Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line (PEPPOL)

What is OpenPEPPOL?

OpenPEPPOL is an non-profit association of both public sector and private members. It's purpose is to enable European businesses to easily communicate electronically with any European public sector buyers in their procurement processes, thereby increasing opportunities for greater competition for government contracts and providing better value for tax payers’ moneys.

Why was the project setup?

The Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line (PEPPOL) project was initiated in 2008 with the aim of simplifying electronic procurement across borders by developing technology standards that could be implemented by all governments across Europe. The OpenPEPPOL Association was established on 1st September 2012 after successful completion of the project which saw PEPPOL specifications being implemented in several European countries solving interoperability issues for electronic procurement. The project was a pilot project funded jointly by the European Commission and the 18 PEPPOL Consortium members from 11 countries.  

What are the benefits of the project?

• For public administrations it simplifies electronic procurement and invoicing, also across borders
• It enables businesses to communicate electronically with any European government institution in the procurement and invoicing process, increasing efficiencies and reducing costs. The same benefits are accrued in business to business transactions.
• For citizens, increased competition for government contracts and efficiency gains through improved processes results in better value for their tax payer's money

How are OpenPEPPOL and the CEF eDelivery building block working together?

PEPPOL uses the eDelivery Network to connect different eProcurement and eInvoicing systems by establishing a set of common business processes and technical standards. This provides an interoperable and secure network connecting all Access Points using the same electronic messaging protocol and dynamic addressing, supported by a joint PEPPOL agreement. The PEPPOL profile of CEF eDelivery currently uses the AS2 message exchange protocol, whereas the e-SENS profile of CEF eDelivery uses the AS4 messaging protocol. However, the European Commission and OpenPEPPOL have joined forces to support the uptake of secure electronic data exchange across borders in the procurement domain. In a Letter of Understanding (LoU) signed between the Commission and OpenPEPPOL, the parties agree a plan for the transition of the PEPPOL network from AS2 to the CEF eDelivery AS4 messaging protocol.

The use of AS4 within the PEPPOL eDelivery network will become mandatory, and AS2 be made optional, the timeline agreed in the LoU sets Q2 2019 as the target date for this transition. The European Commission is providing Grant funding, under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), to support the transition from AS2 to AS4, see the Innovation & Networks Executive Agency (INEA) for details. 

The LoU is a follow up of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2015, stating that the Commission will host a central service of the eDelivery network, while OpenPEPPOL will continue to manage the business-related governance of the network in the eProcurement and e-invoicing domain. The Commission now hosts the Service Metadata Locator (SML) – which allows participants in the network to dynamically locate each other across Europe. The SML service is a central component of the PEPPOL eDelivery Network, managed by OpenPEPPOL until 2016. It is a testament to the maturity of the service, which is currently used for millions of real business transactions, and paves the way for other services and building blocks from the eProcurement domain or other communities to be run as part of the CEF eDelivery digital service infrastructure (DSI).

What are the results?

Today more than 110.000 public and private sector entities are part of the PEPPOL eDelivery network through 160 certified Access Points in 19 Member States. More than six million electronic invoices and other eProcurement documents are exchanged every month, using the PEPPOL eDelivery network. OpenPEPPOL has more than 260 members from 27 countries. Several European Member States, including Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, UK and Norway (EEA) have established PEPPOL Authorities to support implementation of PEPPOL based eProcurement and/or e-invoicing at national and Pan-European level. Closer cooperation on other building blocks and services with the Commission is under discussion.

With the agreements between the Commission and OpenPeppol, and by hosting a central component of the PEPPOL eDelivery network, the Commission took a big step forward in making the CEF eDelivery solution reusable in different policy areas and thus contributing to the realisation of the digital single market.

Explore More Success Stories and Content

CEF eDelivery

CEF eInvoicing

Peppol.eu

European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG)

What is ENTSOG?

The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) is a non-profit association responsible for a number of regulatory tasks on behalf of Europe's gas transmission system operators (TSOs).

The role of ENTSOG is to facilitate and enhance cooperation between national TSOs across Europe, in order to ensure the development and coordinated operation of a pan-European gas transmission network that is capable of meeting Europe's current and future needs. In doing so, ENTSOG will contribute to the completion of the internal market for gas, help stimulate cross-border trade and access, and increase the interoperability of existing regional transmission systems.

ENTSOG was established in 2009 after the adoption of the Third Energy Package on the gas and electricity markets (EU regulation 715/2009) the purpose of which was to further open up the gas and electricity markets in the European Union. It is currently comprised of 45 TSOs and 2 associated partners from 26 European countries. 

Why was ENTSOG established?

Europe's cross-border gas networks operate according to rules that regulate who can use them and under what conditions. Historically, these rules were drawn up nationally, creating obstacles to the cross-border trade of gas on equal terms across European markets. Before 2009, non-discriminatory network access and an equally effective level of regulatory supervision did not yet exist in each Member State, and isolated markets persisted. Rules and measures were not in place to provide the necessary framework, nor to provide for the creation of interconnection capacities, to achieve the objective of a well-functioning, efficient and open internal market.

With increased interconnections and trade between countries in the internal energy market, EU-wide rules became increasingly necessary to level the playing field for all gas undertakings in the EU, allow gas to flow freely across borders, and provide European citizens with affordable energy. The Third Energy Package thus defined the need for the development of these rules, known as Network Codes, which would govern all cross-border gas market transactions.

ENTSOG was thus established, and since 2009, in collaboration with the European Commission, national energy regulators and the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), the Network Codes and Guidelines have been developed and implemented in the EU Member States. The gas network codes and guidelines have addressed the following topics:

• Balancing
• Capacity Allocation, for existing and incremental capacity, respectively
• Interoperability and Data Exchange
• Transparency
• Tariffs

What are the benefits?

For citizens and businesses: Increased transparency in retail markets, greater competition between suppliers leading to lower gas prices and higher service standards, and a more reliable flow of gas.

For gas suppliers and distributors: Fairer access to gas markets across Europe, increased opportunities for cross-border trade, and increased security of supply and sustainability.

For TSOs: Ability to contribute to the development of network codes that create a more open and liquid European gas market. With respect to the legislation, the complex technical procedures used by TSOs are better aligned, enabling them to better manage gas flows across borders, deal with differences in gas quality and exchange data between themselves and market players. Ultimately, standardised data exchange formats will make transactions and communication cheaper.

Choosing a data exchange solution

The interoperability and data exchange network code, formalised through COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) 2015/703, aimed to address the lack of harmonisation in technical, operational and communication areas that could create barriers to the free flow of gas in the EU, and thus hamper market integration. In regard to communication, specifically document-based data exchange, the regulation specified that AS4, originally developed by OASIS, should be used. AS4, or Applicability Statement 4, is a Profile of ebMS 3.0 aiming to provide guidance on a standardised methodology for the secure and document-agnostic exchange of B2B payloads using Web services.

Deciding on this harmonised solution for document-based data exchange was challenging because the solutions already in use across ENTSOG's members were different and not mutually compatible. In close cooperation with IT experts from its members, external data communication consultants, and encryption standards experts from ENISA, ENTSOG looked at the best available technology on the market, considering strict criteria for reliability, authentication, elimination of duplicates, security and confidentiality. Existing solutions, ranging from FTP, AS2, e-mail, fax and other internet solutions, were taken into consideration.

It was concluded that AS4 is the best data exchange solution available at this moment, meeting all required criteria and leaving some unused options open for the future (e.g. pull function). It ensures that disparate organisations with varied IT systems can exchange messages in a seamless, secure and reliable manner. Additionally, it is non-proprietary, meaning it can be provided by any vendor which offers a compliant solution. As such, it was ideal for ENTSOG, which, as previously mentioned, needed to establish effective data exchange between many different TSOs with different systems and different vendors.  

How was AS4 implemented?

Given the flexibility and number of open options offered by AS4, a more detailed definition of its set-up was required, in order to achieve an interoperable solution which could be used and implemented effectively by all of ENTSOG's members. The ENTSOG AS4 Usage Profile was subsequently developed, which incorporated these details. For example, AS4 specifies that messages can be encrypted, but does not require it and does not specify which algorithms are to be used. The ENTSOG AS4 Usage Profile specifies that they must always be encrypted and states which specific algorithms should be used. Other refinements included the definition of Service and Action header elements, Conversation ID and Message ID. This work was done with an external consultant, including a proof of concept testing with 6 gas companies.

The interoperability and data exchange network code entered into force on ENTSOG’s members on 1 May 2016, with TSOs obliged to offer the possibility to communicate via AS4 by specific deadlines. For example, in Germany and the Netherlands, national regulators have set end dates for the use of older technology (February and May 2018 respectively), meaning TSOs must be ready with AS4 before these dates.

How do the CEF building blocks fit in?

In 2015, the AS4 Profile was chosen by the EU Member States as the primary protocol for Business-to-Business, Business-to-Administration and Administration-to-Administration message exchange going forward. As such, it is also being promoted through the CEF eDelivery building block.

ENTSOG and CEF are collaborating in several ways:

• An ENTSOG module will be made available on the CEF eDelivery conformance testing platform. Currently, multiple vendors are offering solutions that should comply with the ENTSOG AS4 Profile but no formal test procedure can give proof of this yet. The conformance testing service will provide this.
• CEF are in the process of modularising their Profile which will result in a common core (shared with the ENTSOG AS4 Profile) and optional additional modules.
• In May 2017, CEF gave a presentation on the work of the European Commission (EC) on AS4 at ENTSOG's Data Exchange Harmonisation Workshop. They shared implementation stories and showed ENTSOG's members and stakeholders that AS4 is very much a tool backed by the EC, which is being implemented by many EU projects.

What are the results?

The AS4 Profile is secure, reliable, payload agnostic, highly configurable, and built on state-of-the-art standards and technology. Fundamentally, it has enabled ENTSOG to successfully comply with EU legislation, being assessed as the best possible solution available to fulfil all specified requirements for document-based data exchange. By ensuring the secure, reliable and consistent exchange of data between TSOs, AS4 has taken ENTSOG a step closer to achieving its objective of enhanced cooperation between TSOs, and a fairer, more open and more reliable internal market for gas.

Specifically, the ENTSOG AS4 Usage Profile is successfully:

• Supporting exchange of documents and other payloads;
• Supporting the business processes of TSOs;
• Leveraging experience gained with other B2B protocols in the gas sector, such as AS2;
• Providing security guidance based on state-of-the-art best practices, following recommendations for “near term” (defined as “at least ten years”) future system use;
• Providing suppliers of AS4-enabled B2B communication solutions with guidance regarding the required AS4 functionality;
• Facilitating management and exchange of certificates for AS4 by users deploying the profile. 

Many of ENTSOG’s members have already implemented AS4, utilising solutions from at least 12 different AS4 software vendors, including both open source and closed source products. The spread of AS4 has widened the choice of available suppliers, enabling at least two gas companies to switch products. The conformance testing service of CEF eDelivery will further increase the use of AS4, by providing potential AS4 software vendors with a formal means of validating the compliance of their solutions to the AS4 Profile.

Explore More Success Stories and Content

CEF eDelivery

ENTSOG website

AS4 factsheet