25.5.2023
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 184/29
1.3.
Instead of reducing personnel, the development and operation of digital services will, initially, create an additional need for personnel.
Adequate staffing is a prerequisite for a successful digital transformation.
1.4.
The EESC is pleased to note that digitalisation of public services developed considerably during the pandemic.
1.5.
The EESC supports the creation of a governance model for this policy, consisting of two key bodies — the Interoperable Europe Board and the Interoperable Europe Community.
1.6.
The EESC welcomes the fact that the communication provides for the design of experimental solutions allowing for partnerships between the public sector and innovative technology companies and start-ups, with a view to creating innovative experimental solutions which could be applied in and shared by public services.
1.7.
The EESC considers it important for future funding programmes for public service interoperability projects to make granting of funding conditional on adopting the principles and structures advocated by the European Interoperability Framework.
1.8.
While welcoming the fact that this process fits into the so-called dual transition, the EESC warns that some technological solutions for digitalisation could be highly energy-intensive.
1.8.1.
The EESC believes that, with the necessary care taken, data protection cannot be allowed to be an obstacle to either public services or private individuals creating new interoperable solutions.
1.8.2.
Moreover, the EESC believes that access to data, whether for people, businesses or other public services, should be subject to different levels of authorisation in order to safeguard data confidentiality and to ensure that only data that is strictly necessary is disclosed.
2.
Background 2.1.
The creation of an internal market, i.e. an area of free movement of people, goods, services and capital, entails dismantling all existing national barriers.
2.2.
Since its establishment, and more insistently after the creation of the single market, the European Union has been seeking to dismantle any kind of barrier that could hinder the creation of a genuine internal market.
2.3.
For a genuine internal market to exist, people and businesses need to have fast, easy access to and interaction with public services in the Member States, whether at local, regional or national level.
2.4.
Moreover, the existence of an open area like the European space requires data sharing and cooperation between government bodies at all levels.
2.5.
Since the 1990s, the Commission has sought to take steps to build and maintain interoperability (1) or, even better, interconnectivity between the Member States’ various public services (2).
(1)
(2)
Public sector interoperability is defined as being ‘what enables administrations to cooperate and make public services function across borders, across sectors and across organisational boundaries’.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a strengthened public sector interoperability policy Linking public services, supporting public policies and delivering public benefits Towards an ‘Interoperable Europe’.
With Decision No 1719/1999/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, a Commission initiative on public service interoperability was launched, which consisted of a series of guidelines, including the identification of projects of common interest, for trans-European networks for the electronic interchange of data between administrations.