<p>07 February 2025 | 5 minutes read</p>
<p><img alt="" aria-hidden="true" class="img-fluid" src="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/download/attachments/881983974/illu-news-oots-07-02-2025.jpg"></p>
<p>In January 2025, the Commission published a <a class="link external" target="_blank" href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_339"><span>Competitiveness Compass for the EU</span><span class="sr-only">(opens in a new tab)</span><span class="ico-external"></span></a>. It <strong>sets a path for how the European Single Market can become the place where future technologies, services, and clean products are invented, manufactured, and put on the market, while being the first continent to become climate neutral</strong>.</p>
<p>The Commission identified <strong>simplification</strong> as an integral part of this Compass. The Single Market Strategy, which includes the Single Digital Gateway and consequent the Once-Only Technical System, an essential step in achieving the goal of much simpler, fully digital cross-border admin for businesses and individuals.</p>
<p><strong>"Once-Only" simplifies administrative procedures</strong> like the notification of business activity or the requesting of permits, allowing European companies and citizens to skip searching for and downloading their data from multiple eGovernment portals. Instead, data is securely shared directly from public registries to the required eGovernment application — no matter where in Europe it is. This reduces administrative burdens, strengthens the Single Market, and boosts Europe's global competitiveness.</p>
<h2>How 'Once-Only' simplifies the Single Market</h2>
<p>The Single Market creates an open economic space for European SMEs. Smaller enterprises can benefit from a market of almost 450 million citizens. A Single Market on this scale helps European companies increase growth opportunities, sales and service provision. This <strong>reduces trade barriers and harmonises rules and regulations across the EU</strong>. The Single Market means that SMEs no longer have to comply with 27 different sets of national laws, which <strong>makes cross-border trade simpler, cheaper, and less time-consuming</strong>.</p>
<p>Despite the Single Market’s great potential, SMEs still face major barriers to operating in the broader Single Market due to costly and time-consuming administrative procedures, limiting business growth and undermining Europe's global competitiveness.</p>
<p>The Once-Only Technical System is an EU-wide framework that will help reduce the burden of these administrative procedures. <strong>When a business or an individual citizen completes an administrative procedure connected to the Once-Only, they can request that their authentic documents, needed to complete this procedure, are exchanged directly between the public register and the requesting authorities in all EU Member States</strong>. This might be <strong>permits, certificates, licences and diplomas, etc</strong>. The scope of Once-Only currently covers 21 procedures set out in the Single Digital Gateway Regulation <a class="link external" target="_blank" href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018R1724"><span>(EU) 2018/1724</span><span class="sr-only">(opens in a new tab)</span><span class="ico-external"></span></a>, procedures related to the <a class="link external" target="_blank" href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/LSU/?uri=CELEX:32005L0036"><span>recognition of professional qualifications (2005/36/EC)</span><span class="sr-only">(opens in a new tab)</span><span class="ico-external"></span></a> and public procurement (<a class="link external" target="_blank" href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32014L0024"><span>2014/24/EU</span><span class="sr-only">(opens in a new tab)</span><span class="ico-external"></span></a> and <a class="link external" target="_blank" href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32014L0025"><span>2014/25/EU</span><span class="sr-only">(opens in a new tab)</span><span class="ico-external"></span></a>), and procedures under the <a class="link external" target="_blank" href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32006L0123"><span>Services Directive (2006/123/EC)</span><span class="sr-only">(opens in a new tab)</span><span class="ico-external"></span></a>, with the system
continuously expanding to further procedures.</p>
<p><a class="btn primary" target="_blank" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/display/OOTS/About+OOTS" onclick="_paq.push(['trackEvent','conversion','oots-article-compass-07-02-2025','button-learn-how'])"><span>Learn how the Once-Only Technical System works</span><span class="sr-only">(opens in a new tab)</span><span class="ico-external"></span></a></p>
<h2>Hear from the people leading the Commission’s efforts to see a simplified ‘Once-Only’ Single Market</h2>
<p>Several senior officials in the European Commission driving Europe’s efforts to go ‘Once-Only’ have offered <strong>their individual perspectives on how ‘Once-Only’ will benefit businesses and citizens across Europe and shared what this means for Europe’s competitiveness and the Single Market.</strong></p>
<h3>Watch the interviews</h3>
<div class="video-container">
<div class="video-container-iframe">
<iframe id="video2" src="https://webtools.europa.eu/crs/iframe/?oriurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2fembed%2fiWcq4zNq6gE" allowfullscreen="" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>
</div>
</div>
<p>Philippe van Damme, deputy Director-General for Digital Services (DIGIT), explained what makes the Once-Only Technical System a game changer for Europe: <i>“If Competent Authorities can actually exchange data electronically without you as a citizen or as a business having to go to websites, download documents, fill them in, send them to other administrations, it makes a huge difference in <strong>how efficient we can actually run Europe for our businesses and citizens</strong></i>’.</p>
<p>Natalia Aristimuño Pérez, Director for Digital Enablers & Innovation (DIGIT), underlined that that concerns <i>“increasing competitiveness in Europe and [through] reducing the administrative burden on businesses”</i>.</p>
<p>Amaryllis Verhoeven, Director in the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) highlighted that <i>‘the Once-Only Technical System is key for <strong>making the Single Market work in practice</strong>. It is about <strong>massively cutting red tape</strong>. It is about <strong>simplification</strong>. It is about <strong>bringing the barriers down in practice.’</strong></i> </p>
<p>In September 2024, the European Commission published a report looking at the <strong>benefits of Once-Only for European SMEs and self-employed</strong>, helping European entrepreneurs see why ‘Once-Only’ matters for them. Most Member States will launch their first EU-wide Once-Only services in 2025, advancing the goals of reducing red tape and making the Single Market easier to navigate.</p>
<p class="illu-report"><img alt="" aria-hidden="true" src="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/download/attachments/881983974/illu-news-oots-07-02-2025-02.jpg"></p>
<p class="btn-report"><a class="btn primary" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/download/attachments/807043131/Study_on_benefits_of_the_OOTS_for_SMEs.pdf" onclick="_paq.push(['trackEvent','conversion','oots-article-compass-07-02-2025','button-download-report'])"><span>Download the report (PDF)</span><span class="ico-download"></span></a></p>
|