Tallinn Ministerial Declaration on eGovernment
On 6 October 2017, Ministers responsible for eGovernment policy signed Tallinn Declaration on eGovernment under the auspices of the Estonian Presidency of the Council.
The Declaration was signed by ministers of Member States and European Free Trade Area (EFTA) countries on in the framework of a Ministerial eGovernment Conference. It marks Member States' strong political commitment to achieve the vision outlined in the eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 and it includes specific measures to ensure alignment with its principles. Its Annex on 'User-centricity principles for design and delivery of digital public services' is a concrete commitment towards citizens and businesses for improving their experience when interacting with public administrations. It also includes specific actions on the Commission and other EU institutions.
The eGovernment Declaration follows the Malmo Declaration signed in 2009 and the launch of the eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 which both recognise that service-oriented, reliable and innovative government at all levels are essential to develop a dynamic, productive and European society.
Alongside Ministerial eGovernment Conference, the European Commission exhibited a range of EU digital programmes: the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) building blocks; Trust Services & eID, specifically the Regulation (EU) N°910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions (the eIDAS Regulation) and the Interoperability Solutions for Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (ISA²) programme.
The Tallinn Declaration makes reference to the sustainability of the Connecting Europe building blocks, noting that:
"[The Signatories call upon] the Commission to prepare proposals on the future (post 2020) and sustainability of existing EU level cross-border digital service infrastructures and building blocks, including their funding and management, in anticipation of the end of the current Connecting Europe Facility programme and based on the experiences and evaluation of the large scale pilots – within the process of the next EU multiannual financial framework preparations";
To help realise the Digital Single Market, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme funds a set of generic and reusable Digital Service Infrastructures (DSI), also known as building blocks. The CEF building blocks offer basic capabilities that can be reused in any European project to facilitate the delivery of digital public services across borders and sectors. Currently, there are five building blocks: eDelivery, eInvoicing, eID, eSignature and eTranslation. Visit CEF Digital 2018 to find out more: ec.europa.eu/cefdigital