The Interoperable Europe Act

One of the main requirements of the digital transformation of the public sector concerns the existence of optimal interoperability conditions for data sharing. This is an essential premise from a number of points of view, in particular as regards multi-entity actions and procedures. In particular, interoperability allows:

• The interconnection of the electronic registers powers and the filing of documents with public entities. 
• The exchange of data, documents and files in the exercise of the respective competences, which is essential for administrative simplification and, in particular, to guarantee the right not to submit documents already in the possession of the public administrations;
• The development of advanced and personalised services based on the exchange of information, such as the citizen folder.

Interoperability also plays an important role in facilitating the integration of different open data sources for re-use, hence there is even a specific technical standard. It aims to establish common conditions to "facilitate and guarantee the process of re-use of public information from public administrations, ensuring the persistence of the information, the use of formats, as well as the appropriate terms and conditions of use".

Interoperability at European level

Interoperability is therefore a premise for facilitating relations between different entities, which is of particular importance in the European context if we take into account that legal relations will often be between different states. This is therefore a great challenge for the promotion of cross-border digital public services and, consequently, for the enforcement of essential rights and values in the European Union linked to the free movement of persons.

For this reason, the adoption of a regulatory framework to facilitate cross-border data exchange has been promoted to ensure the proper functioning of digital public services at European level. This is Regulation (EU) 2024/903 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 March 2024 laying down measures for a high level of public sector interoperability across the Union (known as the Interoperable Europe Act), which is directly applicable across the European Union from 12 July 2024.

This regulation aims to provide the right conditions to facilitate cross-border interoperability, which requires an advanced approach to the establishment and management of legal, organisational, semantic and technical requirements. In particular, trans-European digital public services, i.e. those requiring interaction across Member States' borders through their network and information systems, will be affected. This would be the case, for example, for the change of residence to work or study in another Member State, the recognition of academic diplomas or professional qualifications, access to health and social security data or, as regards legal persons, the exchange of tax data or information necessary to participate in a tendering procedure in the field of public procurement. In short, "all those services that apply the "once-only" principle for accessing and exchanging cross-border data".

What are the main measures it envisages?

• Interoperability assessment: prior to decisions on conditions for trans-European digital public services by EU entities or public sector bodies of States, the Regulation requires them to carry out an interoperability assessment, although this will only be mandatory from January 2025. The result of this evaluation shall be published on an official website in a machine-readable format that allows for automatic translation.
• Sharing of interoperability solutions: the above mentioned entities shall be obliged to share interoperability solutions supporting a trans-European digital public service, including technical documentation and source code, as well as references to open standards or technical specifications used. However, there are some limits to this obligation, such as in cases where there are intellectual property rights in favour of third parties. In addition, these solutions will be published on the Interoperable Europe Portal, which will replace the current Joinup portal.
• Enabling of sandboxes: one of the main novelties consists of enabling public bodies to proceed with the creation of sandboxes or controlled interoperability test areas which, in the case of processing personal data, will be managed under the supervision of the corresponding supervisory authority competent to do so. The aim of this figure is to encourage innovation and facilitate cooperation based on the requirements of legal certainty, thereby promoting the development of interoperability solutions based on a better understanding of the opportunities and obstacles that may arise.
• Creation of a governance committee: as regards governance, it is envisaged that a committee will be set up comprising representatives of each of the States and of the Commission, which will be responsible for chairing it. Its main functions include establishing the criteria for interoperability assessment, facilitating the sharing of interoperability solutions, supervising their consistency and developing the European Interoperability Framework, among others. For their part, Member States will have to designate at least one competent authority for the implementation of the Regulation by 12 January 2025, which will act as a single point of contact in case there are several. Its main tasks will be to coordinate the implementation of the Act, to support public bodies in carrying out the assessment and, inter alia, to promote the re-use of interoperability solutions.

The exchange of data between public bodies throughout the European Union and its Member States with full legal guarantees is an essential priority for the effective exercise of their competences and, therefore, for ensuring efficiency in carrying out formalities from the point of view of good administration. The new Interoperable European Regulation is an important step forward in the regulatory framework to further this objective, but the regulation needs to be complemented by a paradigm shift in administrative practice. In this respect, it is essential to make a firm commitment to a document management model based mainly on data, which also makes it easier to deal with regulatory compliance with the regulation on personal data protection, and is also fully coherent with the approach and solutions promoted by the Data Governance Regulation when promoting the re-use of the information generated by public entities in the exercise of their functions.

Content prepared by Julián Valero, Professor at the University of Murcia and Coordinator of the Research Group "Innovation, Law and Technology" (iDerTec). The contents and points of view reflected in this publication are the sole responsibility of its author.