Another 13.7 million euros for cross-border digital public services

Following the successful collaboration of EU member states, the private sector, national governments, experts, and local communities on a number of projects aimed at facilitating living, traveling, studying, and doing business among members, the European Commission has decided to invest an additional 13.7 million euros in the development of cross-border digital public services.

The new project, e-SENS, will contribute to the development of services that facilitate business operations in all member states, including starting a company, fulfilling legal prerequisites, and participating in tenders. Additionally, the project will connect digital services for citizens visiting other member states for vacation, work, or study.

E-marriage registration Some of the following examples illustrate how e-SENS can help Europeans take advantage of everything the single market has to offer. Anja, for instance, has a travel agency in Lithuania specializing in trips to Portugal and wants to start an agency in Portugal specializing in trips to the Baltic. With a single online access point (SPOCS), Anja can find out what conditions she needs to meet and receive the necessary assistance for the registration procedure. Furthermore, if Anja wishes to marry her fiancé in his hometown in Spain, she will be able to register her marriage online in Lithuania using an electronic identity card (eID) thanks to the STORK platform.

20 partner countries Or, for example, Karel, who lost his luggage on a flight from Brussels to Athens. Unsatisfied with the compensation offered by the airline, he can initiate a complaint procedure through e-CODEX, of course, via the internet. The last example is Sabrina, who ran out of diabetes medication while visiting relatives in Denmark. Thanks to the epSOS system for electronic prescriptions, she was able to obtain her medication without any problems. 

e-SENS is a kind of continuation of the aforementioned, as well as other systems, and will serve as a bridge between the initial and operational phases when cross-border public services become fully available. The project includes partners from 20 countries, and the Commission will provide 13.7 million euros over the next three years to support the project. Starting next year, the EU will also be able to assist the project from the Connecting Europe fund, which has allocated up to one billion euros over the next seven years specifically for the development of platforms that enable smooth use of digital public services across Europe.