Improving cross-border cooperation with The Once-Only Principle

Member States will soon have increased ability to share data and cooperate across borders, making it easier for citizens and businesses to interact with public services in the EU.

Driving this initiative is the once-only principle (TOOP): a core tenet of the EU’s eGovernment Action Plan that describes how citizens and businesses should be able to provide information once, and have that data shared and re-used with other public administrations.

Enabling greater interoperability between governments is expected to enhance mobility, reduce administrative overhead, and create transparency between Member States.

How CEF supports the once-only principle

TOOP led to the creation of a solution architecture that connects 40 information systems using CEF building blocks, including eDelivery, eSignature and eID.

A series of pilot projects have been set up all over the EU, involving 50 organisations. Projects were selected for funding based on their cross-border relevance, potential to reduce administrative burden, and feasibility of implementation.

Successful completion of these pilots will:

• Offer cross-border electronic services to enhance business mobility, including cross-border public procurement procedures
• Connect company data, facilitating cross-border eGovernment services for businesses
• Facilitate online shipping and crew certificates, enabling access to necessary certificates to foreign port authorities during ship inspections

Reusing  TOOP’s architecture will reduce costs for future eGovernment applications and service implementations for all Member States.

Early successes

Pilots have already begun delivering results. In July this year, Sweden and Greece released the first successful TOOP implementations. Greece deployed data consumer capability with the Greek ESPD service, while Sweden delivered both data consumer and data provider capability.

TOOP pilots will continue testing data exchange using CEF Building Blocks throughout the year. Stay informed through The Once Only Principle website or sign up to the TOOP project newsletter.

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