in  the  fight  against  tax  evasion,  problems  related  to  tax 

compliance remain a challenge for Slovakia. In 2016, the VAT compliance gap was more than twice 

the EU average. However, the Third Action Plan is expected to bring positive results. For example, the 

introduction of electronic tax returns will most likely reduce any administrative burden on taxpayers.  

The  Slovakian  labour  market  has  undergone  positive  developments  due  to  increased  employment, 

leading to historically low levels of unemployment. Nevertheless, the long-term unemployment rates 

are still among the highest in the Union, particularly affecting the low-skilled, young people and Roma. 

In  addition,  skilled  labour  shortages  are  still  reported  and  severe  regional  disparities  in  the  labour 

market  persist,  especially  in  three  regions  of  eastern  Slovakia  where  higher  unemployment  is 

continuously reported.  

The country implemented some reforms aimed at improving the cost-effectiveness of the healthcare 

system.  However,  the  degree  of  implementation  differs  across  care  areas.  Hence,  more  should  be 

done  to  further  increase  efficiency  and  better-value  care  in  Slovakia,  by  strategically  reallocating 

resources between the different care areas.  

Despite  government  efforts,  heavy  administrative  and  regulatory  burdens  continue  to  persist  in  the 

Slovak  business  environment.  These  hamper  on  future  investments  and  innovation,  particularly  for 

small-  and  medium-sized  enterprises.  However,  these  challenges  should  be  addressed  in  the  new 

Slovakian “Better Regulation Strategy” (RIA2020) and with the strengthening of its Better Regulation 

Centre. In addition, the government is substantially reforming public procurement practices so as to 

simplify the procedures and reduce transaction costs.  

170 COM(2019), 525 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Slovakia and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Slovakia, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 30 September 2019. 

151 

 
 
 
3.24.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Slovakia since 2017. 

The information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of Slovakia.171 

Political Communications 

Slovakia launched a Digital Transformation Strategy 2019-2022. Its Action Plan provided an official 

strategy to define specific policies and priorities with regard to the ongoing digital transformation of the 

economy and society. 

Legislation 

By amending the Act on government, the delivery of official documents, online payments for electronic 

services and simplified authorisation of electronic documents has been introduced. This implies that 

electronic submissions can be signed using an eID card without qualified electronic signature, the so-

called one click signature.  

Infrastructure 

In 2018, Slovakia implemented a new portal, oversi.sk, that allows for the verification and exchange of 

four types of documents between government authorities: the cadastral map, the commercial register, 

the criminal record and land register. In addition, the Slovakian Financial Administrator also introduced 

a  new  project  to  facilitate  the  online  connection  of  all  cashiers  to  the  eKasa  financial  management 

portal. It was part of a range of measures to combat tax fraud. From 1 May 2019, all new facilities and 

new cash registers were required to be connected to the system. 

Services  

The Slovakian government introduced a digital service in September 2018 called OVER SI. Based on 

the  Central  Data  Integrated  Platform,  it  was  set  up  in  response  to  the  Government´s  Stop  to 

Bureaucracy initiative. In due course, more than 16 000 public administration clerks performing duties 

at different domains were registered in order to provide themselves with the requested evidence (in 

the first phase evidence came from business registers (companies, self-employed), from cadastre and 

from criminal register). By the end of 2019, another batch of 11 sources of evidence was expected to 

be made available via the OVER SI. 

3.24.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Slovakia172 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.173 

171 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Slovakia. Accessed on 20 September 2019.  
172 COM(2019), 525 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Slovakia and delivering a Council 
opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Slovakia, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 30 September 2019. 
173 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Slovakia to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Slovakia. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

152 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

In recommendation 3, the Commission urges Slovakia to focus its future investments on improving its 

healthcare services and solutions through new research and innovative tools. The use of eHealth could 

improve the access and quality of care that is currently lagging behind in the country. 

Recitals 

The  CSR  for Slovakia  makes  no  specific  mention  in  the  recitals  of  the  need  to  intervene  regarding 

TO2. 

Opportunities 

In recital 12, the CSR mentions the need for Slovakia to implement new measures to foster equity and 

inclusivity, as these have fallen short of expectations. Recommendation 2  also urges the country to 

promote the integration of disadvantaged groups, in particular Roma. This could be an opportunity for 

the country to introduce and implement eInclusion measures, so as to overcome exclusion and improve 

employment opportunities for all, through the use of ICT tools.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Slovakia makes no specific mention in the recommendations of the need to intervene 

regarding TO11. 

Recitals 

In  recital  10,  the  Commission  urges  Slovakia  to  continue  with  the  implementation  of  electronic  tax 

returns.  The  use  of  eTax  would  be  beneficial  for  the  country  as  it  would  reduce  the  administrative 

burden placed on the taxpayers, ensure a better harmonisation of all financial administration processes 

and continue the fight against tax evasion which is still a prominent challenge for the country.  

Opportunities 

Slovakia’s  public  administration  continues  to  show  inefficiencies  and  bottlenecks  due  to  poor  inter-

ministerial and inter-governmental cooperation according to recital 20. Here, the solution could be to 

put  in  place  an  internal  eGovernment  platform  so  as  to  ensure  a  coherent  sharing  of  information 

amongst  the  various  public  services.  This  would  enhance  both  cooperation  and  communication.  In 

addition,  these  portals  would  also  serve  to  lessen  the  administrative  and  regulatory  burdens,  that 

continue to affect investment and innovation in Slovakia, as mentioned in recital 18.  

Slovakia’s judicial system continues to face significant challenges, particularly linked to its contested 

independence. In fact, despite some recent improvements, recommendation 4 urges the country to 

strengthen  and  improve  the  overall  effectiveness  of  the  system.  This  could  be  done  through  the 

deployment of eJustice measures so as to make the legal system more accessible and transparent.    

153 

 
 
3.24.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Slovakia’s NRP.174  

Thematic Objective 2 

• 

Implementation of eHealth and electronic healthcare services: Slovakia has been putting 

in place some eHealth measures  since  2018,  with 

the  creation  of  online  health 

documentations and electronic appointment planning. However, it aims to further expand this 

sector by setting up electronic examinations, personalised treatments and by putting in place 

eLabs, or electronic laboratories.  

•  Reduction  of  the  administrative  burden  for  businesses  and  citizens:  Further  digital 

services have been put in place in order to reduce the administrative burdens affecting citizens 

and business operations. This is gradually being achieved through the implementation of the 

anti-bureaucracy  law,  which  will  allow  legal  entities  and  individuals  to  submit  online  their 

certificates  of  tax  arrears,  social  and  health  insurance  documents,  and  various  other 

certificates.  

•  New regulation to facilitate registration of businesses: The Department of Justice will take 

specific measures towards the improvement of the business register aimed at reducing the 

administrative and regulatory burdens that currently impede on businesses and courts when 

registering  a  business  organisation.  The  regulation  will  also  standardise  fees  and  improve 

electronic services for business operators.  

• 

Implementation  of  new  eGovernment  measures:  The  Slovak  government  aims  at 

extending and simplifying the use of electronic services such as eID and electronic boxes. It 

also amended a previous act on eGovernment which intends to migrate all Slovak eServices 

to a cloud platform as a way of improving the management of the national IT and facilitate 

access to these measures to all citizens. 

•  Enhancement of digital skills in education: Slovakia also developed a digital transformation 

vision  for  the  education  sector.  Indeed,  the  Slovak  Action  plan  of  digital  transformation  for 

2019-2022 contains measures to enhance digital skills in schools, in order to encourage the 

development of the digital economy and the future of the labour market. 

Thematic Objective 11 

• 

Implementation  of  the  electronic  invoicing  system:  The  country  has  put  in  place  the 

electronic invoicing system, which will make the transactions between the public and private 

entities faster and less burdensome.  

• 

Implementation of electronic cash registers: Slovakia has started the implementation of 

the  eKasa  system,  the  country’s  electronic  cash  register.  This  tool  will  ensure  a  fairer 

competition between taxpayers, improve control activities and thus facilitate the fight against 

174 Slovakia National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 18 October 2019.  

154 

 
 
 
tax  evasion.  In  addition,  it  will  help  business  operators  in  the  reduction  of  costs  and 

administrative burdens.  

•  Full  electronisation  of  public  procurement:  Slovakia  recently  implemented  the  full 

electronisation of its public procurement procedures. eProcurement is intended to accelerate 

proceedings and improve the efficiency and transparency of procurement procedures.   

3.24.5 Operational Programmes 

For the funding period 2014-2020, two OPs of Slovakia are specifically dealing with themes related to 

TO2  and  TO11.  The  OP  ‘Effective  Public  Administration’175  focusses  on  reducing  regulatory  and 

administrative  burdens  as  well  as  promoting  high  standards  of  transparency,  integrity  and 

accountability  in  the  Slovak public  administration.  The  OP  ‘Integrated  Infrastructure’176  has  as main 

objectives to establish sustainable mobility; foster economic growth; improve the business environment 

and develop an information society.  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Promotion of eParticipation: To provide all citizens an equal chance to participate in public 

affairs, modern technologies will be used by Slovakia to establish eDemocracy means. This 

is  established  in  OP  ‘Effective  Public  Administration’.  The  goal  is  to  raise  the  number  of 

respondents the traditional systems have and focus on civil and human rights.  

•  Modernisation of the judicial education system: OP ‘Effective Public Administration’ set 

out  that,  to  prepare  the  judges,  prosecutors  and  other  employees  of  the  judicial  system, 

trainings  will  be  developed  to  enhance  their  digital  skills.  Slovakia  will  set  in  place  these 

trainings, so these employees can efficiently use the new electronic court records.  

•  Provision of an inclusive digital education: Slovakia aims in ‘Integrated Infrastructure’ to 

have its eServices used by all citizens. Therefore, additional efforts will be made to include 

the  disadvantaged  groups.  To  this  end,  assistance  and  infrastructure  availability  will  be 

established in order to increase their benefits of participation in the digital market. 

•  Establishment  of  eServices  for  the  citizens:    To  provide  digital  services  to  its  citizens, 

according to OP ‘Integrated Infrastructure’, Slovakia will put in place the actions needed to 

ensure  eCommerce,  eID,  eCulture  and  eCustom  services.  The  main  goal  is  to  stimulate 

citizens and businesses to use more digital tools.  

•  Creation of broadband network: Slovakia intends, based on OP ‘Integrated Infrastructure’, 

to  build  broadband  infrastructure  throughout  the  country,  including  rural  areas.  This  is  to 

support the digital single market and the Digital agenda for Europe, ensuring a 100% coverage 

of high-speed internet offer 30 Mbit/s.  

•  Ensure cybersecurity for citizens: As the digital activities of citizens increase, Slovakia sets 

out in OP ‘Integrated Infrastructure’ to proceed in the light of the measures contained in the 

175 Slovakia Effective Public Administration Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
176 Slovakia Integrated Infrastructure Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

155 

 
 
 
EU  Cyber  Security  Strategy  presented  in  February  2013.  In  particular,  risk  management 

measures will be implemented. The goal is to improve confidence in digital space and increase 

awareness on cyberattacks.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Development  of  eJustice:  Slovakia  supports  in  OP  ‘Effective  Public  Administration’  the 

development of eJustice by introduction electronic court records and electronic exchange of 

information to provide more efficient administrations within the judicial system.  

•  Establishment of an eGovernment cloud service to ensure interoperability between the 

various  government  departments:  Slovakia  plans  in  OP  ‘Integrated  Infrastructure’  to  link 

the use of eGovernment to the identified life events of citizens. These events can be delivered 

electronically by the citizens which will simplify and automate the process of serving citizens. 

The implemented life situations will be linked to eServices delivered by various government 

departments.  The  interoperability  will  be  provided  by  establishing  eGovernment  Cloud 

services.  

•  Establishment  of  a  security  system  for  the  exchange  of  data  within  the  public 

administration: To provide secure data exchange within public administration, Slovakia set 

out in OP ‘Integrated Infrastructure’ to develop clear rules that establish a security system that 

meet the highest requirements.  

•  Establishment of eInvoicing: Slovakia set out in OP ‘Effective Public Administration’ that it 

will not only put in place the conditions for the introduction of measures on eInvoicing but also 

to transpose the related EU directives.  

156 

 
 
3.25  Slovenia 

3.25.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Slovenia’s CSR of 2019.177 

Based on the 2019 Stability Programme, the headline surplus is expected to increase to 0.9% of GDP 

in 2019 and to 1.2% of GDP in 2021. Therefore, the medium-term budgetary objective, which has been 

changed  to  a  structural  deficit  of  0.25%  of  GDP  from  2020,  is  planned  to  be  achieved  in  2021. 

According to the Programme, the general government debt-to GDP ratio is projected to fall to 65.4% 

of GDP in 2019 and to 54.7% of GDP in 2022. Slovenia is forecast to comply with the debt rule in 2019 

and  2020  even  if  it  needs  to  stand  ready  to  take  further  measures  to  comply  with  the  Stability  and 

Growth Pact as of 2020. 

Slovenia is urged to continue in its efforts to reform the healthcare system and to face, as many other 

EU countries, an ageing population and an increase in the long-term care expenditures. A strategy is 

being  drafted;  however,  it  remains  unclear  how  the  envisaged  measures  will  improve  cost-

effectiveness, accessibility and cost of care. Concerning healthcare public procurement, it is plausible 

that improved coordination measures will take place.  

The  national  reform  programme  2019-2020  mentions  the  possibility  of  an  overhaul  of  the  pension 

system to support the sustainability of it. The main challenges the country needs to address in this field 

are: extending working lives and providing better opportunities for exploiting the human resources of 

older workers, adjusting the statutory age and promoting later retirement, addressing career paths and 

reducing poverty risks amongst the elders.  

The labour market is gradually progressing in terms of employment, but Slovenia faces challenges in 

particular for low-skilled and older workers. Their employment rates remain amongst the lower in the 

EU.  While  the  2013  labour  market  reform  clearly  helped  some  vulnerable  groups,  temporary 

employment stills an issue. Moreover, signs of labour shortages are emerging in several sectors of the 

economy  which  may  hinder  industrial  transformation  and  smart  specialisation.  Hence,  developing 

digital skills in the future workforce is highly recommended.  

Slovenia’s  business  environment  remains  hindered  by  a  high  level  of  administrative  burden,  for 

instance in the area of tax compliance, but also due to restrictive regulation on access to and exercise 

of regulated professions, which influences negatively in the inflow of investment. The CSR for Slovenia 

stresses  the  necessity  to  further  eliminate  inefficiencies  in  public  administration  Finally,  public 

procurement procedures need to be more efficient and transparent, and anti-corruption reforms should 

be fully implemented.  

In what binds to research and innovation, there is a lack of coherence in several supporting measures 

that hinders cooperation between science and business and the creation of innovative companies. In 

addition,  Slovenia’s  slow  digital  transformation  limits  productivity  growth.  The  programming  of  EU 

177 COM (2019) 423 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Slovenia and delivering a Council 
opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Slovenia, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 19 September 2019. 

157 

 
 
 
funds  for  the  period  2021-2027  may  help  address  some  of  the  gaps  identified  but  implementing  a 

strong administrative capacity for the management of these funds is also an important factor to take 

into consideration.  

3.25.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Slovenia since 2018. 

The information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Slovenia.178 

Political Communications 

In  the  context  of  the  Slovenian  Public Administration  Development  Strategy  2015-2020,  which  also 

covers digital government strategy, the Government has adopted an action plan every two years. In 

2018,  the  new  Semantic  Interoperability  Implementation  Strategy  was  prepared.  In  the  field  of 

emerging technologies, an action plan for the preparation of the basis for enhanced implementation of 

blockchain  technologies  and  building  the  corresponding  environment  for  the  regulation  of  crypto 

currencies in relevant regulatory areas, was adopted. 

Legislation 

Following Directive (EU) 2016/1148 (NIS Directive), the Act regulated measures to achieve a high level 

of network and information security in the Republic of Slovenia, which was essential for the smooth 

functioning of the state in all security conditions. It provided essential services for the preservation of 

key  social  and  economic  activities  and  regulated  the  provision  of  cyber  defence  in  the  Republic  of 

Slovenia.  

Governance 

The Ministry of Public Administration is the one in charge of Digital Government Governance. Rudi 

Medved was appointed the new Minister of Public Administration. He was assisted by Mojca Ramšak 

Pešec and Leon Behin as the State Secretaries for the Ministry of Public Administration. In terms of 

Digital Government, the IT Directorate of the Ministry, led by Mihael Krišelj as Director-General, played 

the central role.  

Infrastructure 

The Ministry of Public Administration provides central platforms for authentication and trust services. 

SI-PASS  the central  authentication  and  eSignature service,  offers  the  possibility  to  verify  electronic 

identities in one place and enables remote eSignature according to eIDAS requirements. The system 

has  already  been  integrated  into  most  important  eGovernment  portals.  In  2018,  a  new  service, 

smsPASS,  was  launched,  to  enable  the  use  of  mobile  devices  for  authentication  and  eSignature 

through SI-PASS services. At present, this functionality is enabled for citizens using the  main state 

eGovernment portal. 

178 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Slovenia. Accessed on 1 October 2019.  

158 

 
 
 
Services 

As  of  1  April  2018,  the  implementation  of  mandatory  eSubmission  tenders  in  the  Slovenian  public 

procurement system was put in place. This included access to electronic services for simpler and faster 

implementation of public procurement procedures. Moreover, the State government portal eUprava, 

which is managed by the Ministry of Public Administration, is offering and developing eServices for 

citizens. In 2018, two new important services were launched. Slovenian drivers now have access to 

their driving record and traffic penalties, and there is an eApplication for organ donations in case of 

death. 

3.25.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Slovenia179 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.180 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

In recommendation 1, Slovenia is called on to increase the employability of its low-skilled and older 

workers trough lifelong learning and especially through better digital literacy. Indeed, this solution might 

tackle labour shortages in certain fields and help workers meet the requirements of the labour market. 

Recitals 

The  CSR  for Slovenia  makes  no specific mention in  the recitals  of  the  need  to  intervene  regarding 

TO2. 

Opportunities 

In recital 17, the CSR for Slovenia stresses the slow digital transformation of small and medium-sized 

enterprises, as well as their low innovation capacity. A solution could be to set up a strategy on the 

digitalisation of businesses and invest further in science and business cooperation.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Slovenia makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO11. 

Recitals 

The  CSR  for Slovenia  makes  no specific mention in  the recitals  of  the  need  to  intervene  regarding 

TO11. 

179 COM (2019) 423 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Slovenia and delivering a Council 
opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Slovenia, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 19 September 2019. 
180 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Slovenia to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Slovenia. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

159 

 
 
 
Opportunities 

In  recital  15,  public  procurement  in  Slovenia  is  defined  as  inefficient  and  non-transparent.  To  help 

overcome these issues, the introduction of eProcurement solutions may be beneficial. 

3.25.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Slovenia’s NRP.181 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Measures in acquiring new competencies: In 2019, the Slovenian government will begin 

implementing a new project designed for people threatened with the loss of their job. Among 

others,  it  will  be  intended  for  temporary  employees  and  people  whose  employment  is 

threatened due to technological changes. The main goal is to provide continuing development 

of career paths and acquiring the appropriate skills for re-entering the labour market rapidly.  

•  Measures to increase the participation of adults in lifelong learning: Due to demand in 

the labour market, adult education programmes will aim to acquire basic and vocational skills 

with an emphasis on information and communication technologies. 

•  Modern  business  environment  development:  In  order  to  develop  a  modern  business 

environment, the government will require measures aimed at the informatisation of procedures 

and  the  simplicity  of  meeting  the  obligation  of  payment  of  public  duties.  This  will  be 

appropriately  provided  for  through  the  introduction  of  mobile  apps  for  various  groups  of 

taxpayers and through the upgrading of the tax and custom IT systems.   

•  Establishment  of  a  digital  platform  for  citizens,  the  public  sector  and  the  business 

sector:  A digital platform will be built to establish a development environment for start-ups, 

researchers,  college  students,  secondary-school  students,  private 

individuals,  non-

governmental  organisations  and  public  institutions.  These  actors,  with  the  use  of  a  shared 

development-oriented IT infrastructure and in connection with national data lakes, will be able 

to  develop  new  innovative,  integrated,  fully  functional,  user  friendly  e-services,  information 

and telecommunications solutions.  

•  Launch  of  the  central  website  of  the  public  administration  for  citizens:  In  2019  the 

government plans to migrate to a centralised website informational content from 200 existing 

web  pages  on  the  gov.si  website.  Users  will  have  easy  one-site  access  to  comprehensive 

information  on  the  public  administration  and  its  services,  which  will  be  published  on  self-

service portals.  

•  Enhancement  of  tertiary  education  through  digital  skills:  The  government  commits  to 

promote  the  training  of  higher  education  teaching  staff  and  other  professionals  in  order  to 

introduce innovative and more transparent forms of teaching, with an emphasis on the use of 

ICT and a transition to digital education.  

181 Slovenia National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 9 October 2019.  

160 

 
 
 
•  Allocation of funds for forestry technology: Slovenia has allocated more than 21% of the 

funds from the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 for increasing competitiveness, of 

which EUR 266 million for measures to support investments in physical assets and in forestry 

technology among others.  

•  Measures for covering white spots with broadband internet access: These measures are 

carried out in a decentralised manner. They are currently in the implementation phase but with 

slighter delays.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Measures to enhance the tax system: The country is aiming at simplifying administrative 

procedures and improving the efficiency of the collection of public duties. For this purpose, it 

is envisaged to increase the level of digitalisation and activities aimed at preventing abuse 

and tax avoidance.   

•  Digital literacy improvement in the public sector: A new competence model for the public 

employees will be introduced in 2019 and 2020. In order to enhance the level of qualifications 

of civil servants, improve the efficiency, work quality and personal development of employees, 

a special focus will be made on trainings aiming at increasing digital literacy.  

•  Measures  to  enhance  the  payment  system  in  the  public  sector:  Since  Slovenia  will 

implement  a  new  Public  Sector  Salary  System  Act,  the  government  will  ensure  the 

transparency  of  the  pay  system  and  all  types  of  payments  by  using  and  upgrading  the 

information system supporting the publication of salaries.  

•  Establishment  of  a  digital  platform  for  citizens,  the  public  sector  and  the  business 

sector: This measure links the objective of the Public Administration Development Strategy 

2018-2019. It will consist in building a cloud ecosystem made up of the national computing 

cloud (NCC) on one side, and the development and innovation cloud (DIC) on the other. The 

NCC  was  established  in  2015  and  is  part  of  the  computer  infrastructure  for  the  state 

administration.  

•  Digitalisation  and  centralisation  of  public  procurement:  In  2018  an  online  public 

procurement  system  was  introduced,  which  brought  increased  transparency  for  public 

openings. The eFile system was also upgraded and, additionally, individual modules of the 

existing system were combined into an integrated one.  

• 

Introduction of online operations in the judiciary system: This measure aims at improving 

the efficiency of the Slovenian courts and the judiciary as a whole, reducing court backlogs 

and  thus  provide  legal  protection  and  equality  before  the  courts.  The  Act  amending  the 

Criminal Procedure Act provides the possibility of submitting applications for the issuance of 

criminal  record  checks  in  electronic  format  into  the  eJustice  information  system  and  the 

possibility of sending criminal records checks to a secure electronic mailbox.  

•  Measure  to  increase  the  level  of  qualification  of  judicial  employees:  In  2019  Slovenia 

will, among other activities, carry out an improvement of the information system and operating 

procedures  of  the  state  attorney’s  office  and  state  prosecutor’s  office,  expand  the  Penal 

161 

 
 
Enforcement Administration’ information system, upgrade the information system for notaries, 

and introduce a pilot project of online trainings in prison.  

3.25.5 Operational Programmes 

For the funding period 2014-2020, one OP of Slovenia is specifically dealing with themes related to 

TO2  and  TO11.  The  OP  ‘Implementation  of  the  European  Cohesion’182  focusses  on  dealing  with 

employment  rates,  people  at  risk  of  poverty  of  social  inclusion,  strengthening  research  and 

development efforts and more efficient use of energy sources.  

Thematic Objective 2 

• 

Improvement of the internet access: To move towards a digital society, Slovenia plans to 

provide a powerful network infrastructure for electronic communications, which must ensure 

high-quality  Internet  access  for  all  and  high  speeds  for  the  use  of  demanding  interactive 

multimedia e-services, over the top content, etc. Furthermore, the broadband infrastructure in 

rural areas will be set up to enable a more balanced regional development.  

•  Enhancement of eServices for citizens: Slovenia found its eServices for citizens are not at 

the same level of the other Member States. Therefore, it intends to establish actions that will 

facilitate  the  use  of  digital  services  provided  by  public  administration  to  citizens.  This  will 

include efforts towards digitalisation of the entire process, the one-stop shop concept and a 

single editorial policy. Furthermore, the digital channels that offer public services to end-users 

will be made enabled for foreigners. 

• 

Improvement of eLearning methods: Slovenia intends to improve its efforts to strengthen 

the  eSkills  in  education.  As a  first  step,  the  ICT  infrastructure in  the  education  field will  be 

enforced and updated. Afterwards, the focus can be oriented towards digital learning for both 

students and teachers.   

•  Promotion of Open Data in the public sector: Slovenia finds that open data of the public 

sector  can  enhance  innovation  in  society,  therefore,  it  intends  to  open  up  the  state-owned 

computing  cloud  and  make  certain  data  available  for  businesses  and  citizens,  making  it  a 

good basis for the development of new services and products. 

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Development of eJustice: To foster a more performant judiciary system, Slovenia will invest 

in digitalising its justice system. The actions will include dentification of the missing information 

solutions in the judiciary will be carried out first, followed by providing additional e-services, 

creating a web portal and digitalisation of files. 

•  Establishment  of  ICT  infrastructure  in  the  public  administration:  Slovenia  will develop 

the technical and semantic interoperability as well as the building blocks, applications, data 

records  and  open  data  publishing  systems  to  be  compliant  with  the  Data  Reuse  Directive. 

182 Slovenia Operational Programme for the Implementation of the EU Cohesion Policy in the period 2014-2020. Accessed on 9 
December 2019. 

162 

 
 
 
Furthermore,  it  will  invest  in  the  necessities  to  deliver  eServices,  single  contact  points, 

ePayments, eArchives and eSignatures to move towards an eSociety. This will also include a 

government cloud and a new single information and communication platform.  

•  Enhancement of the eProcurement system: Slovenia intends to upgrade the information 

system  for  eProcurement  with  additional  modules  for  the  publication  of  contracts  and  the 

transparency of the entire public procurement procedure and calls for tenders.   

163 

 
 
 
3.26  Spain 

3.26.1 Socio-economic outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Spain’s CSR of 2019.183   

According to the CSR, Spain seems to be experiencing macroeconomic imbalances due to a large 

stock of internal and external debt, combined to a high unemployment rate and a weak  productivity 

growth. The country is now in the corrective arm of the Stability and Growth Pact, which aims to correct 

the excessive deficit by 2019. The government balance has improved by a 0.5 percentual point since 

last year and it is expected to reach a balanced budget in 2022. However, the medium-term budgetary 

objective is not planned to be reached over the time horizon of the Programme due to a risk of deviation 

from the recommended adjustments stressed by the Commission. 

In order to improve the fiscal framework, Spain has implemented some actions to deploy the preventive 

and  corrective  tools  set  out  in  the  Stability  Law.  Nevertheless,  the  country  has  made  no  plans  to 

establish the automaticity of several fiscal mechanisms and a review of the Stability Law’s expenditure 

rule. Spain is still encouraged by the Council to improve its public procurement policy framework. In 

this regard, a new legislation was adopted in 2017; however, it needs to be complemented with a new 

governance structure and control mechanisms. 

Despite a sustained fall, the unemployment rate of Spain remains above the European Union average, 

particularly affecting young and low-skilled people. Moreover, the still widespread use of temporary 

contracts results in weak incentives for both workers and employers to invest in training. This is turn 

represents a risk for productivity growth. As in the previous year, the CSR points out the need to ensure 

better profiling and matching of jobseekers with employers’ needs, thus creating quality employment.  

People at risk of poverty and social exclusion in Spain remain above the European Union average and 

so  does  the  income  inequality.  In  order  to  attain  inclusive  growth,  Spain  is  encouraged  to  keep 

investing in social inclusion policies and social infrastructure measures. For instance, the child poverty 

rate remains high due to low impact of social transfers, and low effectiveness of family benefits, among 

other factors.  

Regarding the pension system, action is needed to address both the main challenge of the adequacy 

of future retirees' incomes and the length and completeness of their working careers in a context of 

high unemployment and widespread use of temporary contracts and part-time employment. 

Spain’s  innovation  performance  and  productivity  growth  are  slowed  down  by  due  to  low  levels  of 

investment in research and development, both in the private and the public sector, as well as by skills 

mismatches.  The  CSR  stresses  the  need  to  boost  entrepreneurship,  digitalisation  of  firms,  and 

strengthen  the  cooperation  between  regions  through  the  implementation  of  an  effective  national 

innovation strategy.  

183 COM (2019), 509 final, Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Spain and 
delivering a Council opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Spain, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 17 September 2019. 

164 

 
 
 
Concerning  the  business  environment,  two  main  challenges  arise.  The  first  one  is  the  regulatory 

fragmentation  in  the  business  environment  due  to  the  partial  implementation  of  the  Law  on  Market 

Unity. It keeps the productivity growth restrained. Hence, the CSR strongly recommends establishing 

common standards. The second one is related to the general lack of innovation capacity of Spanish 

firms.   

3.26.2 Country Digital Government Outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Spain since 2018. The 

information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Spain.184 

Political Communications 

Four main communications were made by the Spanish government. First, the General Secretary for 

Digital  Administration  developed  a  new  strategic  reference  according  with  European  policies  in  the 

field of digital government and ICT (standards policy, interoperability, building blocks, cloud computing, 

blockchain and DLTs, artificial intelligence, big data and other emerging trends). The Secretary of State 

for Digital Advance started a new Digital Strategy for what is called an Intelligent Spain, which, based 

on the results obtained in the current Digital Agenda for Spain, updated its content and addressed the 

new  challenges  that  have  arisen  in  recent  years.  Regarding  cybersecurity,  a  new  version  of  the 

National Cybersecurity Strategy was published. This strategy took into consideration the last changes 

in  the  technological  landscape  and  included  provision  for  the  creation  of  a  National  Cybersecurity 

Forum  to  foster  collaboration  between  public  and  private  entities.  Additionally,  the  Central 

Administration is currently developing the Fourth National Action Plan (2019-2021), taking into account 

contributions from public administrations, citizens and other agents of civil society. Finally, in March 

2019,  the  Ministry  for  Science,  Innovation  and  Universities  published  a  Spanish  RDI  Strategy  on 

Artificial Intelligence. 

Governance 

The General Secretary for Digital Administration (acronym SGAD), is the governing body under the 

authority  of  the  Secretary  of  State  of  Civil  Service  responsible  for  the  direction,  coordination  and 

execution of the powers attributed to the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Civil Service in terms of digital 

administration,  rationalisation  of  information  technologies  and  communications  in  the  field  of  the 

General Administration of the State and its Public Organisms. It oversees the operation of the Common 

ICT Services. In June, the Royal Decree 355/2018, of 6 June 2018 on Restructuration of Ministries, 

was released. This Royal Decree developed the basic structure of the ministerial departments. The 

General Secretary of Digital Administration now depends on the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Civil 

Service. 

Infrastructure 

In February 2019, the service for eInvoicing FACe incorporated the European invoice formats UBL 2.1 

and CII (Cross Industry Invoice) in accordance with Directive 2014/55/EU. Improvements in FACe were 

developed  in  collaboration  with  public  and  private  organisations  in  the  frame  of  the  Project  CEF-

184 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Spain. Accessed on 30 September 2019. 

165 

 
 
 
Telecom EUROFACE. Administration providers can use either the native format Facturae, or European 

formats UBL 2.1 and CII, to submit invoices electronically and track them through the portal, knowing 

at all times their status of process. In April 2019, the recommended Scheme of Common Metadata 

applicable to electronic  administrative documents  was  approved.  Public eServices  provided by  four 

Spanish  local  and  regional  administrations  (Junta  de  Extremadura,  Diputación  de  Ciudad  Real, 

Diputación de València and Ayuntamiento de Rivas Vaciamadrid) worked under the EID4Spain project 

to connect to the Spanish eIDAS node via CL@VE 2.0, in order to enable cross-border authentication 

in line with the eIDAS Regulation. 

Services 

Significant progress was reported in the area of health. Since January 2019, the Department of Health 

of the Generalitat of Catalonia launched a new service that made it possible for interoperable reports 

of its population to be accessible in the rest of the National Health System (NHS). This made possible 

for Catalan medical professionals to access such reports from other autonomous communities. With 

the activation of this service in Catalonia, an important milestone was achieved with the completion of 

the implementation map of interoperable clinical information. This meant that 94.64% of the population 

was now covered by the National Health System. 

3.26.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Spain185 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.186 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

In recommendation 2, Spain is encouraged to foster synergies between education and businesses in 

order to develop skills and qualifications relevant for the Spanish labour market, in particular regarding 

information and communication technologies. 

Recitals 

Recital 16 stresses the need to improve Spain’s innovation performance within the private sector. In 

order to achieve this, Spain is encouraged to foster entrepreneurship and start-ups, as well as help 

them  in  their  digitalisation  efforts.  In  this  regard  the  CSR  refers  to  the  potential  of  strengthening 

national-regional  coordination  on  the  innovation  strategies,  with  a  special  mention  to  the  need  to 

improve digital skills, both in the education system and in the labour market. 

Opportunities 

In the context of employment, recital 12 presents the need to implement profiling tools to better match 

jobseekers  with  employers’  needs.  A  solution  could  be  to  set  up  and  raise  awareness  on  an 

185 COM (2019) 509 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Spain and delivering a Council opinion 
on the 2019 Stability Programme of Spain, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 27 September 2019. 
186 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Spain to take action in domains related 
to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Spain. Thirdly, opportunities are issues 
brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 

166 

 
 
 
eGovernment portal for businesses and citizens where the employers and jobseekers can meet. This 

could therefore enhance cooperation with the employers, as also stressed in recommendation 2.  

Thematic Objective 11 

Recommendations 

The  CSR  for  Spain  makes  no  specific  mention  in  the  recommendations  of  the  need  to  intervene 

regarding TO11. 

Recitals 

The CSR for Spain makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding TO11. 

Opportunities 

Concerning procurement, recommendation 1 encourages Spain to take measures to strengthen the 

fiscal  and  public  procurement  frameworks  at  all  levels  of  government.  The  digitalisation  of  the 

procurement system could help in this regard by increasing transparency and efficiency.  

About  recommendation  4,  the  CSR  stresses  the  need  to  keep  improving  cooperation  between 

administrations.  Hence,  interoperability  solutions  could  be  implemented  to  enhance  interactions 

among organisations by helping them sharing information and the exchange of data. 

3.26.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Spain’s NRP.187  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Development  of  digital  skills  and  ICT  use  in  education:  The  Agenda  for  Change  is  a 

strategy set up by the government which plans an extensive and deep educational reform. 

The teachers will be trained, and the educational community will be digitalised. It also insists 

on the development of digital skills for students at all stages of education. In universities, skills 

will  be  particularly  reinforced  in  areas  such  as  cybersecurity,  collaborative  and  advanced 

robotics, Big Data and data analysis, 2D and 3D manufacturing, extended reality and virtual 

reality and connectivity, among others. 

•  Measures to reduce the digital gap among workers: The Strategy Spain Entrepreneurial 

Nation envisages the launch of several training programmes to strengthen STEM skills and 

abilities to reduce the digital gap among workers. This also aims at promoting the role and 

presence of women in STEM matters, collaboration projects and public-private partnerships 

to extend the training to both employed and unemployed people.  

•  Measure  to  increase  public  investment  in  technological  companies:  The  Programme 

Cervera was set up in 2018 to finance innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises and 

technology  centres  and  to  encourage  the  transfer  of  knowledge.  This  is  in  addition  to  the 

187 Spain National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed 14 October 2019.  

167 

 
 
 
actions  of  the  Centre  for  Industrial  Technological  Development  and  the  venture  capital 

company INNVIERTE, which will boost public co-investment in technology-based companies. 

•  Measures fostering investment in key infrastructure and new technologies: The Agenda 

for Change committed to produce specific programmes to encourage investments in disruptive 

information  and  communication  technologies  with  high  tractor  potential,  such  as  the 

processing  of  large  volumes  of  data,  biometrics  and  digital  identity,  blockchain,  Artificial 

Intelligence or the Internet of Things. 

•  Deployment of ICT infrastructure nationwide: To integrate all citizens into the digital era, 

the Spanish government will invest in the creation of high capacity networks as well as lead 

the  implementation  of  the  5G  mobile  technology.  (PEBA-NGA).  With  the  New  Generation 

Broadband Extension Programme, 93.5% of the population is expected to benefit from very 

high-speed broadband by June 2021.  

• 

Implementation  of  a  single  base  registry  for  citizens:  Since  2018  a  single  register  was 

established.  It  will  allow  a  citizen  to  submit  an  application  to  any  administrative  register. 

Moreover,  the  single  notification  system  will  make  all  notifications  concerning  a  person 

available at a single access point. Additionally, in 2020 it is expected that the citizen folder will 

become a reality in the national and regional administrations. Citizens and companies, with a 

single identification and without prior registration, will be able to consult all their data held by 

the administration, as well as their notifications and registers, without having to go to each of 

the services individually. 

•  Portal to promote and enhance cooperation among entrepreneurs in Melilla: The portal 

melillaorienta.es  is  a  free  network  promoted  by  the  local  government  that  puts  in  contact 

counsellors, companies and candidates.  

•  Law  for  the  digital  transformation  of  the  financial  sector:  To  ensure  that  the  financial 

authorities  have  adequate  instruments  to  optimally  continue  fulfilling  their  functions  of 

supervision  and  regulation  in  the  new  digital  context  and,  at  the  same  time,  facilitate  the 

adoption of new technologies in the sector, the Council of Ministers reported on 22 February 

2019 the Draft Law for the digital transformation of the financial system. It creates a sandbox, 

under  the  management  of  supervisors  and  with  maximum  security  guarantees,  to  foster 

technological innovations and digitalisation in the financial sector.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Production  of  an  action  plan  for  technological  talent  attraction:  A  programme  will  be 

developed to attract and retain technological and entrepreneurial talent of both national and 

international profiles, with a special focus on female talent. 

•  Adoption of an eProcurement system: The progressive adoption of electronic tendering will 

contribute  to  providing  greater  agility,  security  and  transparency  in  public  procurement 

procedures. 

•  Modernisation  of  the  Justice  administration:  The  implementation  of  the  Digital  Justice 

project has been completed so that all the orders and instances of the courts of Extremadura, 

168 

 
 
Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Región de Murcia, Islas Baleares and Ceuta y Melilla can 

now work in electronic format. 

•  Digital transformation of administration:  The Administration's Digitalisation Plan 2020 will 

incorporate measures aimed at reducing the digital gap in the use of Electronic Administration, 

through the development of universal, quality, open, efficient, flexible and inclusive electronic 

public  services.  Measures  will  be  introduced  to  implement  the  principle  of  reuse  of  public 

information established by the European regulation.  

3.26.5 Operational Programmes  

For the funding period 2014-2020, two OPs of Spain are specifically dealing with themes related to 

TO2  and  TO11.  The  OP,  ‘Sustainable  Growth’188  focusses  on  anticipating  and  adapting  to  global 

changes in the fields of energy, urban development, water and transport. The OP ‘Intelligent Growth’189 

sets  out  actions  that  aim  to  contribute  to  the  improvement  of  the  competitiveness  of  the  Spanish 

economy to promote smart growth supported by ICT and to tackle the needs of SMEs.  

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Promotion  of  ICT  in  urban  development  strategies  to  bridge  the  digital  divide:  Spain 

sets out in OP ‘Sustainable Growth’ to complement promotion of ICT in urban development 

strategies with deploying technologies for bridging the digital divide. In particular, the issue of 

digital gender will be addressed though promoting access to public services to disadvantaged 

groups. Furthermore, Spain will improve digital literacy by ensuring ICT is made on an equal 

basis, taking into account the gender perspective in the use and content of ICT.  

•  Establishment of an ultrafast internet connectivity for educational and training centres: 

Spain indicated in OP ‘Intelligent Growth’ to put in practice ultrafast internet connectivity for 

educational centres. This will help to create both an educational network on the one hand and 

modernise the teaching and learning processes on the other.  

•  Enhancement of eCommerce: In OP ‘Intelligent Growth’ Spain set out as one of the main 

programmed  actions  to  ensure  implementation  of  ICT  by  SMEs,  so  they  can  implement, 

develop and improve eCommerce.  

•  Development of the eHealth system: While Spain declares its eHealth system is very well 

evolved, nevertheless efforts for improvement will be made. In OP ‘Intelligent Growth’, it is 

said investments will be made to use ICT in the management of chronic pathologies as well 

as deploying telemedicine and telecare projects. Furthermore, applications will be established 

to  inform  patients  and  foster  their  participation  and  collaboration  in  decision-making. 

Additionally, the integration of the information systems of the National Health System will be 

completed and the implementation of the Interoperable Electronic Recipe in the entire National 

Health System will be finalised. 

188 Spain Sustainable Growth Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
189 Spain Intelligent Growth Operational Programme. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

169 

 
 
 
•  Foster  eLearning  and  ICT  tools  in  schools:  In  its  Digital  Agenda,  mentioned  in  OP 

‘Intelligent  Growth’,  Spain  plans  to  boost  the  use  of  ICT  tools  in  schools  with  the  aim  of 

enhancing  the  digital  skills  of  its  students.  In  order  to  benefit  from  these  infrastructures, 

contents and technological services, a common frame of reference for teaching, as well as 

several guidelines and standards for the use of Educational ICTs, will be created.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Promotion  of  ICT  in  urban  development  strategies  through  the  creation  of  a  local 

eGovernment:  Spain  declares  in  OP  ‘Sustainable  Growth’  it  will  promote  ICT  in  urban 

development  strategies  through  the  creation  of  local  eGovernment.  Therefore,  the  public 

services in cities will be modernised and the technological project to introduce ICT will be put 

in  place.  Part  of  this  strategy  includes  the  promotion  of  an  Open  Government  through  the 

publication of data.  

170 

 
 
 
3.27  Sweden 

3.27.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in Sweden’s CSR of 2019.190 

Sweden is in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact. According to the 2019 Convergence 

Programme,  the  government  aims  to  achieve  a  surplus  of  0.6%  of  GDP  in  2019  and  to  meet  the 

medium-term  budgetary  objective,  based  on  a  structural  deficit  of  1%  of  GDP  throughout  the 

programme  period.  Additionally,  the  debt-to-GDP  ratio  is  expected  to  fall  to  34.5%  in  2019  and  to 

continue  declining  to  28.2%  in  2022.  Sound  public  finances  and  a  stable  economic  growth  are 

considered the main drivers behind the declining general debt-to-GDP ratio. Lastly, according to the 

Commission 2019 spring forecast, the structural balance is forecast to register a surplus of 9.5% of 

GDP in 2019 and 0.6% in 2020.  

Household  debt  levels  in  Sweden  are  continuously  rising.  In  fact,  household  debt  grew  by  5.5%  in 

2018, reaching about 88% of GDP and 186% of disposable income, which is among the highest in the 

EU. This was mainly caused by higher mortgage borrowing linked to higher house prices, along with 

structural  distortions  favouring  mortgage-financed  property  purchases.  To  relieve  the  situation, 

Sweden  implemented  several  macro-prudential  measures,  including  a  gradual  limitation  of  the  tax 

deductibility  of  mortgage  interest  payments  and  increases  in  recurrent  property  taxes.  However, 

despite this, little progress has been registered. 

Sweden can count on an advanced and developed economy. However, the country is experiencing 

labour  shortages  of  highly  skilled  workers,  especially  in  fields  like  education,  construction  and 

information and communication technologies. The country should invest in specialised human capital 

to support future research and investment, as well as digitalisation. So far, the educational outcomes 

have slightly improved, but there is a still a large and increasing educational performance gap between 

different  social  groups.  Further  efforts  should  be  made  to  integrate  non-EU  migrants,  low-skilled 

workers and women into the labour market.    

Sweden should continue to invest in transport infrastructure as a way of improving its labour mobility, 

regional  cohesion  and  housing  market.  In  addition,  it  could  foster  Sweden’s  long-term  productivity 

growth. The government recently announced considerable investments in the transport infrastructure 

to upgrade the different transport modes, particularly railway and road. The 2018-2019 plan includes 

major investments to develop the railway system, promoting the switch in goods transport from roads 

to railways, thus helping the reduction of CO2 emissions.  

Sweden  should  also  focus  on  preventing  money  laundering,  which  continues  to  be  an  important 

challenge for the country and its companies. In 2017, it further consolidated its anti-money laundering 

framework,  but  challenges  remain,  and  the  country  still  needs  to  adopt  additional  measures  and 

guidelines on how to strengthen supervision in this area.   

190 COM (2019) 527 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Sweden and delivering a Council 
opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Sweden, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 23 September 2019. 

171 

 
 
 
3.27.2 Country Digital Government outlook 

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in Sweden since 2018. 

The information originates from the Digital Government Factsheet of Sweden.191 

Political Communications 

In June 2017, the Swedish government presented the first National Cyber Security Strategy for the 

country.  The  strategy  was  then  supplemented  with  an  appendix  in  July  2018  which  included  an 

overview  of  ongoing  and  completed  measures  initiated  by  the  government  in  2017-2018.  In  this 

timeframe, there were approximately 50 ongoing or completed measures initiated by the government 

to  implement  the  strategy.  At  the  beginning  of  March  2019,  seven  government  agencies  with 

responsibilities in the field of cyber security also presented a joint action plan to implement the strategy 

at the agency level. The joint action plan contains 77 of the most important measures that is scheduled 

to begin implementation in 2019. 

Legislation 

In  2018,  the  Swedish  government  adopted  the  Law  on  electronic  invoices  as  a  result  of  public 

procurement, which decided that, as of April 2019, all purchases in the public sector would be invoiced 

electronically. This means that all providers to the public sector must send eInvoices and that agencies, 

municipalities, county councils and regions must be able to receive eInvoices. 

Governance 

Following the government reshuffle in January 2019, the Ministry of Infrastructure was established and 

the responsibility for digitalisation is now coordinated within the Ministry, with support from the unit of 

Digital Government. 

Infrastructure 

In May 2018, two government assignments were issued, focusing on establishing the foundation for a 

more standardised and interoperable national approach to base registries and information exchange. 

Several key stakeholders are involved in the assignments, including some of the larger government 

agencies and the new Agency for Digital Government (DIGG) has the responsibility to coordinate work. 

The assignments will be reported to the government in 2019. 

Services 

The verksamt.se portal provides a comprehensive single-point for entrepreneurs and enterprises to 

access  relevant  and  official  eServices  and  information  from  three  public  authorities:  the  Swedish 

Companies  Registration  Office  (Bolagsverket);  the  Swedish  Tax  Agency  (Skatteverket);  and  the 

Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillväxtverket). 

191 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, Sweden. Accessed on 30 September 2019.  

172 

 
 
 
3.27.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for Sweden192 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.193 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR for Sweden makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2. 

Recitals 

In  recital  8,  the  CSR  urges  Sweden  to  invest  in  education  and  skills,  particularly  digital  ones.  This 

would help the country address its challenges linked to labour shortages. The country strongly needs 

highly skilled workers that can keep up with the pace of the country’s advances in the economy.  

Opportunities 

The  CSR  for  Sweden  does  not  describe  needs  that  can  be  linked  to  opportunities  to  intervene 

regarding TO2.  

Thematic Objective 11 

There are no recommendations, recitals or opportunities linked to TO11 in the CSR for Sweden. 

3.27.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in Sweden’s NRP.194 

Thematic Objective 2 

•  Digitalisation of SMEs in the county of Kronoberg: As part of the Digital SME project, the 

Smart  and  Innovative  Automation  in  Manufacturing  project  was  created.  Its  objective  is 

knowledge and digital skills transfer to bolster the level of innovation and competitiveness of 

SMEs in the county of Kronoberg. This, in turn, will improve and increase the sustainability of 

the overall Swedish manufacturing system, through higher flexible and innovative automation 

and digitalisation.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Digitalisation in the field of (public) housing: The government has proposed amendments 

to  the  Planning  and  Building  Act  in  order  to  promote  digital  developments  in  the  housing 

market. This new act should enable the government, or any designated agency, to create and 

192 COM (2019) 527 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of Sweden and delivering a Council 
opinion on the 2019 Stability Programme of Sweden, Brussels, 5.6.2019. Accessed on 23 September 2019. 
193 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on Sweden to take action in domains 
related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit Sweden. Thirdly, opportunities are 
issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 
194 Sweden National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 19 October 2019.  

173 

 
 
 
issue digital base maps, electronic development plans and plan provisions, which can then be 

easily exchanged online between different urban and rural entities. 

3.27.5 Operational Programmes  

A thorough evaluation of Sweden’s national OPs for the 2014-2020 financing period has revealed that 

the are no initiatives planned under TO2 and TO11 that would fall under the scope of this study.  

174 

 
 
3.28   United Kingdom 

3.28.1 Socio-economic Outlook 

The  following  information  originates  from  the  socio-economic  overview  which  introduces  the 

recommendations set in UK’s CSR of 2019.195 

The government expects the headline deficit to increase form 1.2% of GDP in 2018-2019 to 1.4% of 

GDP  in  2019-2020,  and  then  fall  to  1.1%  of  GDP  in  2020-2021.  According  to  the  Convergence 

Programme,  the  government  debt-to-GDP  ratio  is  expected  to  fall  from  85.5%  from  2018-2019  to 

83.3% in 2019-2020 and to 82.9% of GDP in 2020-2021. 

Research and development investments in the UK have been below EU average in the past decade, 

around 1.7% of GDP. Moreover, they seem to be concentrated on a very limited share of companies 

in certain regions. Both these factors are leading to a relatively low and stagnant labour productivity. 

The UK continues to suffer from insufficient supply of housing, especially in geographical areas of high 

economic growth. As a consequence, house prices and rents are high, showing signs of overvaluation. 

Home  ownership  for  young  people  remains  therefore  low.  In  order  to  address  this  issue,  the 

government is putting in place various initiatives to boost housing supply, despite the tight regulation 

of the land market, which limits the available land. 

Given the growing capacity pressure in road, rail and aviation networks, the UK needs to modernise 

and expand its infrastructure. This, however, needs to be done reducing the greenhouse emissions, 

as well as project costs. 

The  UK’s  labour  market  is  characterised  by  a  high  proportion  of  low-skilled  employees,  which 

contributes to high levels of in-work poverty. To address skill shortages, the government could provide 

better education and training for basic and technical skills. 

3.28.2 Country Digital Government Outlook  

The following are some of the digital government highlights having occurred in the UK since 2018. The 

information originates from the Digital Government factsheet of the UK.196 

Political Communications 

The government’s Digital Charter was published on 25 January 2018. It set the direction for the UK to 

become the best place to start and grow a digital business as well as the safest place in the world to 

be online. The Charter brought together a broad, ongoing programme, which will evolve as technology 

changes.  Current  priorities  include  online  harms,  liability,  data  and  artificial  intelligence  ethics  and 

innovation, disinformation and cybersecurity. 

195 COM(2019) 528 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of the United Kingdom and delivering a 
Council opinion on the 2018-2019 Stability Programme of the United Kingdom, Brussels, 5.6.2018. Accessed on 20 September 2019. 
196 Digital Government Factsheet 2019, The United Kingdom. Accessed on 20 September 2019. 

175 

 
 
 
Governance 

On 19 February 2019, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced the creation of 

NHSX, a joint unit between DHSC, the National Health Service (NHS) England and NHS Improvement, 

for digital data and technology. 

Infrastructure 

In March 2018, the data.gov.uk site was re-designed and the Find open data service was launched. It 

aimed to help people to find and use open government data and supporting government publishers to 

maintain data. 

Services for citizens and businesses 

In 2018, HM Revenue & Customs took a major step forward toward the eventual goal of introducing 

the Making Tax Digital for VAT. This digital service is a key part of the government’s plans to make it 

easier for individuals and businesses to get their taxes right and stay on top of their financial affairs. 

3.28.3 Country Specific Recommendations 

The CSR for the UK197 is analysed according to TO2 and TO11. Furthermore, for each TO there is a 

subdivision into recommendations, recitals and opportunities.198 

Thematic Objective 2 

Recommendations 

The CSR for the UK makes no recommendation of the need to intervene in the field of TO2. 

Recitals 

The CSR for the UK makes no specific mention in the recitals of the need to intervene regarding TO2. 

Opportunities 

In recital 12, in other to decrease the high proportion of low-skilled workers, the UK is called on to “to 

improve the effectiveness of the education and training systems in basic and technical skills”. In this 

regard, the use of digital tools for training may be beneficial in addressing this problem. 

Thematic Objective 11 

There are no recommendations, recitals or opportunities linked to TO11 in the CSR for the UK.  

3.28.4 National Reform Programme 

The following links to TO2 and TO11 highlight the main priorities and planned measures in the digital 

government domain identified in the UK’s NRP.199 

197 COM(2019) 528 final, Council Recommendation on the 2019 National Reform Programme of the United Kingdom and delivering a 
Council opinion on the 2018-2019 Stability Programme of the United Kingdom, Brussels, 5.6.2018. Accessed on 20 September 2019. 
198 Firstly, the recommendations are stemming from the European Commission, directly calling on the United Kingdom to take action in 
domains related to digital. Secondly, the recitals are suggestions relating to digital solutions that can benefit the United Kingdom. Thirdly, 
opportunities are issues brought up by the Commission that imply a possible digital solution. 
199 United Kingdom National Reform Programme 2019. Accessed on 27 September 2019. 

176 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 2 

•  Reduction in the current digital skills gap among the adult population: Around 1.2 million 

UK citizens are considered to be digitally under-skilled persons. As in the future digital skills 

will be increasingly required in the labour market in all sectors, the UK is committed to close 

this digital skills gap. Its Digital Strategy aims to provide digital under-skilled adults with free-

of-charge specific basic digital skills trainings. These will be delivered through the introduction 

of a national entitlement to basic digital skills courses from 2020. 

•  Development of an education and training system for the needs of tomorrow: Along the 

same lines, the Employability Plan of Wales aims to develop an education and training system 

adequate  to  the  changing  needs  of  the  market,  with  a  focus  on  automation,  artificial 

intelligence and digitalisation. 

•  Transformation of manufacturing through digitally enabled technologies: As part of the 

Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the government intends to support the transformation of 

the  manufacturing  sector  and  make  it  ‘smarter’,  This  will  be  achieved  through  the  use  of 

digitally enabled technologies.  

•  Development of Digital security by design concept: Digital security is another key point 

addressed by the government through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. The aim is to 

update  the  digital  computing  infrastructure  and  make  it  more  secure  through  hardware 

innovation. These investments are expected to have positive effects especially for businesses, 

who will be able to spend less on cybersecurity. 

•  Creation of a Digital Catapult Regional Centre in Belfast: The government has established 

a  network  of  so-called  Catapult  Centres  with  the  aim  to  commercialise  new  and  emerging 

technologies. An example comes from Belfast, where a Digital Catapult Regional Centre has 

been  created  with  the  aim  to  increase  the  commitment  by  industry  to  invest  in  innovative 

solutions to support productivity and competitiveness. 

Thematic Objective 11 

• 

Increased public spending in digital infrastructure: The government of the UK is planning 

to  increase  its  spending  in  infrastructure.  This  includes  the  financing,  through  the  National 

Productivity Investment Fund, of next-generation digital infrastructure and intra-city transport. 

For  instance,  £740  million  will  be  devoted  to  the  setup  of  digital  infrastructure  and  the 

mobilisation of the market to develop full-fibre broadband networks and 5G capacity.  

•  Continuation of GovTech Catalyst Fund: The GovTech Catalyst Fund, launched in 2018 as 

a way to support the uptake of new digital technologies within the public sector, continues until 

2021. The final aim is to give the government cutting edge solutions to deliver more efficient 

public services. 

•  Creation of a digital spatial catalogue  of public sector land assets: Given UK’s house 

shortages,  land  availability  is  a  key  issue  which  often  impedes  an  increase  in  the  housing 

supply. In an effort to make land re-use easier, Northern Ireland is carrying on the ‘Public Land 

for Housing’ project, with the aim of creating a digital spatial catalogues of public sector land 

assets, which could be potentially re-use for housing purposes 

177 

 
 
3.28.5 Operational Programmes  

A thorough evaluation of the UK’s national OPs for the 2014-2020 financing period has revealed that 

there are no initiatives planned under TO2 and TO11 that would fall under the scope of this study. 

178 

 
 
 
4.  Findings synthesis and analysis 

This chapter describes the main challenges (RQ3) still faced by the EU Member States in the context 

of TO2 and TO11, as well as the main elements common (RQ2) across the EU, based on the CSRs, 

NRPs  and  OPs  analysed.  It  provides  an  analysis  of  the  key  findings  per  Member  State  that  were 

previously presented in chapter 3. The remaining of this chapter is organised as follows:  

•  Section  4.1  Socio-economic  Outlook,  outlining  the  main  socio-economic  recurring 

challenges that were identified in the European countries;  

•  Section 4.2 Digital Government Outlook, summarising the main accomplishments related 

to the digitalisation of public administrations and provision of digital public services;  

•  Section  4.3  Country  Specific  Recommendations  –  Key  findings,  mapping  the  different 

recommendations according to TO2 and TO11; 

•  Section  4.4  National  Reform  Programmes  –  Key  findings,  providing  an  overview  of 

Member  States’  digital  government  reform  priorities,  also  mapped  according  to  TO2  and 

TO11; 

•  Section 4.5 Operational Programmes – Key findings, giving an overview of the Member 

States’ funding priorities related to the digital government field in relation with TO2 and TO11. 

4.1  Socio-economic Outlook 

A  detailed  analysis  carried  out  of  the  2019  Country  Specific  Recommendations  of  the  28  Member 

States resulted in the identification of 14 recurrent themes of socio-economic challenges. These range 

from issues in the private sector such as businesses and public cooperation, through the legislative 

and  justice  systems  in  Member  States,  to  other  public  matters  such  as  education  and  healthcare 

provision. Table 1 below provides an overview of the main socio-economic challenges pointed out in 

the CSRs per Member State, along with the frequency of occurrence of the challenges. 

179 

 
 
Table 1. Socio-economic challenges of EU Member States according to the CSRs 

The remaining section consists of a short explanation of the identified socio-economic challenges in 

different thematic areas. These explanations are based on a general overview of the socio-economic 

situation in all EU Member States, as well as a country example that best reflects the challenge. 

•  Administrative  and  Regulatory  Barriers:  The  performance  of  public  administrations  is  a 

concern throughout the European Union. Challenges include, for example, transparency and 

corruption  in  the  public  sector  system;  weak  regulatory  quality  and  low  efficiency  of  public 

administrations and administrative and regulatory barriers that impede the establishment of 

new businesses. For instance, the Czech government continues to face challenges regarding 

the  improvement  of  transparency  and  efficiency  of  public  procurement  and  preventing 

corruption. This leads to inefficiencies in the public service provision.  

•  Business Environment: The growth of a country in terms of productivity is important for its 

economic  performance.  There  are  several  factors  that  are  significant  to  consider  and  to 

overcome, especially the lack of competition amongst firms in various sectors leading to high 

prices.  In  Belgium,  for  instance,  there  is  a  low  productivity  growth  in  the  information  and 

communication technologies sector, construction and health due to skills mismatches and a 

reduced job mobility.  

•  Education: Since education serves as the foundation for the future labour market, the issues 

that various European countries face given skills shortages and skills mismatches need to be 

tackled. Furthermore, the lack of opportunities at an early age also affect higher education 

graduates and later the ineffectiveness of the labour market. This is, for example, a problem 

in Croatia where important socio-economic disparities, especially across regions, impact the 

level  of  educational  attainment  in  the  country.  To  overcome  this,  the  government  recently 

created  the  Regional  Centres  of  Competences,  whose  aim  is  to  improve  the  quality  of 

vocational education and training for all regions. 

180 

 
 
•  Fiscal  Framework:  Defined  as  comprising  all  arrangements  that  underlie  the  conduct  of 

budgetary policies of general government,200 the fiscal frameworks of Member States can be 

described  as  complex  and  needing  several  improvements.  For  instance,  in  Portugal, 

sustainable fiscal consolidation via structural improvement in public finances still needs to be 

achieved through stronger revenue collection and expenditure controls.  

•  Healthcare: The provision of healthcare services is an issue in several countries, especially 

amongst  those  who  joined  the  European  Union  after  2004.  There  are  issues  such  as 

challenging access to service provision, lack of efficiency, shortages, corruption and long-term 

problems  that  all  European  countries  may  have  to  face  because  of  the  ageing  population. 

Bulgaria’s healthcare services are being compromised given the low level of public spending 

and an uneven distribution of limited resources. Health insurance is not available for all and 

moreover, there is a shortage of nurses and doctors, as they are leaving the country. 

•  Housing Market: Challenges concerning the housing market vary from matters such as high 

prices to high household debt accumulation by owners. This socio-economic problem is the 

most recurrent in Northern Member States in general, such as Luxembourg. The latter sees 

a  bottleneck  because  of  lack  of  incentives  for  private  owners  to  sell  land  meeting  fast 

employment  and  population  growth.  There  is  a  significant  mismatch  between  supply  and 

demand  in  the  Luxembourgish  housing  market  which  may  affect  negatively  the  country’s 

attractiveness. 

• 

Justice System: The judiciary is often affected in a negative way throughout Europe due to 

limited transparency, low quality of legislation and corruption in the system due to negative 

external influence. An example of this is the expression of concerns in the CSR for Hungary 

regarding the attempts to prevent and prosecute corruption, as it appears to have increased 

over the past years. Judicial independence seems to be gradually compromised and a wider 

use of eProcurement in order to increase efficiency and transparency is recommended. 

•  Labour Market: All 28 EU Member States face challenges in the labour market. The recurrent 

problems are the following: gender pay gap; high unemployment rate; lack of integration in 

the  workforce;  labour  and  skills  shortages;  long-term  unemployment;  not  enough  diverse 

economy; lack of participation in the labour force and in some countries even reduction of the 

labour force. 

•  Mobility: Transport activity across European countries is high and set to continue growing.  

This is good for passengers and trade but puts pressure on the transport network as well as 

the  environment.  Given  their  key  economic  role  and  their  inter-relation  with  various  policy 

areas,  transportation,  and  mobility  in  general,  are  more  and  more  seen  as  relevant  socio-

economic  challenges  in  different  countries.  In  this  regard,  governments  are  increasingly 

putting  efforts  to  be  able  to  progressively  switch  to  a  clean,  competitive  and  connected 

200 European Commission (2012). Fiscal frameworks across Member States in European Economy Occasional Papers 91. Accessed on 
10 December 2019.  

181 

 
 
 
mobility.201 Therefore, some countries such as Denmark are investing in sustainable transport 

infrastructure networks, particularly in urban areas.  

•  Pension System: Five countries face challenges in their pension system provision. These 

challenges are mostly related to the long-term problems that will appear, for example the rising 

pension expenditure due to the ageing population across Europe; boosting the coverage of 

the supplementary pension schemes where national pension plans are limited; and facing the 

risks  of  old-age  poverty.  Lithuania  for  example,  is  one  of  these  countries  where  there  is  a 

challenge regarding the decline in employment. This may negatively impact pension adequacy 

as pension benefits would not be able to keep up with wage growth. The pension benefit ratio 

is expected to continue its steady decline, although it is already one of the lowest in the Union. 

•  Public Spending: Countries’ public expenditure is oriented towards goods and services. Any 

increase in public spending is expected to benefit citizens  and businesses who will receive 

better provisions. The trends of government spending that were analysed in 2018 are increase 

in costs of pensions, health and long-term care, i.e. old-age related expenditures, as well as 

strengthening  the  corruption  prevention  framework  in  various  countries.  In  the  example  of 

France, the level of public expenditure remains the highest in the EU. Despite a renewed fiscal 

consolidation strategy, expenditure on healthcare has steadily increased over time. Concrete 

actions  need  to  be  taken  to  reduce  the  expenditure-to-GDP  ratio  by  2022  and  tackle 

sustainability challenges. 

•  Research and  Innovation:  European  countries  are constantly  evolving  and  in  order  to  be 

models of best practice, governments must invest in research & development and innovation. 

This could be efficiently done through cooperation between the private sector, public sector 

and  academia.  Estonia  for  instance  has  a  moderate  performance  on  research,  technology 

and  innovation,  which  negatively  impacts  its  productivity  growth.  Only  0.61%  of  GDP  is 

dedicated towards business research and development, about half the EU average.  

•  Social Inclusion: Individuals and groups, especially the vulnerable ones, should be included 

in all aspects of society. In Eastern and Southern Europe, a sensitive topic is the high risk of 

poverty  and  income  inequalities.  For example,  Latvia  faces  challenges  on  delivering social 

protection  and  inclusion  principles,  as  poverty  risk  among  the  elders  and  the  people  with 

disabilities is high, and benefits do not keep pace with wage growth.  Consequently, further 

investments are required to address social exclusion. 

•  Tax System: The most common macroeconomic challenges associated to tax in the analysis 

of the 2019 CSRs are tax evasion, a low level of compliance and the complexity of some tax 

systems. This is the case in the German tax system which is characterised by its intricacy. It 

leads  to  inefficiency  and  distortions  on  decision-making.  The  corporate  tax  system  is  also 

complex, burdening the government with high tax administration costs as well as distorting 

the level and location of investments. 

201 European Commission (2019). Transport in the European Union – current trends and issues. Accessed on 8 November 2019. 

182 

 
 
 
The identified themes of challenges range between the private and public sectors. The most recurrent 

challenge that Member States face pertains to the labour market field, while research and innovation, 

tax system and healthcare emerge as common challenges as well.  

183 

 
 
 
4.2  Digital Government Outlook 

The following section provides a factual summary of the most recent developments regarding digital 

government of the 28 Member States covered by the scope in the study. The information collected is 

based on the Digital Government Factsheets 2019.202 The logic of thematic division thus follows the 

logic  of  the  factsheets  (i.e.  political  communications,  legislation,  governance,  infrastructure  and 

services  for  citizens  and  businesses).  The  most  recurring  themes  are  explained  and  highlighted, 

accompanied by various country examples. 

4.2.1  Political communications 

In the context of this study, political communications on digital government are those communications 

(e.g. eGovernment Action Plans, Digital Agenda, Digital Government Strategies) which aim to set the 

long-term direction and scope that governments want to pursue in the field of digital government. In 

general, the main aims of the digital strategies put forward by the different governments are to harness 

the  potential  of  ICT  technologies  in  different  sectors,  foster  the  digital  transformation  of  the  public 

administration and provide high-quality digital public services to its citizens. 

Figure 6. Digital government outlook: Political communications 

202 Joinup (2019). Digital Government Factsheets and Infographics. Accessed on 9 October 2019. 

184 

 
 
 
 
Based on the main digital government highlights collected through the Digital Government Factsheets 

2019, 26 Member States out of 28 have put in place at least one political communication in the digital 

government domain since 2018. As shown in Figure 6, the three most recurring themes when it comes 

to recently implemented political communications in the digital government domain are: 

•  Digitalisation  of  the  Public  Administration:  Some  countries  are  explicitly  focusing  their 

efforts on the modernisation and digitalisation of their public sector and public administration. 

This is for instance the case of France, who recently revealed its Techgouv roadmap. This 

project is meant to accelerate the digital transformation of public services. Its main goal is to 

ensure  that  the  government  seizes  every  opportunity  to  reconcile  the  public  administration 

with  the  citizens  and  industries,  through  the  deployment  of  new  technologies  and  digital 

services, in order to better serve the population’s needs.  

•  Deployment  and  utilisation  of  New  Technologies:  In  recent  years,  member states  have 

gradually been focusing their investments on the deployment of emerging technologies such 

as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and the Internet of Things. This is for example the case 

of Hungary, who recently established its Artificial Intelligence Coalition, made up of various 

public  and  private  organisations,  including  universities,  technology  companies  and  state 

entities. Its goal is to put in place a framework for cooperation in order to bring Hungary at the 

forefront of Europe in the field of digitalisation.   

•  Cybersecurity:  Concerns  about  the  protection  of  user  data  and  cyber-attacks  to 

governmental portals have greatly increased in recent years. This is leading more and more 

countries  to  adopt  strategies  specifically  tackling  this  issue.  For  instance,  Malta  recently 

launched the National Cybersecurity Awareness and Education Campaign, which serves as 

a framework for the protection of information systems and networks in both the private and 

public sectors.  

4.2.2  Legislation 

In this study, legislation can be defined as all changes to a country’s legal framework related to digital 

government. This includes the adoption of amendments, decrees, acts, law or equivalent. It also relates 

to the creation of specific legal frameworks and the transposition of EU regulations into national law.  

185 

 
 
Figure 7. Digital government outlook: Legislation 

Based on the main digital government highlights collected through the Digital Government Factsheets 

2019 and as shown in Figure 7, 25 Member States out of 28 have put in place at least one legislative 

reform. Three of the most recurring changes to legislation took place in the following domains:  

• 

eID: The legislative changes related to eID can be seen in the context of the eIDAS regulation. 

The Electronic Identification and Trust Services (eIDAS) Regulation creates a new system for 

the performance of secure electronic interactions across the EU between businesses, citizens 

and  public  authorities.  It  aims  to  improve  trust  in  EU-wide  electronic  transactions  and  to 

increase the effectiveness of public and private online services and e-commerce. It applies to 

electronic  identification  schemes  notified  to  the  European  Commission  by  Member  States; 

trust service providers based in the EU; and it removes existing barriers to the use of eID in 

the EU. Lithuania, for instance, has adopted several pieces of legislation relating to eID and 

Trust  services.  One  of  them  is  the  Law  on  Electronic  Identification  and  Trust  Services  for 

Electronic Transactions, which ensures the compliance of Lithuania’s national legal framework 

with the eIDAS Regulation. Its aim is the creation of a legal basis for the effective operation of 

electronic identification, so as to ensure the best possible protection of its citizens’ interests.   

•  Cybersecurity: As previously mentioned, there are mounting concerns in the EU regarding 

the  protection  of  user  data  and  cyber-attacks  and  hacks,  which  have  greatly  increased  in 

recent years. This is leading countries to adopt specific laws tackling this issue. This is the 

case of Bulgaria, for example, who adopted the Cybersecurity Act in 2018, in order to set up 

186 

 
 
 
and  implement  measures  for  a  high  common  level  of  security  of  network  and  information 

systems in the country.  

• 

eInvoicing: The digital issuance, transmission, reception and processing of invoices has been 

implemented by various member states. It facilitates their tracking and reduces the risks of 

tax evasion. As of January 2019, it became mandatory to issue eInvoices for both business 

to business and business to customer transactions. In fact, Greece recently transposed and 

adopted a new law on the issuing of electronic invoices in the context of public procurement, 

in accordance with the provisions of the European Directive.  

4.2.3  Governance 

The governance includes, in the scope of this study, the creation of new entities, the transformation of 

existing entities and the hand-over of tasks from an existing entity to another entity related to digital 

governance.  Only  changes  related  to  the  organisational  structure  of  a  government  were  taken  into 

account. This implies that changes in government positions were not considered.  

Figure 8. Digital government outlook: Governance 

Based on the main digital government highlights collected through the Digital Government Factsheets 

2019  and  as  shown  in  Figure  8,  15  Member  States  out  of  28  have  put  in  place  at  least  one 

organisational change related to the entity responsible for digital government. The following examples 

illustrate  the  three  different  types  of  organisational  change  that  occurred  in  the  Member  States.  In 

Portugal, a new person was appointed as Minister of the Presidency and Administrative Modernisation, 

187 

 
 
 
which is the Minister responsible for the modernisation of public entities and  digital government. An 

example  of  a  new  entity  that  was  created  is  the  Digitalisation  Agency  of  the  Austrian  Federal 

Government. The Agency particularly focuses on supporting SMEs by providing expertise and know-

how in the fields of innovation, digitalisation and networking. The third type of organisational change 

is the transformation of an existing entity, of which an example occurred in Spain. There, the General 

Secretary  of  Digital  Administration  now  depends  on  the  Ministry  of  Economic  Affairs  and  Digital 

Transformation.  

4.2.4  Infrastructure 

For  this  study,  infrastructure  can  be  understood  as  the  provision  of  tools  and  facilities  by  the 

government which are needed for (the execution of elements related to) the implementation of digital 

government initiatives. 

Figure 9. Digital government outlook: Infrastructure 

Based on the main digital government highlights collected through the Digital Government Factsheets 

2019 and as shown in Figure 9, all 28 Member States have put in place at least one infrastructure 

change  supporting  the  delivery  of  public services.  Three of  the  most  recurring  tools to  establish  an 

infrastructure corresponding to digital governance are:  

•  Data  management:  For  the  scope  of  this  study,  infrastructure  tools  related  to  data 

management cover actions that include creating open-data systems, setting up base registers, 

or putting  databases  into  place.  For example,  in  2018,  Poland  put  in  place  the  Open  Data 

188 

 
 
 
Portal, which aims to offer its citizens free and open access to various types of public data 

including education, the environment, budget and finance, culture and security, among others. 

• 

eID functionalities: eID functionalities refers to measures related to the introduction of new 

forms  of  authentication,  the  introduction  of  a  new  security  framework  or  the  update  of  an 

existing one. The Member States put in practice these infrastructures to be compliant with the 

eIDAS  regulation.  As  an  example,  the  Czech  Republic  launched  the  eIDAS  node  in 

September 2018 under the name CZ. PEPS.  

• 

eGovernment  portals:  Various  Member  States  established  portals  to  ensure  their 

constituents can consult eGovernment services. These portals enable the provision of specific 

government services once citizens and businesses access the dedicated website. In 2018, 

Slovakia,  for  example,  put  in  place  a  new  portal,  named  oversi.sk,  for  the  verification  and 

exchange of four types of official documents between government authorities. These include 

the cadastral map, the commercial register, the criminal record and the land register.  

4.2.5  Services for citizens and businesses 

Digital services refer to the application of business and technical expertise to enable organisations in 

the creation, management and optimisation of or access to information and business processes203. In 

the case of digital public services, the government is usually providing its citizens with different services 

that are accessible through digital or online means. From the citizens’ perspective, therefore, this type 

of service is delivered through online channels. 

203 Definition adapted from: Gartner IT Glossary (2019). IT Services. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

189 

 
 
 
Figure 10. Digital government outlook: Services for citizens and businesses 

Based on the main digital government highlights collected through the Digital Government Factsheets 

2019 and as shown in Figure 10, 26 Member States out of 28 have introduced at least one new digital 

public service since 2018. We have recognised three main themes when it comes to the provision of 

digital public services: 

•  Simplified eServices delivery: The simplification and improvement of eService delivery for 

both businesses and citizens emerge as one of the main concerns for most member states. 

In Belgium, several new public services were launched in 2018 and were made available to 

citizens through online platforms or applications. These new digital measures are meant to 

facilitate the life of everyday citizens by granting them a direct online access to health records, 

employment files, pension files, among others. 

• 

eGovernment Portals: In line with the introduction of eGovernment portals for citizens, more 

and more countries are creating eGovernment portals dedicated to businesses, in an effort to 

improve the digital interaction between the public administration and the private sector. This 

is  the  case  of  Sweden,  who  set  up  an  online  portal  in  2018,  allowing  entrepreneurs  and 

enterprises to access official eServices and  all the relevant information from various public 

authorities, including the Swedish Tax Agency and the Companies Registration Office. 

• 

eHealth: eHealth refers to tools and services that use ICTs to improve all aspects of health 

and lifestyle such as diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. eHealth solutions also contribute to 

access to healthcare from distant regions, enhance the cooperation among the health sector, 

190 

 
 
 
and  improve  the  quality  of  healthcare services.204  Within  the  framework  of  Estonia’s  digital 

register, citizens can now book their ambulatory and medical appointments online, view their 

medical bills and records online. This allows for more flexibility and rapidity in the interactions 

between health providers and citizens.    

204 European Commission (n.d.). eHealth: Digital health and care. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

191 

 
 
 
4.3  Country Specific Recommendations - Key findings 

Every year, the European Semester exercise is carried out. It is an annual monitoring process 

with the goal to ensure economic convergence and stability throughout the European Union. After 

assessing all EU governments’ plans, the Commission presents each country with CSRs where 

guidance  is  provided  towards  boosting  jobs  and  growth  as  well  as  maintaining  stable  public 

finances. 

This study analyses the CSRs for each country in light of TO2 and TO11. TO2, on the one hand, 

targets  enhancing  access  to,  and  use  and  quality  of  Information  and  Communication 

Technologies (ICT). TO11, on the other hand, aspires to enhance institutional capacity of public 

authorities and stakeholders and efficient public administration. In chapter 3, the TOs identified in 

the CSRs are divided into three categories: recommendations, recitals and opportunities: (I) the 

recommendations stem from the European Commission, directly calling on the country at hand 

to  take  action  in  domains  related  to  digital;  (II)  the  recitals  are  suggestions  relating  to  digital 

solutions that can address a current challenge faced by the country; (III) opportunities are issues 

brought up by the Commission that can be possibly solved or alleviated thanks to a digital solution, 

identified by the authors of this study. 

Figure  11  shows  two  maps.  The  first  one  illustrates  the  13  countries  that  received  direct 

recommendations linked to TO2 in the digital government domain from the European Commission 

in 2019, as well as their corresponding themes. While the second map lays out the 5 countries 

that received direct recommendations linked to TO11 in the digital government domain from the 

European Commission in 2019, as well as their corresponding themes. 

Figure 11. Member States receiving a country-specific recommendation 

As  can  be  seen  from  the  figure  above,  in  2019,  Member  States  received  more  recommendations 

related to TO2 than those related to TO11. Regarding TO2, the majority of recommendations, meaning 

192 

 
 
eight instances out of 14, were related to eSkills (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal, 

Romania,  Slovenia  and  Spain).  Two  recommendations  dealt  with  ICT  Infrastructure  (France  and 

Latvia).  Lastly,  one  recommendation  regarded  ePayments  (Italy),  one  is  linked  to  Base  Registries 

(Finland), one is related to Digitalisation of Businesses (Austria) and one deals with eHealth (Slovakia). 

As  for  TO11,  two  recommendations  deal  with  eJustice  (Croatia  and  Cyprus),  one  with  Capacity 

Building  (Germany),  one  with  ICT  infrastructure  (Ireland),  and  lastly  one  is  related  to  Digital  Public 

Services Delivery (Italy).  

Our analysis depicts all the themes that have been identified in the 2019 CSRs for the 28 Member 

States. While analysing the CSRs, relevant themes other than recommendations were identified 

in the document’s recitals section (classified as recitals) since they represent actual challenges 

present in the Member State that are likely to be solved with the help of ICT tools. More general 

possibilities for the application of ICT tools identified throughout the whole document were also 

included  as  opportunities  in  the  digital  government  domain.  The  identified  themes  are  further 

clustered as falling under TO2, TO11 or, given the high interdependency of the two TO, potentially 

falling under both, based on the specific case. Table 2 below provides an initial overview of all 

countries and themes identified, followed by explanations and examples, as well as overview of 

the  main  thematic  trends  related  to  TO2  and  TO11  is  presented.  When  considering  TO2  and 

TO11  together,  the  top  three  topics  addressed  in  the  2019  CSRs  appear  to  be  eSkills  (26 

instances), eHealth (15 instances) and eTax (11 instances). 

193 

 
 
Table 2. 2019 CSRs thematic overview 

194 

 
 
 
 
Thematic Objective 2 

•  Digitalisation  of  Businesses:  The  private  sector’s  digitalisation  enhances  the  country’s 

economic performance, companies’ growth and visibility of SMEs, while ensuring competition. 

Cooperation between the private and public sector towards digitalisation is also an important 

aspect in the economy towards supporting innovation and the use of new technologies.205 This 

year, Austria received a recommendation from the Commission to focus its future investments 

on  deepening  and  spreading  digitalisation  and  the  use  of  digital  tools,  particularly  in  the 

business sector. This will help Austrian companies deliver faster and more efficient services 

to its citizens.   

• 

eGovernment portal: More and more countries are now setting up eGovernment portals for 

citizens and businesses in order to facilitate the use of government services through electronic 

means. The use of these portals would improve the digital interaction between governments 

and businesses as well as between governments and citizens. In Spain, an opportunity was 

identified for the creation of this double-oriented portal in the context of employment. In fact, 

the country’s CSR pointed out to the need for improving and tailoring profiling tools to better 

match jobseekers with employers’ needs. By setting up an eGovernment portal, accessible to 

both  citizens  and  businesses,  would  facilitate  the  job-searching  and  employer-seeking 

procedures.  

• 

ePayment: ePayment is the possibility to make payments for goods and services online. It is 

available on all types of devices, i.e. computers, smartphones and tablets. It is a widely used 

means in the private sector by banks and is currently being developed in the public sector as 

well.206 The use of ePayment was recommended to Italy by the Commission in an effort to 

fight against corruption and tax evasion. In the case of Italy, the mandatory use of ePayments 

should be complemented by lower legal thresholds for cash payments. 

• 

eInclusion: eInclusion policies aim at reducing gaps in ICT usage. Governments can organise 

teaching sessions for example, to promote the use of ICT and allow all citizens to participate 

in  the  many  aspects  of  information  society.  This  will  also  benefit  people’s  employment 

opportunities,  cohesion,  quality  of  life  and  the  country’s digital  economy  performance.207  In 

2018, an opportunity was established for Slovakia to implement eInclusion measures so as to 

foster  equity  and  inclusivity,  which  are  greatly  lacking  behind  in  the  country  compared  to 

European standards.  

Thematic Objective 11 

•  Capacity Building through ICT: Capacity building through ICT is the long-term process of 

facilitating knowledge acquisition and deliver appropriate tools to individuals about a particular 

sector. The aim is for civil servants to acquire appropriate skills to successfully perform their 

required functions.208 This year, for example, the Commission recommended that Germany 

205 European Commission (n.d.). Digitising European Industry. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
206 Definition adapted from: Collins Dictionary (n.d.). e-Payments Definition. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
207 European Commission (2006). Riga Ministerial Declaration on ICT for an Inclusive Society. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
208 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (2003). Presentation World Summit on the Information Society PrepCom II – Geneva 
Roundtable 5 – Feb 19, 2003. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

195 

 
 
 
focus  its  investment-related  economic  policy  on  innovation  and  digitalisation,  with  a 

particularly strong focus on high capacity broadband.  

• 

eGovernment  and  Interoperability  Framework:  An  eGovernment  and  Interoperability 

Framework refers to commonly agreed approaches with a two-fold goal: to establish the use 

of ICT tools in public administration on the one hand and provide the delivery of public services 

in an interoperable manner on the other. This should ensure interaction between citizens and 

businesses  and  public  administrations  or  between  public  administrations  internally,  taking 

place  through  effective  digital  services.209  In  2018,  the  Commission  stressed  the  need  for 

Cyprus to improve the functioning of its public administration as well as the overall governance 

of  its  local  entities.  Thus,  it  identified  an  opportunity  for  the  country  to  boost  the  usage  of 

eGovernment services, which are already in place but not fully functional yet. By setting up 

these  measures,  a  smoother  communication  between  the  various  public  entities  would  be 

ensured as well as faster solutions to administrative procedures.    

• 

eInvoicing: Electronic invoicing is the exchange of an electronic invoice document between 

a supplier and a buyer. An electronic invoice is an invoice that has been issued, transmitted 

and  received  in  a  structured  data  format  which  allows  for  its  automatic  and  electronic 

processing.210 In Italy, eInvoicing has been made mandatory for all commercial transactions 

with final consumers, starting from 2019. The use of eInvoicing is mentioned in the CSRs as 

a measure to fight against tax evasion and ensure a better tax compliance.  

• 

eJustice: The eJustice approach uses ICT to improve citizens' access to justice and to make 

legal action more effective. It also contributes to making the judicial system more accessible 

and  transparent.211  This  year  once  more,  the  Commission  recommended  for  Croatia  to 

implement  eJustice  measures.  These  would  significantly  reduce  the  duration  of  the  courts’ 

proceedings and make the processes faster and more effective 

• 

eTax:  Taxation  becomes  easier,  faster  and  more  efficient  through  digitalisation.  eTax 

measures  enhance  the  quality  of  public  administration  services,  making  the  tax  collection 

process  more  uniform.212  In  the  Netherlands,  for  example,  an  opportunity  to  improve  tax 

efficiency has been uncovered. In fact, by putting in place a single IT platform for all financial 

and administrative processes, the country would greatly limit tax evasion and harmonise all of 

its tax procedures.  

• 

eProcurement: eProcurement entails more than merely the use of electronic tools. It rethinks 

the pre-award and post-award phases to simplify participation and improve the management 

for the public sector. The integration of data-based approaches is facilitated at various stages 

of the procurement process. The aim is to address the lack of transparent public procurement 

processes  and  improve  the  competitiveness  and  transparency  of  many  Member  States.213 

209 COM (2017) 134 final, Annex to the Communication from the Commission of the European Parliament, the Council, the European 
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European Interoperability Framework – Implementation 
Strategy, Brussels, 23.3.2017.  
210 European Commission (n.d.). What is eInvoicing. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
211 COM (2008)329 final, Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic 
and Social Committee on Towards a European e-Justice Strategy, Brussels, 30.5.2008.  
212 Definition adapted from: Collins Dictionary (n.d.). Definition e-Taxes. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
213 European Commission (n.d.). E-procurement. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

196 

 
 
 
The CSR for Portugal stressed that current problems in the planning and monitoring of public 

procurement  are  hindering  the  country’s  competitive  advantages.  Thus,  this  would  be  an 

opportunity for Portugal to promote the use of eProcurement solutions.  

Thematic Objectives 2 and 11 

• 

eLearning:  eLearning encompasses a broad range of knowledge transferred through digital 

technologies, sometimes as a complement to traditional education channels. The use of ICT 

tools is especially powerful for reaching individuals with no access to traditional education and 

training, either because they live in remote areas or because of their socioeconomic situation 

or  special  needs214.  For  instance,  as  Austria  needs  to  raise  its  levels  of  basic  skills  for 

disadvantaged groups, the CSR for the country recommends promoting eLearning solutions 

to help citizens into accessing education through ICTs.  

• 

eSkills:  eSkills  relate  to  the  knowledge  of  applying  and  developing  ICT  and  infrastructure. 

Users,  i.e.  citizens,  need  to  possess  the  capabilities  to  use  various  technologies.  For  this 

reason, digital education starts from an early age in several countries. Practitioners, in both 

the front and back offices of public administrations also need to have profound digital literacy. 

Quality  and  new  technologies  will  only  enhance  if  people  constantly  learn  and  evolve.215 

Romania’s population greatly lacks basic but necessary digital skills that could enhance its 

future competitiveness. Hence, the Commission recommended it to develop the use of eSkills 

that could promote the creation of digital public services for all and at the same time, foster 

the digitalisation of Romanian businesses.  

• 

ICT Infrastructure: ICT infrastructure embodies the system of hardware, software, facilities 

and  service  components  that  support  the  delivery  of  business  systems  and  IT-enabled 

processes.  The  appropriate  ICT  infrastructure  is  a  necessity  to  support  the  introduction  or 

expansion of eGovernment and interoperability services.216 The most recurrent infrastructure 

that  is  needed  in  countries  is  broadband  and  fibre  connectivity.  In  Latvia  for  example,  the 

Commission strongly encourages the country to concentrate its investment-related economic 

policy on innovation, with a particular focus on digital infrastructure.  

• 

eHealth: eHealth refers to tools and services that use ICTs to improve all aspects of health 

and lifestyle such as diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. eHealth solutions also contribute to 

access to healthcare from distant regions, enhance the cooperation among the health sector, 

and improve the quality of healthcare services.217 In Hungary for example, an opportunity was 

identified to enhance the efficiency of the healthcare system through the implementation of 

eHealth measures. In fact, the use of ICT in healthcare would facilitate and speed up the work 

of medical staff and primary care takers.  

•  Digital Public Services Delivery: Public services are becoming more digital. Citizens and 

businesses can take care of not only purely administrative processes online, but also services 

in the health and education sectors for example. Digitalisation, automation and simplification 

214 Eurostat (2016). Glossary: E-Learning. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
215 Eurostat (2016). Glossary: E-skills. Accessed on 6 November 2019. 
216 Gartner IT Glossary (2019). IT infrastructure. Accessed on 6 November 2019.  
217 European Commission (n.d.). eHealth: Digital health and care. Accessed on 6 November 2019. 

197 

 
 
 
are  important  end-goals  for  governments.218  The  Commission  strongly  urged  Bulgaria  to 

improve its fiscal policy. This is an opportunity for the country to digitalise its tax administrative 

system and tax collection. In fact, by digitalising the delivery of its public services, Bulgaria 

could aim to improve its overall tax efficiency and compliance.  

Overall, references to themes under TO2 emerged as more frequent (64 instances) than those 

related to TO11 (40 instances). As shown in Figure 12, the top three themes identified under TO2 

are eSkills (26 instances), eHealth (15 instances) and Digitalisation of Businesses (6 instances), 

whereas the top three themes under TO11 are eTax (11 instances), eJustice (10 instances) and 

eProcurement (8 instances).  

Figure 12. Top three themes identified in the CSRs under TO2 and TO11 

From a country perspective, we identified an average of 3.5 references per country to issues falling 

under  TO2  and  TO11  in  the  2019  CSRs,  with  Bulgaria  scoring  the  most,  with  seven  references, 

followed by Italy with six references. Then we found eight countries that scored five references (Cyprus, 

Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Spain) and seven countries that scored 

four references (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Malta and Poland). It is also worth noting 

that, in 2019, Sweden was the only member state who did not receive a recommendation from the 

European  Commission,  and  where  no  reference  to  opportunities  related  to  the  digital  government 

domain was found in its CSR document.  

218 Definition adapted from: European Commission (2017). eGovernment Benchmark 2017. Accessed on 6 November 2019.  

198 

 
 
 
 
4.4  National Reform Programmes – Key findings 

NRPs  are  documents  presented  by  all  Member  States’  governments  to  the  European 

Commission on a yearly basis. These documents contain existing and future policies that will be 

put in place in a wide range of socio-economic areas to boost jobs and growth and prevent or 

correct imbalances. In light of the European Semester process, their constitute concrete plans to 

comply with the EU's country-specific recommendations and general fiscal rules. 

The content analysis of the NRPs of the Member States helped to establish how different reforms, 

carried out in the countries, tackle issues related to the use of ICT within the public administration 

to enhance digital government. 

As shown in Table 3 below, our analysis depicts all the themes that have been identified in the 

2019  National  Reform  Programmes  for  the  28  Member  States.  The  identified  themes  are 

clustered as falling under TO2, TO11 or, given the high interdependency of the two TO, potentially 

falling under both, based on the specific case. Table 3 below presents an overview of the identified 

themes, linked to TO2 and TO11 in the different Member States’ NRPs. When considering TO2 

and TO11 together, the top three topics addressed in the 2019 NRPs appear to be eSkills (33 

instances), Digitalisation of businesses (25 instances) and ICT infrastructure (25 instances). 

199 

 
 
Table 3. 2019 NRPs thematic overview 

200 

 
 
Thematic Objective 2 

• 

eCulture: New technology-based access to culture is expected to change both its production 

and dissemination. Culture is preserved and promoted through digital means, by increasing 

people’s access to culture, offering them new ways to participate in cultural experiences and 

learn.219 For instance, Portugal is making available online the contents of libraries and other 

cultural  institutions  through  virtual  spaces.  This  will  foster  social  inclusion  and  strengthen 

literacies.  

• 

eGovernment Portal: More and more countries are now setting up eGovernment portals for 

citizens and businesses in order to facilitate the use of government services through electronic 

means. The use of these portals would improve the digital interaction between governments 

and  businesses  as  well  as  between  governments  and  citizens.  Luxembourg  is  one  of  the 

Member  States  that  created  an  eGovernment  Portal  for  both.  Indeed,  the  one-stop  shop 

Guichet.lu  was  completely  redesigned  and  modernised  and  its  use  have  grown  rapidly  in 

recent  years.  The  portal  simplifies  the  interaction  between  citizens  or  businesses  and  the 

public administration.  

• 

eID: In the EU, eID services help both public and private service providers to extend the use 

of their online services to the citizens from other European countries.220 This ensures citizens 

to use their national eID to access, in a secure way, the services of other Member States.221 

In Italy, the government has completed the design of the IT platform that will introduce the 

identity card for all in the upcoming months. 

• 

eInclusion: eInclusion policies aim at reducing gaps in ICT usage. Governments can organise 

teaching sessions for example, to promote the use of ICT and allow all citizens to participate 

in  the  many  aspects  of  information  society.  This  will  also  benefit  people’s  employment 

opportunities, cohesion, quality of life and the country’s digital economy performance.222 For 

instance, in Estonia a digital tool for businesses is envisaged to be created to help employers 

analysing the gender equality situation within their organisation and developing solutions to 

eliminate the inequalities identified. 

•  Geospatial portal: A geospatial portal provides the citizens with the means to search online 

for spatial data sets and data services. These portals play an important role in the sharing of 

geographic  information  for  both  individuals  and  administrations,  as  the  organisation  of  the 

information into structured datasets combined with the use of data visualisation tools can lead 

to a better delivery of public services and to an increase in efficiency and interoperability223. 

In Portugal, a geospatial pilot project was developed within the domain of forest ownership to 

give a free public access to the country land structure information and provide a Simplified 

Cadastral Information System for the citizens.   

219 Definition adapted from: Dictionnaire Sens Agent le Parisien (n.d.). eCulture. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
220 European Commission (n.d.). CEF Digital Home. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
221 European Commission (n.d.). What is eID? Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
222 European Commission (2006). Riga Ministerial Declaration on ICT for an Inclusive Society. Accessed on 6 November 2019.  
223 Definition adapted from: European Commission (n.d.). INSPIRE Geoportal. Accessed on 10 December 2019. 

201 

 
 
 
Thematic Objective 11 

•  Base Registries: A base register is a trusted and authoritative source of information, which 

can  and  should  be  digitally  reused  by  others,  where  one  organisation  is  responsible  and 

accountable for the collection, use, updating and preservation of information. Thus, a base 

register is a reliable source of basic information on data items such as people, companies, 

vehicles, licences, buildings, locations and roads.224 In Slovakia, the country’s electronic cash 

register, named eKasa, will help to ensure a fairer competition between taxpayers, improve 

control activities and facilitate the fight against tax evasion.   

•  Capacity Building through ICT: Capacity building through ICT is the long-term process of 

facilitating knowledge acquisition and deliver appropriate tools to individuals about a particular 

sector. The aim is for civil servants to acquire appropriate skills to successfully perform their 

required  functions.225  An  example  can  be  found  in  Estonia.  There,  the  government  is 

promoting a broader use of creative industries, ICT and other key technologies by setting up 

cross-domain implementation policies.  

• 

eInvoicing: Electronic invoicing is the exchange of an electronic invoice document between 

a supplier and a buyer. An electronic invoice is an invoice that has been issued, transmitted 

and  received  in  a  structured  data  format  which  allows  for  its  automatic  and  electronic 

processing.226  An example of efforts regarding eInvoicing can be found in Poland where an 

electronic  invoicing  platform  is  being  developed  for  public  finances  to  complement  the 

digitalisation of public procurement.  

• 

eGovernment  and  Interoperability  Framework:  An  eGovernment  and  Interoperability 

Framework refers to commonly agreed approaches with a two-fold goal: to establish the use 

of ICT tools in public administration on the one hand and provide the delivery of public services 

in an interoperable manner on the other. This should ensure interaction between citizens and 

businesses  and  public  administrations  or  between  public  administrations  internally,  taking 

place through effective digital services.227 Austria for example launched a flagship project in 

the public sector, the Digital Public Administration, which aims to lay the basis for cross-entity 

electronic administrative processes, thus allowing interoperability. 

• 

eJustice: The eJustice approach uses ICT to improve citizens' access to justice and to make 

legal action more effective. It also contributes to making the judicial system more accessible 

and transparent.228 For example, in Croatia, the government will improve the efficiency of its 

judicial system through further development of electronic communication between courts and 

224 European Commission (2017). Annex to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the 
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the Implementation Strategy of the European 
Interoperability Framework. Accessed on 26 February 2020.  
225 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (2003). Presentation World Summit on the Information Society PrepCom II – Geneva 
Roundtable 5 – Feb 19, 2003. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
226 European Commission (n.d.). What is eInvoicing. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
227 COM (2017) 134 final, Annex to the Communication from the Commission of the European Parliament, the Council, the European 
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European Interoperability Framework – Implementation 
Strategy, Brussels, 23.3.2017.  
228 COM (2008)329 final, Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic 
and Social Committee on Towards a European e-Justice Strategy, Brussels, 30.5.2008. 

202 

 
 
 
the other participants of the proceedings. This will also lead to less administrative burden for 

courts.   

• 

ePayment: ePayment is the possibility to make payments for goods and services online. It is 

available on all types of devices, i.e. computers, smartphones and tablets. It is a widely used 

means in the private sector by banks and is currently being developed in the public sector as 

well.229 This year, for instance, Italy reinforced its use of ePayments in order to reduce cash 

payments and fight against tax evasion.  

• 

eProcurement: eProcurement entails more than merely the use of electronic tools. It rethinks 

the pre-award and post-award phases to simplify participation and improve the management 

for the public sector. The integration of data-based approaches is facilitated at various stages 

of the procurement process. The aim is to address the lack of transparent public procurement 

processes  and 

improve 

the  competitiveness  and 

transparency  of  many  Member 

States.230  For instance, in Belgium the 2019 action plan of the Innovative Public Procurement 

programme allocates 3% of Flemish public procurement expenditure to innovation in this area.  

Thematic Objective 2 and 11 

•  Cybersecurity: As the risks on cyber-attacks have grown in recent years, concerns about the 

protection  of  user  data  have  risen.  This  has  led  countries  to  enhance  their  cybersecurity 

systems. Cybersecurity entails all the measures that are taken to protect electronic data and 

counter the threat of criminal attacks and unauthorised use of data.231 For instance, the United 

Kingdom  government  addresses  this  challenge  through  the  Industrial  Strategy  Challenge 

Fund.  The  aim  is  to  update  the  digital  computing  infrastructure  and  make  it  more  secure 

through hardware innovation, having positive effects for businesses.  

•  Digital Public Services Delivery: Public services are becoming more digital. Citizens and 

businesses can take care of not only purely administrative processes online, but also services 

in the health and education sectors for example. Digitalisation, automation and simplification 

are important  end-goals  for governments.232  As  an  example,  there are the  efforts  made  by 

Bulgaria.  The  country  will  implement  an  electronic  labour  exchange  to  help  unemployed 

people. 

•  Digitalisation  of  Businesses:  The  private  sector’s  digitalisation  enhances  the  country’s 

economic performance, companies’ growth and visibility of SMEs, while ensuring competition. 

Cooperation between the private and public sector towards digitalisation is also an important 

aspect in the economy towards supporting innovation and the use of new technologies.233 An 

example of digitalisation can be found in Cyprus where the government adopted a new set of 

digital  solutions  and  cutting-edge  technologies  to  digitalise  its  industries.  The  result  is  the 

creation of smart factories, digital innovation hubs and technology transfer centres.  

229 Definition adapted from: Collins Dictionary (n.d.). e-Payments Definition. Accessed on 6 November 2019.  
230 European Commission (n.d.). E-procurement. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
231 Oxford Dictionaries. (2019). Cybersecurity. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
232 Definition adapted from: European Commission (2017). eGovernment Benchmark 2017. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
233 European Commission (n.d.). Digitising European Industry. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

203 

 
 
 
• 

eHealth: eHealth refers to tools and services that use ICTs to improve all aspects of health 

and lifestyle such as diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. eHealth solutions also contribute to 

access healthcare from distant regions, enhance the cooperation within the health sector, and 

improve  the  quality  of  healthcare  services.234  For  example,  Lithuania  put  in  place  the 

Electronic Health System to limit the administrative burden on healthcare professionals and 

enhance  the  transparency  of  the  whole  healthcare  system.  Moreover,  the  ePrescription 

functionality is being successfully used. 

• 

eLearning:  eLearning encompasses a broad range of knowledge transferred through digital 

technologies, sometimes as a complement to traditional education channels. The use of ICT 

tools is especially powerful for reaching individuals with no access to traditional education and 

training, either because they live in remote areas or because of their socioeconomic situation 

or special needs235. Romania for instance, keeps digitalising its education system through the 

national  project  Modern  Romania,  Digital  Romania,  which  will  provide  tablets,  computers, 

smart boards in classrooms, and other technologies for every school in the country.  

• 

eSkills:  eSkills  relate  to  the  knowledge  of  applying  and  developing  ICT  and  infrastructure. 

Users,  i.e.  citizens,  need  to  possess  the  capabilities  to  use  various  technologies.  For  this 

reason, digital education starts from an early age in several countries. Practitioners, in both 

the front and back offices of public administrations also need to have profound digital literacy. 

Quality and new technologies will only enhance if people constantly learn and evolve.236 As 

an  example,  Malta  has  launched  the  new  Digital  Strategy  which  aims  at  transforming  the 

country into a digitally enabled nation by empowering citizens with basic digital skills. This will 

allow them to take on new opportunities in the technology and digital sectors. 

• 

eTax:  Taxation  becomes  easier,  faster  and  more  efficient  through  digitalisation.  eTax 

measures  enhance  the  quality  of  public  administration  services,  making  the  tax  collection 

process  more  uniform.237  For  example,  in  Slovenia  it  is  envisaged  to  increase  the  level  of 

digitalisation and activities aimed at preventing abuse and tax avoidance. 

• 

ICT Infrastructure: ICT infrastructure embodies the system of hardware, software, facilities 

and  service  components  that  support  the  delivery  of  business  systems  and  IT-enabled 

processes.  The  appropriate  ICT  infrastructure  is  a  necessity  to  support  the  introduction  or 

expansion of eGovernment and interoperability services.238 Luxembourg aims at enhancing 

the public transport network through the implementation of a near real time telematics system. 

•  New Technologies: New technologies cover the emerging technologies that influence public 

administration. They fall under the broad heading of IT (Information Technology). The term IT 

includes  any  technology,  software,  or  hardware,  used  to  transmit,  store,  and  manipulate 

information in the form of data. Having a more efficient IT infrastructure equipped with new 

technologies  allows  public  administration  systems  to  get  more  work  done  faster  and  more 

234 European Commission (n.d.). eHealth: Digital health and care. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
235 Eurostat (2016). Glossary: E-Learning. Accessed on 13 November 2019.  
236 Eurostat (2016). Glossary: E-skills. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
237 Definition adapted from: Collins Dictionary (n.d.). e-Taxes. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
238 Gartner IT Glossary (2019). IT infrastructure. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

204 

 
 
 
securely, even when employees are on the go.239 In Germany for example, a fund is being 

developed to support the adoption of new technologies such as blockchain, Internet of Things 

and Big Data by the academia and industry sectors. 

•  Open Data: Open data refers to the idea that all public data should be freely available for use 

and reuse by others, unless restrictions apply, such as for the protection of personal data, for 

example.240 For instance, the government of Cyprus has created a new open data portal which 

was ranked first among 31 open data portals across Europe.  

From  the  analysis  of  the  countries’  NRPs  it  emerged  that  references  to  themes  under  TO2  are 

significantly more frequent (158 instances) than those related to TO11  (73 instances). As shown in 

Figure  13,  the  top  three  themes  identified  under  TO2  are  eSkills  (30  instances),  Digitalisation  of 

business (24 instances) and eHealth (18 instances), whereas the top three themes under TO11 are 

Capacity building (13 instances), eProcurment (11 instances) and eGovernment and Interoperability 

framework (10 instances). 

Figure 13. Top three themes identified in the NRPs under TO2 and TO11 

From a country perspective, we identified an average of 8.25 references per country to issues falling 

under TO2 and TO11 in the 2019 NRPs, with two countries scoring 15 references (Czech Republic 

and  Slovenia),  one  country  scoring  13  references  (Cyprus)  and  one  country  scoring  12  instances 

(Bulgaria). It also worth to note that only one reference to reforms related to the digital government 

domain has been found in the NRP of the Netherlands.  

239 Definition adapted from Petroni, G. and Cloete, F. (2007). New Technologies in Public Administration. Accessed on 19 December 
2019.  
240 COM (2017) 134 final, Annex to the Communication from the Commission of the European Parliament, the Council, the European 
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European Interoperability Framework – Implementation 
Strategy, Brussels, 23.3.2017. Accessed on 26 February 2020.  

205 

 
 
 
 
4.5  Operational Programmes – Key findings 

The OPs are detailed plans in which the Member States set out how money from the ESIF will be spent 

during the programming period 2014-2020. While many OPs are implemented on a regional level, the 

scope of this study focuses on the national OPs  addressing themes related to TO2 and TO11. The 

overview of the OPs is organised in the same way as the NRPs, thus looking at  funding priorities in 

the scope of TO2 and TO11. 

The main purpose of the content analysis of the OPs is to offer  an overview of the Member States’ 

funding priorities in the field of digital government falling under ESIF TO2 and TO11. 

Our analysis depicts all the themes that have been identified in the selected 2014-2020 Operational 

Programmes  for  the  28  Member  States.  The  identified  themes  are  clustered  as  falling  under  TO2, 

TO11 or, given the high interdependency of the two TOs, potentially falling under both, based on the 

specific case. Table 4 below provides an overview of all countries and themes identified, followed by 

explanations and examples, as well as an overview of the main thematic trends related to TO2 and 

TO11 is presented. When considering TO2 and TO11 together, the top three topics addressed in the 

2014-2020  OPs  analysed  appear  to  be  ICT  infrastructure  (26  instances),  Digital  Public  Services 

delivery (20 instances) and eSkills (11 instances). 

Table 4. OPs thematic overview 

206 

 
 
 
 
Thematic Objective 2 

•  Digitalisation  of  Businesses:  The  private  sector’s  digitalisation  enhances  the  country’s 

economic performance, companies’ growth, the visibility of SMEs and ensures competition. 

Cooperation between the private and public sector towards digitalisation are also an important 

aspect in the economy towards supporting innovation and the use of new technologies.241 As 

example  there  are  the  Bulgarian  micro  enterprises,  start-ups  and  SMEs  which  receive 

financing  towards  developing  new  and  innovative  ideas  related  to  ICT,  eCommerce  and 

eServices. 

• 

eCulture: New technology-based access to culture is expected to change both its production 

and  dissemination.  Culture  is  preserved  and  promoted  through  digital  means  and  also 

increases  people’s  access  to  culture,  offering  them  new  ways  to  participate  in  cultural 

experiences and learn.242 Croatia, for example, will use ICT opportunities to promote cultural 

presence  online  such  as  the  digitalisation  of  cultural  resources  and  publication  of  digital 

collections. 

• 

eGovernment portal: More and more countries are now setting up eGovernment portals for 

citizens and businesses in order to facilitate the use of government services through electronic 

means. The use of these portals would improve the digital interaction between governments 

and businesses as well as between governments and citizens. Sometimes it is a way for the 

government 

to  enhance  communication 

in  a 

three-way  approach, 

i.e. 

the  public 

administration,  private  sector  and  citizens. Croatia,  for instance,  is  establishing  an  eCitizen 

platform, an eBusiness platform as well as a one-stop shop to enhance communication with 

different stakeholders. 

• 

eInclusion: eInclusion policies aim at reducing gaps in ICT usage. Governments can organise 

teaching sessions for example, to promote the use of ICT and allow all citizens to participate 

in  the  many  aspects  of  information  society.  This  will  also  benefit  people’s  employment 

opportunities, cohesion, quality of life and the country’s digital economy performance.243 The 

Maltese government, for example, aims to eliminate all barriers to training and education, as 

well as provide further support measures to vulnerable groups and socially excluded persons. 

• 

eParticipation: eParticipation is the term used to describe all forms of political participation 

involving  digital  media,  stemming  both  from  the  governmental  level  and  the  citizens 

themselves. There are three levels: eInformation where information is made available online; 

eConsultation for government to take into consideration citizens’ views; and Decision-making, 

directly involving citizens.244 In Slovakia, for example, modern technologies are put in place to 

establish an eDemocracy and give citizens an equal chance to participate in public affairs. 

241 European Commission (n.d.). Digitising European Industry. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
242 Definition adapted from: Dictionnaire Sens Agent Le Parisien (n.d.). eCulture. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
243 European Commission (2006). Riga Ministerial Declaration on ICT for an Inclusive Society. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
244 UN E-Government Knowledgebase (2019). E-Participation Index. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

207 

 
 
 
 
Thematic Objective 11 

•  Capacity Building through ICT: Capacity building through ICT is the long-term process of 

facilitating knowledge acquisition and deliver appropriate tools to individuals about a particular 

sector. The aim is for civil servants to acquire appropriate skills to successfully perform their 

required  functions.245  Bulgaria  for  instance  is  making  investments  needed  to  increase  the 

efficiency  of  public  administration  and  public  services  at  various  levels.  This  includes 

transnational cooperation for the exchange of best practices and experience to enhance the 

skills, competences and knowledge of public administration employees in Bulgaria.  

• 

eGovernment  and  Interoperability  Framework:  An  eGovernment  and  Interoperability 

Framework refers to commonly agreed approaches with a two-fold goal: to establish the use 

of ICT tools in public administration on the one hand and provide the delivery of public services 

in an interoperable manner on the other. This should ensure interaction between citizens and 

businesses  and  public  administrations  or  between  public  administrations  internally,  taking 

place  through  effective  digital  services.246  An  example  of  a  Member  State  supporting 

institutional  and  administrative  capacity  through  an  eGovernment  and  Interoperability 

Framework is Romania. The country is establishing common legislative standards throughout 

its public sector as well as end-to-end interoperability interventions that help defining a uniform 

set of standards for ICT initiatives.  

• 

eInvoicing: Electronic invoicing is the exchange of an electronic invoice document between 

a supplier and a buyer. An electronic invoice is an invoice that has been issued, transmitted 

and  received  in  a  structured  data  format  which  allows  for  its  automatic  and  electronic 

processing.247 An  example  on  eInvoicing  implementation  is  presented  in  the  OP  of  Latvia, 

which is developing information and data services such as eInvoicing and eCommerce.  

• 

eJustice: The eJustice approach uses ICT to improve citizens' access to justice and to make 

legal action more effective. It also contributes to making the judicial system more accessible 

and  transparent.248  The  Italian  government,  for  instance,  is  improving  the  efficiency  and 

performance of judicial offices through computerisation and digitalisation of the offices to make 

proceedings and processes more efficient. 

• 

eProcurement: eProcurement entails more than merely the use of electronic tools. It rethinks 

the pre-award and post-award phases to simplify participation and improve the management 

for the public sector. The integration of data-based approaches is facilitated at various stages 

of the procurement process. The aim is to address the lack of transparent public procurement 

processes and improve the competitiveness and transparency of many Member States.249 For 

example,  the  use  of  eProcurement  solutions  in  Hungary  is  still  in  development.  An 

245 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (2003). Presentation World Summit on the Information Society PrepCom II – Geneva 
Roundtable 5 – Feb 19, 2003. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
246 COM(2017) 134 final, Annex to the Communication from the Commission of the European Parliament, the Council, the European 
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European Interoperability Framework – Implementation 
Strategy, Brussels, 23.3.2017.  
247 European Commission (n.d.). What is eInvoicing. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
248 COM(2008)329 final, Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and 
Social Committee on Towards a European e-Justice Strategy, Brussels, 30.5.2008.  
249 European Commission (n.d.). E-procurement. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

208 

 
 
 
electronically structured system will increase transparency, uniform applications and lessen 

costs. 

• 

eTax:  Taxation  becomes  easier,  faster  and  more  efficient  through  digitalisation.  eTax 

measures  enhance  the  quality  of  public  administration  services,  making  the  tax  collection 

process  more  uniform.250  This  is  the  case  in  Croatia,  where  the  tax  administration’s 

institutional framework aims to better engage with citizens. 

 Thematic Objectives 2 and 11 

•  Base Registries: A base register is a trusted and authoritative source of information, which 

can  and  should  be  digitally  reused  by  others,  where  one  organisation  is  responsible  and 

accountable for the collection, use, updating and preservation of information. Thus, a base 

register is a reliable sources of basic information on data items such as people, companies, 

vehicles,  licences,  buildings,  locations  and  roads.251  An  example  of  such  an  initiative  is 

Portugal’s  base  register  for  prosecutors  that  will  reduce  administrative  burden  on  them  by 

storing all information in one system. 

•  Cybersecurity: As the risks on cyber-attacks have grown in recent years, concerns about the 

protection  of  user  data  have  risen.  This  has  led  countries  to  enhance  their  cybersecurity 

systems. Cybersecurity entails all the measures that are taken to protect electronic data and 

counter the threat of criminal attacks and unauthorised use of data.252 The Czech Republic is 

tackling  its  cybersecurity  by  adopting  a  new  cybersecurity  law.  The  law  entails  legislative 

clauses on implementing various security measures throughout the country such as electronic 

identification, authentication and authorisation processes.  

•  Digital Public Services Delivery: Public services are becoming more digital. Citizens and 

businesses can take care of not only purely administrative processes online, but also services 

in the health and education sectors for example. Digitalisation, automation and simplification 

are important end-goals for governments.253 The Finnish government, for example, aims to 

enhance electronic communication between the government and the citizens. For that reason, 

unnecessary or duplicate data requests will be removed, and various processes will become 

fully automated. 

• 

eHealth: eHealth refers to tools and services that use ICTs to improve all aspects of health 

and lifestyle such as diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. eHealth solutions also contribute to 

access to healthcare from distant regions, enhance the cooperation among the health sector, 

and  improve  the  quality  of  healthcare  services.254  Cyprus,  for  example,  is  investing  in  the 

development of ICT in the health sector. Public hospitals and health centres will be connected 

through one data centre system where all patients’ files will be digitalised. 

250 Definition adapted from: Collins Dictionary (n.d.). e-Taxes. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
251 COM (2017) 134 final, Annex to the Communication from the Commission of the European Parliament, the Council, the European 
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European Interoperability Framework – Implementation 
Strategy, Brussels, 23.3.2017. Accessed on 26 February 2020.  
252 Oxford Dictionaries (2019). Cybersecurity. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
253 Definition adapted from: European Commission (2017). eGovernment Benchmark 2017. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
254 European Commission (n.d.). eHealth: Digital health and care. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

209 

 
 
 
• 

eSkills:  eSkills  relate  to  the  knowledge  of  applying  and  developing  ICT  and  infrastructure. 

Users,  i.e.  citizens,  need  to  possess  the  capabilities  to  use  various  technologies.  For  this 

reason, digital education starts from an early age in several countries. Practitioners, in both 

the front and back offices of public administrations also need to have profound digital literacy. 

Quality and new technologies will only enhance if people constantly learn and evolve.255 Malta, 

for example, has taken steps to further invest and enhance the digital literacy and skills of its 

citizens  which  are  deemed  essential  to  ensure  a  more  tailored  access  to  employment 

prospects and a better social inclusion in the country. In addition, the Digital Malta Strategy 

also aims to foster digital and ICT activities within Maltese businesses and enterprises.  

• 

eLearning: eLearning encompasses a broad range of knowledge transferred through digital 

technologies, sometimes as a complement to traditional education channels. The use of ICT 

tools is especially powerful for reaching individuals with no access to traditional education and 

training, either because they live in remote areas or because of their socioeconomic situation 

or special needs256. In Poland, for example, to develop students’ digital and ICT skills, schools 

and training centres will be equipped with eBooks and new eLearning material to accompany 

the already existing eTextbooks.  

• 

ICT Infrastructure: ICT infrastructure embodies the system of hardware, software, facilities 

and  service  components  that  support  the  delivery  of  business  systems  and  IT-enabled 

processes.  The  appropriate  ICT  infrastructure  is  a  necessity  to  support  the  introduction  or 

expansion  of  eGovernment  and  interoperability  services.257  An  example  is  the  Estonian 

government  that  intends  on  covering  the  whole  territory  of  the  country  with  high-speed 

broadband  infrastructure.  This  will  benefit  the  development  of  eServices,  productivity  of 

citizens who will have the teleworking opportunity, healthcare facilities, as well as schools. 

•  New Technologies: New technologies cover the emerging technologies that influence public 

administration. They fall under the broad heading of IT (Information Technology). The term IT 

includes  any  technology,  software,  or  hardware,  used  to  transmit,  store,  and  manipulate 

information in the form of data. Having a more efficient IT infrastructure equipped with new 

technologies  allows  public  administration  systems  to  get  more  work  done  faster  and  more 

securely, even when employees are on the go.258 An example is the Greek government that 

aims  to  enhance  technologies  such  as  cloud  computing,  machine  to  machine  transactions 

and contactless systems. The first important, however, is the adoption of relevant legislation. 

•  Open Data: Open data refers to the idea that all public data should be freely available for use 

and reuse by others, unless restrictions apply, such as for the protection of personal data, for 

example.259  Slovenia is one of these countries, where the state is opening up the state-owned 

public cloud to make certain data available for businesses and citizens. 

255 Eurostat (2016). Glossary: E-skills. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
256 Eurostat (2016). Glossary: E-Learning. Accessed on 9 November 2019.  
257 Gartner IT Glossary (2019). IT infrastructure. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
258 Definition adapted from Petroni, G. and Cloete, F. (2007). New Technologies in Public Administration. Accessed on 19 December 
2019.  
259 COM (2017) 134 final, Annex to the Communication from the Commission of the European Parliament, the Council, the European 
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European Interoperability Framework – Implementation 
Strategy, Brussels, 23.3.2017. Accessed on 26 February 2020.  

210 

 
 
 
From  the  analysis  of  the  countries’  OPs  it  emerged  that  references  to  themes  under  TO2  are 

significantly  more  frequent  (96  instances)  than  those  related  to  TO11  (54  instances).  As  shown  in 

Figure  14  the  top  three  themes  identified  under  TO2  are  Digital  Public  Services  Delivery  (18 

instances), ICT Infrastructure (17 instances) and Digitalisation of Businesses (10 instances), whereas 

the top three themes under TO11 are eJustice and ICT Infrastructure (9 instances), eProcurement and 

eGovernment  and  Interoperability  framework  (8  instances)  and  eSkills  and  Capacity  building  (5 

instances). 

Figure 14. Top three themes identified in the OPs under TO2 and TO11 

From a country perspective, we identified an average of 5.3 references per country to issues falling 

under TO2 and TO11 in the 2014-2020 OPs, with one country scoring 14 references (Croatia), two 

countries scoring 13 references (Latvia and Romania) and one country scoring 11 references (Malta). 

It is worth further stressing that, out of the 28 EU Member States, the national Operational Programmes 

of 19 countries were considered for the analysis since they fall under the scope of ESIF TO2 or TO11. 

For  nine  countries  (Belgium,  Denmark,  France,  Germany,  Ireland,  Luxembourg,  the  Netherlands, 

Sweden  and  the  United  Kingdom)  no  national  Operational  Programmes  fall  under  TO2  or  TO11, 

therefore they are not mentioned in the scope of this analysis.  

211 

 
 
 
 
 
5.  Conclusions and Recommendations 

This  chapter aims  to  answer  RQ4  (Based  on  the  finding  of  our  analysis,  how  can  the  Commission 

better  support  Member  States  in  their  public  administration  digitalisation  efforts,  also  in  terms  of 

synergies  with  other  Commission  initiatives?).  It  first  presents  a  set  of  conclusions  on  how  the 

European  Semester  documents  address  the  topic  of  digital  government,  followed  by  the 

recommendations addressed to the ISA2 programme and other Commission initiatives operating in the 

domain of digital government.  

For the  purpose  of  the  study,  an  analysis  of  the  European  Semester documents,  namely  the  2019 

CSRs, the 2019 NRPs, as well as the 2014 – 2020 national OPs financed through ESIF, covering all 

28 EU Member States, was performed. Following the results of the content analysis, the study identifies 

relevant themes to the existing actions from the ISA2 Programme260 and current challenges faced by 

the  Member  States.  Based  on  these,  the  study  also  proposes  new  actions  and  initiatives  to  better 

support the Member States in their digitalisation efforts. These are aligned with the themes put forward 

by the European Commission in the upcoming Digital Europe Programme for the period 2021-2027261, 

whose aim is to shape the digital transformation of Europe’s society and economy.   

The  analysis  reveals  that  14  countries,  namely  Austria, Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Cyprus,  Czech  Republic, 

Finland,  Germany,  Ireland,  Italy,  Latvia,  Portugal,  Romania,  Slovakia  and  Spain  have  at  least  one 

recommendation linked to TO2 or TO11 in their CSRs. This is a remarkable increase from 2018, where 

only 7 countries had received direct recommendations linked to TO2 or TO11. This indicates that the 

European Commission is encouraging Member States to increase the focus of their reform priorities 

on  digitalisation  in  general,  and  on  the  enhancement  of  digital  government  in  particular.  These 

recommendations seem to be taken into consideration by the Member States as the top themes found 

in the CSRs are aligned with the top themes identified in the NRPs. These are eSkills, eHealth and 

Digitalisation  of  businesses.  In  addition,  those  recommendations  continue  to  be  aligned  with  the 

initiatives stemming from the OPs, despite having been defined in 2014. In particular, eSkills appears 

as a key recurring theme throughout all sets of documents, with Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, 

Italy,  Portugal,  Romania,  Slovenia  and  Spain  receiving  a  specific  recommendation  on  it  from  the 

European  Commission  in  their  CSRs.  When  analysing  the  measures  relating  to  TO2  and  TO11  in 

Member States’ NRPs and OPs, some analogies have also been found. In both documents, priorities 

related to TO2 are largely mentioned, while priorities addressing TO11 are less present. Moreover, the 

most recurring theme identified in both NRPs and OPs is ICT infrastructure, along with eSkills, Digital 

public services delivery and the Digitalisation of businesses. Despite not being a top theme, it is worth 

noting that the number of mentions of New Technologies slightly increased both in the CSRs and the 

NRPs since last year. This depicts a clear synergy with the objectives put forward within the new Digital 

Europe Programme 2021-2027.  

260 European Commission (2019). About ISA². Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
261 COM/2018/434 final – 2018/0227 (COD), Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the 
Digital Europe programme for the period 2021-2027. 

212 

 
 
 
 
 
Conclusion No1 – Several Member States continue to put in place strategies, action plans and 

frameworks  to  enhance  digital  government  and  the  efficiency  of  their  public  administrations. 

These measures lay down the guiding principle of important building blocks of digital government 

such as infrastructures, web portals and common standards. 

Recommendation  No1  -  In  line  with  the  recommendations  provided  by  the  EIF  and  the  principles 

outlined  in  the  Digital  Europe  Programme  for  the  period  2021-2027,  the  Interoperability  Unit  could 

provide  trainings,  expert  advice  and  strategic  information  to  support  policy  makers  working  on  the 

development and/or implementation of digital strategies, action plans or frameworks to enhance digital 

government within their country. 

Possible business opportunities: 

•  Serve as an expertise centre by providing fit for purpose support to Member States working 

on their digital government and interoperability strategies, action plans or frameworks. Such 

support  can  be  granted  as  advisory  services  similarly  to  the  Directorate-General  for 

Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), which provides support to Member States for their 

institutional,  administrative  and  growth-enhancing  reforms.  Moreover,  the  expertise  centre 

could also put in place a digital tool making available a list of Directorate-Generals holding 

specific expertise in this field, as well as internal experts from the European Commission in 

different  policy  fields  to  be  consulted  by  the  Member  States  that  might  require  external 

expertise in specific policy areas. This digital tool could also support transnational cooperation 

for the exchange of practices and experience between public administrations to help increase 

the skills, competences and knowledge of their staff. 

•  Provide on-site and online trainings ensuring the understanding of the EIF and therefore 

facilitating  the  alignment  of  frameworks,  action  plans  and  strategies  with  the  EIF 

recommendations.  The  provision  of  on-site  trainings  can  be  focused  on  those  Member 

States lagging behind on the EIF implementation, which will be assessed in Q1 of 2020. While 

online trainings can be widely used in all Member States.  

•  Review the way the ISA2 portfolio of reusable solutions and services is made available to 

policy makers. The catalogue of ISA2 solutions should provide user centric views allowing 

policy makers to easily find solutions supporting the topics they are working on. The catalogue 

could take into account the themes identified in this report as main priorities for the Member 

States regarding digital government. Improving the way the ISA2 catalogue of solutions262 is 

provided, as well as leveraging the soon to be released EIF Toolbox, would further foster the 

re-use  of  existing  solutions,  such  as  European  Interoperability  Reference  Architecture 

and Cartography  tool  (EIRA  &  CarTool)263,  Core  Vocabularies264,  Re3gistry265,  Trans 

European  Services 

for  Telematics  between  Administrations 

(TESTA)266  and  

Common  assessment  method  for  standards  and  specifications  (CAMMS)267.  Information 

within  the  catalogue  of  solutions  should  be  updated  in  an  agile  way  and  incorporate  the 

262 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/solutions_en 
263 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/solutions/eira_en 
264 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/solutions/core-vocabularies_en 
265 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/solutions/re3gistry_en 
266 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/solutions/testa_en 
267 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/solutions/camss_en 

213 

 
 
 
findings  of  country  intelligence  work  performed  under  NIFO,  including,  for  example,  the 

European Semester report268, Digital Government factsheets269 and the monitoring of the EIF 

implementation270. 

268 Further information available at: https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/nifo-national-interoperability-framework-observatory/role-digital-
government-european-semester 
269 Further information available at: https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/nifo-national-interoperability-framework-observatory/digital-
government-factsheets 
270 Further information available at: https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/nifo-national-interoperability-framework-observatory/eif-
european-interoperability-framework-0 

214 

 
 
 
 
Conclusion No2 – The enhancement of eSkills appears as a key priority across Europe. This 

refers mainly to three stakeholder groups: students, adults seeking a job and civil servants. The 

improvement of eSkills is being supported and complemented by the development of eLearning. 

Recommendation No2:  Digital skills are of increasing importance both in the public administration 

and in the labour market. As also stressed in the EIF271 (recommendation 20), a lack of in-house skills 

represents  a  barrier  to  an  efficient  implementation  of  digital  government.  In  this  regard,  the 

Interoperability Unit could further support Member States in the enhancement of their civil servants’ 

digital skills, for a better use of technology (e.g. IT tools, platforms, etc.), so as to achieve better public 

services  delivery.  Steps  have  already  been  taken  in  this  regard,  with  the  introduction  of  the 

Interoperability  Academy,  both  as  on-site  training  and  as  an  eLearning  platform  set  up  by  the  ISA2 

programme. The Interoperability Academy and the Sharing and Reuse training sessions enables public 

servants  to  follow  training  courses  and  thus  improve  their  digital  knowledge  and  skills.  Moreover, 

further  support  could  be  given  to  national  and  subnational  public  administrations  to  support  their 

actions aimed at increasing students’ and adults’ digital skills.  

Possible business opportunities: 

•  Coordinate  events  such  as  the  Interoperability  Academy  Winter  School,  which  brings 

together  students,  public  servants  and  businesses,  with  the  aim  of  providing  them  with 

practical and theoretical insights on how to develop and implement interoperability solutions 

for digital public service offered to citizens, businesses and other public administrations.  

•  Organise events and on-site trainings to increase the skills of public servants on the use 

of technology (e.g. IT tools, platforms, etc.) and digital government-related topics. 

•  Develop an online training material that can be used by civil servants on an array of subjects 

related to interoperability and digital governments.  

•  Extend the focus of trainings towards sub-national public administrations (e.g. regions, 

cities) to facilitate the development of digital skills of the public servants responsible for the 

implementation of policies at local level. 

271 European Commission (2017). New European Interoperability Framework. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

215 

 
 
 
 
 
Conclusion  No3  –  Following  the  trend  from  the  previous  year,  the  modernisation  and 

digitalisation of specific sectors like justice, tax and health are still considered as one of the main 

priorities  by  several  Member  States. 

Indeed, 

the  Commission  put 

in  place  specific 

recommendations on eTax and eJustice to which the countries are responding by building the 

foundations to be able to deliver these services. 

Recommendation No3 - The Interoperability Unit could collaborate more closely with policy DGs and 

their Agencies, creating synergies in all aspects related to digital government. Further attention should 

be given to the sectors identified as priorities by the Member States regarding digital government such 

as justice, tax, health, mobility and culture. 

Possible business opportunities: 

•  Closely  collaborate  with  policy  DGs  dealing  with  sector-specific  digital  government  and 

interoperability  issues  at  all  stages  of  the  EU  policy  cycle.  The  Interoperability  Unit  should 

increase its collaboration  with policy  DGs to ensure that sectorial initiatives are aligned 

with  the  EIF  principles  and  leverage  reusable  ISA2  solutions.  The  Unit  could,  for  example, 

provide  strategic  advice  and  promote  methods  and  services.  Among  these  are:  the  legal 

interoperability screening, the ICT Impact Assessment guidelines272 and supporting services 

in  the  ex-ante  phase  of  the  EU  policy  cycle;  CAMSS273  in  the  implementing  action  phase;  

the Interoperability Maturity Assessment of a Public Service (IMAPs)274 in the assessment of 

the  services’  interoperability  readiness;  and  NIFO275  country  (policy)  intelligence  and 

performance indicators in the ICT/digital government domain, in the monitoring and evaluation 

phase. 

• 

Increase  collaboration  with  the  Directorate-General  for  Structural  Reform  Support  (DG 

REFORM) providing expert advice on digital government, interoperability and implementation 

of  digital  policies  relevant  to  the  projects  approved  under  the  Structural  Reform  Support 

Programme (SRSP).   

•  Promote 

reusable  solutions 

to  sector-specific  DGs 

to 

increase  efficiency  and 

interoperability of sector-specific solutions and systems. Examples of existing solutions 

are the Core Vocabularies276 which are sector agnostic data models to represent life events, 

business events and public services; TESTA,277 a data communication network service; and 

Open eTrustEx,278 a secure file exchange platform.  

272 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/actions/legal-interoperability_en 
273 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/solutions/camss_en 
274 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/solutions/imaps_en 
275 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/solutions/nifo_en 
276 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/solutions/core-vocabularies_en 
277 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/solutions/testa_en 
278 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/isa2/solutions/open-e-trustex_en 

216 

 
 
 
 
 
Conclusion No4 – A new main trend identified this year is the effort put by Member States in 

further encouraging the digitalisation of the business sector, particularly by providing support 

to SMEs. This is done by facilitating businesses’ acquisition of ICT tools and the adoption of new 

technologies. 

Recommendation No4 – As the Digital Europe Programme envisages to ensure a wide use of digital 

technologies  across  the  economy  and  society,  the  Commission  could  offer  support  by  raising 

awareness on the different funding and solutions available to SMEs.  

Possible business opportunities: 

• 

Increase participation to events where the target audience are businesses, SMEs and/or start-

ups.  Events  such  as  the  WebSummit279  and  GovTech  summit280  attended  by  the 

Interoperability  Unit  in  2019  are  good  examples  to  promote  reusable  solutions  that  can 

support the digital transformation of a large number of businesses.  

•  Promote  ISA2  solutions  among  EU  initiatives  focused  on  supporting  the  digitalisation  of 

businesses  including  SMEs.  The  Interoperability  Unit  could  raise  awareness  about 

initiatives such as the Digital Innovation Hubs281 and the European Enterprise Network282 that 

could disseminate the ISA2 solutions towards a number of businesses including SMEs. 

•  Participate  in  initiatives  promoting  reusable  solutions  to  support  the  digitalisation  of 

businesses, especially SMEs. The Interoperability Unit, together with other units of DIGIT, 

should continue to work towards increasing awareness of reusable solutions produced at EU 

level. An example comes from the Digital Innovation Challenge for European SMEs and start-

ups283 launched by DIGIT in 2019 with the participation of the Interoperability Unit. 

279 Further information available at: https://websummit.com/ 
280 Further information available at: https://govtechsummit.eu/ 
281 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/digital-innovation-hubs 
282 Further information available at: https://een.ec.europa.eu/ 
283 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/cefdigital/wiki/display/CEFDIGITAL/digital+innovation+challenge 

217 

 
 
 
 
 
Conclusion No5 – eProcurement still figures among the key reform priorities of different Member 

States, especially with regard to transparency and corruption issues. Legislative and compliance 

efforts both at European and national level are still pursued. 

Recommendation  No5  –  Some  European  countries  are  still  lagging  behind  in  the  efficient 

implementation of eProcurement despite the fact that one of the objectives of the eGovernment Action 

Plan284  is  to  facilitate  companies  to  bid  for  public  procurement  contracts  electronically.  Hence,  the 

Interoperability Unit could collaborate with DG GROW in their efforts to support Member States who 

want to make a more efficient and effective use of eProcurement tools for both the public administration 

and businesses.  

Possible business opportunities: 

•  Support  DG  GROW  as  digital  and  interoperability  expert  in  all  phases  of  the  EU  policy 

cycle (e.g. evaluations, impact assessments), regarding policies involving public procurement. 

An  example  is  the  upcoming  evaluation  of  the  eInvoicing  Directive285  and  the  new  Digital 

Services Act286.  

•  Support  DG  GROW  in  investigating  the  possible  use  of  new  technologies  and  tools  (e.g. 

Artificial Intelligence and blockchain) in public procurement processes. 

284 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/european-egovernment-action-plan-2016-2020 
285 Further information available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32014L0055  
286 Further information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/new-eu-rules-e-commerce 

218 

 
 
 
Annex 1. Definitions 

The definitions provided below are used for the CSRs, NRPs and OPs. 

•  Base Registries: A base register is a trusted and authoritative source of information, which 

can  and  should  be  digitally  reused  by  others,  where  one  organisation  is  responsible  and 

accountable for the collection, use, updating and preservation of information. Thus, a base 

register is a reliable source of basic information on data items such as people, companies, 

vehicles, licences, buildings, locations and roads.287 

•  Capacity Building through ICT: Capacity building through ICT is the long-term process of 

facilitating knowledge acquisition and deliver appropriate tools to individuals about a particular 

sector. The aim is for civil servants to acquire appropriate skills to successfully perform their 

required functions.288 

•  Cybersecurity: As the risks on cyber-attacks have grown in recent years, concerns about the 

protection  of  user  data  have  risen.  This  has  led  countries  to  enhance  their  cybersecurity 

systems. Cybersecurity entails all the measures that are taken to protect electronic data and 

counter the threat of criminal attacks and unauthorised use of data.289 

•  Digital Public Services Delivery: Public services are becoming more digital. Citizens and 

businesses can take care of not only purely administrative processes online, but also services 

in the health and education sectors for example. Digitalisation, automation and simplification 

are important end-goals for governments.290 

•  Digitalisation  of  Businesses:  The  private  sector’s  digitalisation  enhances  the  country’s 

economic performance, companies’ growth and visibility of SMEs, while ensuring competition. 

Cooperation between the private and public sector towards digitalisation is also an important 

aspect in the economy towards supporting innovation and the use of new technologies.291 

• 

eCulture: New technology-based access to culture is expected to change both its production 

and dissemination. Culture is preserved and promoted through digital means, by increasing 

people’s access to culture, offering them new ways to participate in cultural experiences and 

learn.292  

• 

eGovernment  and  Interoperability  Framework:  An  eGovernment  and  Interoperability 

Framework refers to commonly agreed approaches with a two-fold goal: to establish the use 

of ICT tools in public administration on the one hand and provide the delivery of public services 

in an interoperable manner on the other. This should ensure interaction between citizens and 

287 COM (2017) 134 final, Annex to the Communication from the Commission of the European Parliament, the Council, the European 
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European Interoperability Framework – Implementation 
Strategy, Brussels, 23.3.2017. Accessed on 26 February 2020.  
288 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (2003). Presentation World Summit on the Information Society PrepCom II – Geneva 
Roundtable 5 – Feb 19, 2003. Accessed on 9 December 2019. 
289 Oxford Dictionaries. (2019). Cybersecurity. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
290 Definition adapted from: European Commission (2017). eGovernment Benchmark 2017. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
291 European Commission (n.d.). Digitising European Industry. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
292 Definition adapted from: Dictionnaire Sens Agent le Parisien (n.d.). eCulture. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  

219 

 
 
 
businesses  and  public  administrations  or  between  public  administrations  internally,  taking 

place through effective digital services.293  

• 

eGovernment portal: More and more countries are now setting up eGovernment portals for 

citizens and businesses in order to facilitate the use of government services through electronic 

means. The use of these portals would improve the digital interaction between governments 

and businesses as well as between governments and citizens. 

• 

eHealth: eHealth refers to tools and services that use ICTs to improve all aspects of health 

and lifestyle such as diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. eHealth solutions also contribute to 

access to healthcare from distant regions, enhance the cooperation among the health sector, 

and improve the quality of healthcare services.294 

• 

eID: In the EU, eID services help both public and private service providers to extend the use 

of their online services to the citizens from other European countries.295 This ensures citizens 

to use their national eID to access, in a secure way, the services of other Member States.296 

• 

eInclusion: eInclusion policies aim at reducing gaps in ICT usage. Governments can organise 

teaching sessions for example, to promote the use of ICT and allow all citizens to participate 

in  the  many  aspects  of  information  society.  This  will  also  benefit  people’s  employment 

opportunities, cohesion, quality of life and the country’s digital economy performance.297 The 

• 

eInvoicing: Electronic invoicing is the exchange of an electronic invoice document between 

a supplier and a buyer. An electronic invoice is an invoice that has been issued, transmitted 

and  received  in  a  structured  data  format  which  allows  for  its  automatic  and  electronic 

processing.298 

• 

eJustice: The eJustice approach uses ICT to improve citizens' access to justice and to make 

legal action more effective. It also contributes to making the judicial system more accessible 

and transparent.299 

• 

eLearning:  eLearning encompasses a broad range of knowledge transferred through digital 

technologies, sometimes as a complement to traditional education channels. The use of ICT 

tools is especially powerful for reaching individuals with no access to traditional education and 

training, either because they live in remote areas or because of their socioeconomic situation 

or special needs300. 

• 

eParticipation: eParticipation is the term used to describe all forms of political participation 

involving  digital  media,  stemming  both  from  the  governmental  level  and  the  citizens 

themselves. There are three levels: eInformation where information is made available online; 

293 COM (2017) 134 final, Annex to the Communication from the Commission of the European Parliament, the Council, the European 
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European Interoperability Framework – Implementation 
Strategy, Brussels, 23.3.2017.  
294 European Commission (n.d.). eHealth: Digital health and care. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
295 European Commission (n.d.). CEF Digital Home. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
296 European Commission (n.d.). What is eID? Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
297 European Commission (2006). Riga Ministerial Declaration on ICT for an Inclusive Society. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
298 European Commission (n.d.). What is eInvoicing. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
299 COM (2008)329 final, Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic 
and Social Committee on Towards a European e-Justice Strategy, Brussels, 30.5.2008.  
300 Eurostat (2016). Glossary: E-Learning. Accessed on 13 November 2019.  

220 

 
 
 
eConsultation  for  government  to  take  into  consideration  citizens’  views;  and  eDecision-

making, directly involving citizens.301 

• 

ePayments: ePayment is the possibility to make payments for goods and services online. It 

is  available  on  all  types  of  devices,  i.e.  computers, smartphones  and  tablets.  It  is  a  widely 

used  means  in  the  private  sector  by  banks  and  is  currently  being  developed  in  the  public 

sector as well.302 

• 

eProcurement: eProcurement entails more than merely the use of electronic tools. It rethinks 

the pre-award and post-award phases to simplify participation and improve the management 

for the public sector. The integration of data-based approaches is facilitated at various stages 

of the procurement process. The aim is to address the lack of transparent public procurement 

processes and improve the competitiveness and transparency of many Member States.303 

• 

eSkills:  eSkills  relate  to  the  knowledge  of  applying  and  developing  ICT  and  infrastructure. 

Users,  i.e.  citizens,  need  to  possess  the  capabilities  to  use  various  technologies.  For  this 

reason, digital education starts from an early age in several countries. Practitioners, in both 

the front and back offices of public administrations also need to have profound digital literacy. 

Quality and new technologies will only enhance if people constantly learn and evolve.304 

• 

eTax:  Taxation  becomes  easier,  faster  and  more  efficient  through  digitalisation.  eTax 

measures  enhance  the  quality  of  public  administration  services,  making  the  tax  collection 

process more uniform.305 

• 

ICT Infrastructure: ICT infrastructure embodies the system of hardware, software, facilities 

and  service  components  that  support  the  delivery  of  business  systems  and  IT-enabled 

processes.  The  appropriate  ICT  infrastructure  is  a  necessity  to  support  the  introduction  or 

expansion of eGovernment and interoperability services.306 

•  New  Technologies:  The  term  ‘New  Technologies’  encompasses  all  the  emerging 

technologies  that  are  available  to  citizens,  businesses  and  public  administrations.  This 

definition incorporates all key innovative tools and machineries pointed out in the future Digital 

Europe Programme 2021-2027, namely: high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, 

cybersecurity, advanced digital skills, and their wide use and accessibility across the economy 

and society. Having a more efficient IT infrastructure equipped with new technologies allows 

both  private  and  public  administration  systems  to  get  more  work  done  faster  and  more 

securely, even when employees are on the go.307  

301 UN E-Government Knowledgebase (2019). E-Participation Index. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
302 Definition adapted from: Collins Dictionary (n.d.). e-Payments Definition. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
303 European Commission (n.d.). E-procurement. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
304 Eurostat (2016). Glossary: E-skills. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
305 Definition adapted from: Collins Dictionary (n.d.). e-Taxes. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
306 Gartner IT Glossary (2019). IT infrastructure. Accessed on 9 December 2019.  
307 Definition adapted from: Petroni, G. and Cloete, F. (2007). New Technologies in Public Administration. Accessed on 19 December 
2019.  

221 

 
 
 
•  Open Data: Open data refers to the idea that all public data should be freely available for use 

and reuse by others, unless restrictions apply, such as for the protection of personal data, for 

example.308   

•  Geospatial portal: A geospatial portal provides citizens with the means to search online for 

spatial  data  sets  and  data  services  they  need.  These  portals  play  an  important  role  in  the 

sharing of geographic information for both individuals and administrations. The organisation 

of the information into structured datasets combined with the use of data visualisation tools 

can  lead  to  a  better  delivery  of  public  services  and  to  an  increase  in  efficiency  and 

interoperability.309 

308 COM (2017) 134 final, Annex to the Communication from the Commission of the European Parliament, the Council, the European 
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European Interoperability Framework – Implementation 
Strategy, Brussels, 23.3.2017. Accessed on 26 February 2020.  
309 Definition adapted from: European Commission (n.d.). INSPIRE Geoportal. Accessed on 10 December 2019. 

222 

 
 
 
 
-

N
O
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

N
O
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An action supported by ISA² 
ISA² is a EUR 131 million programme of the European Commission which develops digital solutions that enable interoperable 
cross-border and cross-sector public services, for the benefit of public administrations, businesses and citizens across the EU. 
ISA² supports a wide range of activities and solutions, among which is the National Interoperability Framework Observatory 
(NIFO) action.  
ISA² solutions can be used free of charge and are open source when related to IT.  

More on the programme 
ec.europa.eu/isa2 

Contact ISA² 
isa2@ec.europa.eu 

Follow us 

@EU_ISA2 
@Joinup_eu 

isa² programme 

ISBN: 978-92-76-17998-6 

DOI: 10.2799/991154