The eDelivery Digital Building Block provides technical specifications and standards, installable software and ancillary services to allow projects to create a network of nodes (also called Access Points) for secure digital data exchange. It is based on a distributed model where participants connect through nodes that communicate with one another using standard transport protocols and security policies. The Building Block contributes to a more secure and encrypted communication among public administrations, businesses and citizens.

eDelivery is based on the AS4 messaging protocol, open and free for all, initially developed by the OASIS standards development organisation and later also approved as an ISO standard. To ease its adoption in Europe, eDelivery uses the AS4 implementation guidelines defined by the Member States in the e-Sens Large Scale Pilot. Organisations must establish an access point, or use on provided by a Service Provider, to exchange information using the AS4 messaging protocol. An access point is established by installing a product implementing the eDelivery AS4 profile maintained by the European Commission as part of the eDelivery building block.

Additional eDelivery components called Service Metadata Locators (SMLs) and Service Metadata Publishers (SMPs) allow participants in an eDelivery network to dynamically discover each other's capabilities (business and technical)

eDelivery has strong links to Regulation (EU) 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services, known as "eIDAS". The regulation establishes the principle that an electronic document should not be denied legal effect on the grounds that it is in an electronic form. eDelivery supports this fundamental principle of the Digital age by promoting the alignment between its technical specifications and the eIDAS regulatory framework.