Online business Toolkit

EU ministers agree e-government aims

Kable

Published: 23 Nov 2009 11:15 GMT

European ministers have signed a declaration outlining policies to deliver 'smarter' online public services by 2015.

At the fifth Ministerial e-Government Conference in Malmö in Sweden on 19-20 November, EU ministers agreed measures to make e-government more accessible, interactive and customised.

The aims over the next five years are:

To empower businesses and citizens through e-government services designed around users' needs, through better access to information and through their active involvement in the policy-making process
To facilitate mobility in the single market by seamless e-government services for setting up business, studying, working, residing and retiring in Europe
To enhance government services by reducing the administrative burden, improving organisational processes and using ICT to improve energy efficiency in public administrations

The declaration was welcomed by the European Commission, which is working with member states to set targets for the European e-government agenda.

It will launch an action plan in the second half of 2010 setting out how the objectives in the ministerial declaration can be achieved.

Figures from a report prepared for the European Commission and released on 19 November show that 71 percent of the public services measured are fully available online through portals or websites, against only 59 percent in 2007.

According to the report the UK, Austria, Malta, Portugal, Sweden and Slovenia are leading in the availability of services. Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania and Latvia are making important progress, but differences across Europe remain significant.

The report also looked at the availability of e-procurement, which is now at about 60 percent across the EU, still far from the 100 target for 2010 set by the i2010 e-Government action plan.