i2010 Conference Information Society at the Crossroads 13-14 MAY 2008

1. The impact of important Single Market policies on the development of Pan-European Services and Products i2010 Conference Information Society at the Crossroads 13-14 MAY 2008 Nick Leapman, telephone: +32 2 295 12 66 nicholas.leapman@ec.europa.eu

2. The Issue • Single Market legislator has increasingly been opting for electronic solutions • Assumption that the building blocks of the information society are in place • The real world is full of surprises

3. Single Market ReviewNovember 2007 Single Market policy makers want interoperability across e-government solutions: • ICT is essential tool to make the Single Market work • Risk that Member States opt for incompatible solutions • New “e-barriers” could emerge for end-users • Need to redouble efforts to avoid market fragmentation and promote commonly agreed ICT solutions • Action Plan in 2008 to promote implementation of interoperable signatures and e-authentication

4. 3 Single Market initiatives that create demand for interoperable solutions • SEPA and e-invoicing • Electronic public procurement • Services Directive

5. SEPA and e-invoicing • SEPA: • Single Euro Payments Area aims to create a world class payment system for the EU • E-invoicing: • Essential part of an efficient financial supply chain as it links the internal processes of enterprises to the payment systems • SEPA & E-Invoicing: • SEPA and a successful European e-Invoicing initiative would complement each other, by linking e-invoicing directly with payments

6. SEPA and e-invoicing • Huge Benefits: • Savings potential of e-Invoicing (SEPA Cap Gemini study): • Cost reductions due to e-Invoice = 70-75% (of a paper invoice) • Estimated potential cost savings of € 238 Billion over 6 years • Risk: • In many MS, individual e-invoicing initiatives are emerging: • Risk of emergence of multiple solutions which are not interoperable • If this risks materializes: full potential of e-invoicing will not be achieved

7. The EU FRAMEWORK for ePROCUREMENT A comprehensive legal and policy framework • Entry into force of new public procurement directives (Apr 2004) • Transposition by MS (21 months - 31 Jan 2006) – nearly complete • Action plan on e-procurement 2005-2007 (Dec 2004) • i2010 eGovernment Action plan (April 2006)

8. The EU LEGAL FRAMEWORK: objective Allow automation of full procurement-to-payment process chain preserving all existing procedural guarantees

9. The EU LEGAL FRAMEWORK: rules (1) • Requirements for electronic communication and receipt of offers • Non-discrimination • Transparency • Fair competition • Rules for innovative electronic purchasing practices • Repetitive purchases, e.g. dynamic purchasing systems • Electronic auctions

10. The EU LEGAL FRAMEWORK: rules (2) • Electronic means on equal footing with paper • All stages of the procedure can be conducted online • Flexible and technology-neutral framework

11. Implications for ICT products and services(1) • e-procurement creates strong demand for specialised ICT products • comprehensive e-procurement systems solutions and electronic documents • specific tools, e.g. e-auctions, e-catalogues, Dynamic Purchasing systems (‘DPS’) • standardised product descriptions and inventory management solutions (e.g. product classifications and dictionaries)

12. Implications for ICT products and services (2) • links to B2B applications for e-ordering, e-invoicing and e-payments • user-friendly, multilingual interfaces

13. Implications for ICT products and services (3) The challenge • All solutions must preserve existing procedural guarantees • To do that they must be generally available, non-discriminatory and interoperable • All solutions must provide secure means of electronic authentication and signature

14. THE ECONOMIC PRIZE:What are we talking about? (1) • The public sector: by far the biggest buyer in the economy • Estimated total EU public procurement (2006): 1.800 bn. EUR (16% of EU GDP) • Estimated total above thresholds (TED): 370 bn. EUR (3% of EU GDP)

15. THE ECONOMIC PRIZE:What are we talking about? (2) • Very large savings and efficiency gains • from e-procurement: 5% on prices, 50-80% on transaction costs • 5% of savings may correspond to up to 1% of GDP

16. Services Directive • Entry into force - 28.12.2006 • Implementation –by 28.12.2009 • Objectives • Remove barriers to the establishment of service providers (Art. 43 ECT) • Remove barriers to the cross border provision of services (Art. 49 ECT) • Horizontal nature–wide range ofdifferent services

17. Main Implementation Aspects • Simplification of procedures • Electronic procedures • Establishment of Points of Single Contact • Mutual assistance (supported by the Internal Market Information system - IMI) • Rights of recipients • Quality of services

18. Electronic procedures (Article 8) • Possibility of completion of all formalities and procedures at a distance and by electronic means • Availability for national and foreign service providers • Cross border dimension • Interoperability issues

19. Implications for ICT products and services • Services Directive creates strong demand for specialised ICT products • Transactional software for completion of e-procedures • User-friendly multilingual interfaces • Software for back office integration • Software to create standardised forms such as form generator • Tools for electronic delivery of documents such as document safes, personal web spaces • Tools for secure electronic payment

20. European Council Conclusions13/14 March 2008 In the context of the Services Directive it is an immediate priority to: “Improve the functioning of the “e-Single Market” by putting in place cross-border interoperable solutions for electronic signature and e-authentication”

21. Main Interoperability Challenges for the Single Market • Electronic signatures • Use of qualified signatures • Use of advanced signatures • Issues related to trust • Electronic identification and authentication • Different systems ranging from soft to strong ID • Temporary solution by end of 2009 • Large Scale Pilot on e-ID aiming at interoperable EU wide solution • Documents • Transition from paper to electronic world • Authentication of documents • Different types and formats • Long term migration to electronic documents