COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT Accompanying the document Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL laying down measures for a high level of public sector interoperability across the Union (Interoperable Europe Act)
Date: 2022-11-18
Institutions: Directorate-General for Digital Services, European Commission
Subjects: European Interoperability Framework, administrative cooperation, cross-border cooperation, data processing, digital transformation, electronic government, exchange of information, information system, public sector, public service

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 18.11.2022  SWD(2022) 722 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT  Accompanying the document Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL laying down measures for a high level of public sector interoperability across the Union (Interoperable Europe Act) {COM(2022) 720 final} - {SEC(2022) 720 final} - {SWD(2022) 720 final} - {SWD(2022) 721 final}  
 
 
This report presents the back-to-back evaluation of the European Interoperability Framework 
(EIF) and impact assessment for a reinforced European Governments Interoperability policy. 

1. 

POLICY FOCUS AND NEED TO ACT 

Interoperability is not an aim in itself. It is an instrument, one that has become a central aspect 
of digitally enabled policy making and implementation. Interoperability  allows organisations 
to interact, share information and knowledge at all levels in a seamless manner through their IT 
systems. It goes beyond technical means, it needs agreements between different organisations, 
agreed data descriptions, laws that facilitate data exchanges and a culture of cooperation. 

Interoperability is essential for Europe’s increasingly digitalising single market. It plays a role 
within  sectoral  policies,  in  particular  those  with  a  strong  public  sector  connection,  such  as 
justice and home affairs, taxation and customs, transport or health, as well as in business and 
industry regulation. Interoperability is a recurrent theme within the Trans-European Networks 
and across digital and data policies. A dedicated horizontal EU policy for interoperability exists 
for  more  than  15  years,  with  a  specific  focus  on  the  public  sector.  The  Commission  runs 
interoperability support programmes since 1995, now part of the Digital Europe Programme. 
An  EIF  was  first  formulated  in  2004  and  updated  in  2010  and  2017.  The  EIF  stresses  the 
importance of considering all relevant aspects and layers – technical, semantic, organisational 
and legal – as well as taking an integrated governance approach. 

Today the EIF is the commonly accepted conceptual framework for interoperability in the EU, 
and beyond. However, it remains entirely voluntary and for this reason, as the evaluation of the 
EIF demonstrates, it considerably underexploits its potential to reduce administrative burden 
and improve policy implementation1. Against this background, and with digital transformation 
gaining  pace,  Member  States’  public  sector  transformation  ministers  and  chief  information 
officers  (CIOs)  increasingly  call  for  strengthening  European  interoperability  cooperation. 
Already  before  COVID-19  they  insisted  in  generalising  its  application2.  This  demand  was 
reinforced due to the need to improve digital cross border and cross sector interaction during 
the crisis-response. 
The  Commission  recognised  the  need  to  act3  and  committed  to  presenting  a  reinforced 
interoperability policy by summer 20224. 

2. 

PROBLEM AND POLICY OBJECTIVES 

The  results  of  the  EIF  evaluation  and  the  impact  assessment  show  that  the  current  informal 
interoperability  policy  setup,  based  solely  on  voluntary  measures,  is  not  sufficient  to  help 
remove cross-border and cross-sector barriers for the EU public sector. Limited interoperability 

1  
2  

3  

4  

and 

See results of the final evaluation of the EIF, SWD(2022) 720 final. 
For instance the ministerial declarations signed in 2017 in Tallinn (https://www.mkm.ee/en/objectives-
activities/information-society/tallinn-declaration) 
Berlin 
(https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/pressemitteilungen/EN/2020/12/berlin-declaration-
digitalization.html)  and  the  recommendations  from  the  members  of  the  Commission  expert  group  on 
interoperability 
(https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/expert-groups-
public 
register/screen/expert-groups/consult?lang=en&groupID=3714). 
Communication from the Commission Shaping’s Europe Digital Future of February 2020, COM/2020/67 
(https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/communication-shaping-europes-digital-future-
feb2020_en_4.pdf). 
Commission 
lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar%3A9fb5131e-30e9-11ec-bd8e-
01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_2&format=PDF), page 7. 

COM(2021) 

Programme 

(https://eur-

services 

Work 

2022, 

2020 

645 

of 

in 

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of services and data of public administrations in the EU leads to limited digital public services, 
incapable of reaching their full potential and deliver on European goal of having a Digital Single 
Market. It increases costs and reduces efficiencies at all levels of public administrations in the 
European  Union,  adds  administrative  burdens  on  citizens,  businesses  and  administrations 
themselves,  delays  the  implementation  of  European  policies  by  the  Member  States  and  the 
accomplishment of the Digital Single Market, limits the potential to innovate and hinders the 
EU’s digital sovereignty. The impact assessment identifies the following problem drivers: 

 

Inefficient  governance  of  interoperability  efforts  between  EU  policies,  the  European 
Commission and Member States for all administrative levels (national, regional, local) 
and sectors;  

  Lack of common minimum interoperability specifications, shared solutions, standards; 

and 

  Lack of an ‘interoperability by default’ approach in the design and implementation of 

EU policies 

The  new  regulatory  framework  and  the  accompanying  communication  aims  to  strengthen 
interoperability  to  ensure  digital  public  services  work  across  borders  for  all  in  Europe,  by 
fostering  a  coherent,  human-centric  approach  to  interoperability  built  in  by  design  from 
policymaking to policy implementation all over Europe, establishing a clear governance and an 
ecosystem of solutions and specifications. 

Not acting to improve interoperability would not only make the EU forego the opportunity to 
considerably  reduce  administrative  burden,  it  would  also  negatively  affect  the  resilience  of 
public  administrations  and  their  capacity  to  innovate.  The  current  policy  framework  of 
voluntary  interoperability  cooperation  around  the  EIF  is  not  fit  for  reinforcing  cross-border 
interoperability.  It  lacks  a  systemic  interoperability-by-design  approach  in  policymaking, 
common implementation resources, and shared ownership. 

3. 

POLICY OPTIONS, EXPECTED IMPACT AND PREFERRED OPTION 

This  impact  assessment  compares  three  options,  in  addition  to  the  baseline  of  not  acting. 
Baseline and option 1 continue the current voluntary approach, with option 1 seeking gradual 
continued development of the EIF. Options 2 and 3 propose legislative action, with option 2 
focusing on establishing a structured cooperation mechanism with a clear mandate to ensure 
continuous development and maintenance of agreed common interoperability resources, as well 
as  deciding  on  common  experimentation  and  focused  policy  support  projects.  The  furthest 
reaching  option  3  focuses  on  establishing  directly  applicable  European  interoperability 
minimum requirements in law, updated by implementing decisions. 

The assessment of expected impacts shows that the baseline and option 1 will not adequately 
address the weaknesses identified by the EIF evaluation, mainly because of limited cooperation 
incentives. In addition, neither would meet the political and operational expectations of Member 
States5. Option 3 is expected to be effective, albeit over time only and with very considerable 
implementation  effort  and cost.  It  is  expected to  be less effective in  ensuring  a flexible and 
future-proof response to fast evolving technological and policy needs. Option 3 is also likely to 
receive  less  political  support  because  of  its  far-reaching  nature  and  being  very  subsidiarity-
sensitive (e.g., as regards Member States legacy systems). 

Option 2 is the preferred option. The choice of establishing a structured cooperation mechanism 
is expected to give the stability and (legal) certainty requested by Member States while ensuring 
the necessary flexibility for continuous development of common interoperability resources, in 

5  

As for instance in the first chapter of the expert group recommendations. 

2 

 
                                                 
response  to  evolving  policy  needs.  Instead  of  specifying  (minimum)  interoperability 
requirements directly in law (as would do option 3), option 2 focuses on establishing process 
requirements,  more  appropriate  to  rapid  technological  change  and  more  proportional 
considering  the  impact  on  legacy  systems.  A  common  EU  interoperability  governance  is 
expected to ensure bottom-up cooperation and top-down co-ownership by key stakeholders in 
Member  States,  building  an  ecosystem  of  shared  interoperability  solutions.  This  facilitates 
early-stage  engagement  in  policy  design  and  identification  of  co--investment  needs  and 
improves policy implementation. For these reasons, option 2 is not a threat but an enabler for 
subsidiarity, reinforcing resilience of public administrations and digital sovereignty. 

Given  its  enabling  nature  for  policies,  the  direct  impact  of  interoperability  is  difficult  to 
quantify. A study from the Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC)6 estimates a remarkable 
savings potential, or cost of not acting: citizens could save up to 24 million hours per year due 
to improved interoperability, representing EUR 543 million; businesses could save 30 billion 
hours  or  EUR 568 billion  annually.  The  estimated  cost-savings  credited  to  cross-border 
interoperability range between EUR 5.5 and 6.3 million for citizens, and between EUR 5.7 and 
19.2 billion for businesses. 

4. 

EVALUATION AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROCESS 

This back-to-back evaluation and impact assessment report builds on the evaluations of the EIF 
and of the ISA² interoperability support programme7 carried out between September 2020 and 
September 2021. It draws on analysis undertaken by an independent external contractor8 and 
international sources such as the OECD. An additional important source for the report is  the 
JRC study mentioned under point 3, on quantifying the impact on interoperability, based on its 
long-standing work on location interoperability. 

Given  the  subsidiarity  sensitivity  of  designing  a  reinforced  EU  government  interoperability 
policy, the Commission has been co-designing policy options and co-creating elements  of a 
possible  legislative  action  with  Member  States  CIO  offices  throughout  2020  and  2021.  The 
recommendations adopted in October 2021 by the Commission’s expert group of Member State 
experts (CIOs and digital transformation departments) give therefore a detailed insight into core 
stakeholder expectations, as do the ministerial  declarations signed in  Tallinn  in  2017 and in 
Berlin in 2020. 

6  

7  

8  

Ulrich,  P.,  Duch  Brown,  N.,  Kotsev,  A.,  Minghini,  M.,  Hernandez  Quiros,  L.,  Boguslawski,  R.  and 
Pignatelli, F., Quantifying the Benefits of Location Interoperability in the European Union, EUR 31004 
EN,  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union,  Luxembourg,  2022,  ISBN  978-92-76-48846-0, 
doi:10.2760/72064, JRC127330. 
See EIF final evaluation, SWD(2022) 720 final, and ISA2 programme final evaluation, COM/2021/965 
final, SWD/2021/965 final. 
See,  for  example,  CEPS  (2021):  Study  supporting  the  evaluation  of  the  implementation  of  the  EIF, 
European Commission. DOI: 10.2799/58201 and CEPS (2021): Study supporting the final evaluation of 
the programme on interoperability solutions for European public administrations, businesses and citizens 
(ISA²), European Commission. DOI: 10.2799/94683. 

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