eGovernment Dossier
Summary
What is eGovernment
eGovernment represents the set of policies and technologies that enable citizens, businesses, and public administrations to interact securely and efficiently through digital tools. It is not just about digitizing public services, but about creating an interoperable European ecosystem based on trust, transparency, and the protection of personal data.
Through initiatives such as the European Digital Identity, the Wallet for citizens and businesses, the data strategy, and new cybersecurity rules, the European Union aims to guarantee simple and secure access to public and private services in all Member States.
The objective is twofold: on one hand, to foster economic growth and the competitiveness of the single market, and on the other, to strengthen people's digital rights, offering concrete tools for a more inclusive, innovative, and secure Europe.
Digital Identity and Wallets for Citizens and Businesses
Creating trust online is fundamental for social and economic growth. The regulation on electronic identification (Regulation (EU) 910/2014) provides a regulatory framework that guarantees secure digital interactions between citizens, businesses, and public entities. To achieve these objectives, in 2024, a regulatory framework for the European digital identity (eIDAS 2 regulation) was adopted, thanks to which, by 2030, 80% of EU citizens will be able to securely access essential public services with a digital identity.
Member States are obliged to provide their citizens with at least one EUDI Wallet within 24 months of the adoption of the implementing acts on the technical specifications. Therefore, in 2025, Italy, through entities like the Agency for Digital Italy (AgID), is actively engaged in developing the national infrastructure and integrating it with existing systems like SPID and CIE. The first EUDI Wallets will begin to be more widely available to citizens starting in 2026, but 2025 is the year of building the foundations and intensive testing.
The Digital Identity Wallet for Citizens
Both the public and private sectors are increasingly offering online services, making secure digital authentication increasingly necessary. At the same time, threats to online privacy are now evident, and people are increasingly concerned about profiling and surveillance.
The response to these challenges is the EU framework on digital identity, based on the principle that everyone should always have control over their own digital identity. European digital identity wallets are the means to achieve this goal.
The EUDI Wallet will allow, via a personal mobile application, EU citizens to:
-
Identify themselves digitally in a secure manner to access public and private services across the European Union.
-
Store and share official digital documents (attributes and credentials) such as identity cards, driving licenses, educational qualifications, medical prescriptions, and more.
-
Fully control which data to share, with whom, and for what purpose, according to the principles of data minimization and privacy by design.
Large-Scale Pilots (LSPs) are underway to assess the functioning of European digital identity wallets in a wide range of situations before they are launched across the EU. Over 350 private companies and public authorities from 26 Member States, plus Norway, Iceland, and Ukraine are participating.
The first group of pilot projects started on April 1, 2023. A second phase will begin during 2025.
For more information: link
The European Business Wallet (EBW)
According to the EBW regulation proposal, the EU Business Wallets will modernise and simplify economic activities within the Single Market. It will strengthen the competitiveness of European enterprises, expecting to unlock at least EUR 150 billion in annual savings, transforming potential obstacles into opportunities for growth and competitiveness.
It will allow companies to securely identify, authenticate and exchange data with full legal effect and trust across the EU. By using these European Business Wallets, companies will be able to save time and reduce paperwork as its core features will be legally equivalent to performing actions in person, on paper, or through other legally accepted methods.
Businesses will be able to digitally:
-
Identify and authenticate with a unique and persistent identifier
-
Sign, timestamp or seal documents
-
Securely create, store and exchange verified digital documents such as licences, certificates, permits
-
Communicate digitally, securely and efficiently with customers, suppliers, businesses partners or public administrations across the EU
It will also lower cross-border barriers to scale-up and run a business. This is crucial for all economic operators, in particular for SMEs, which make up 99% of enterprises in the EU and which use up 30-50% of their time on administration.
The technical architecture and features of the Business Wallets will build on the one for the EU Digital Identity Wallets and offer secure, and interoperable cloud-based identity solutions for economic operators and public administrations of all sizes across the EU.
The Business Registers in the EU are recognised as the authentic source of information and will be fundamental in contributing to the legal certainty and operations of the Business Wallets.
For more information: link
-
Corporate Law in the Digital Age
The European Union is modernizing corporate law to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the digital age. The new rules aim to simplify the online creation and management of businesses, while promoting transparency and cross-border cooperation. Digitizing corporate processes means reducing costs and time for businesses, strengthening the competitiveness of the single market, and ensuring greater accessibility to company information.
Directive (EU) 2025/25, which entered into force on January 30, 2025, represents a further piece of the European regulatory framework aimed at expanding and improving the use of digital tools and processes in corporate law, for this purpose intervening on existing provisions.
The Directive aims to improve business transparency and trust between Member States, as well as to create more interconnected public administrations, while reducing administrative burdens for businesses and other interested parties in cross-border situations. It will thus contribute to a more integrated and digitized single market for businesses.
In particular, the proposal aims to:
-
make information on companies (e.g., on partnerships and groups of companies) more accessible to the public, particularly at the EU level, through the Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS);
-
ensure that company data in business registers are accurate, reliable, and up to date, for example by providing for checks of company information before they are entered into business registers in all Member States;
-
reduce bureaucracy when companies use company information from business registers in cross-border situations, for example by eliminating formalities such as the need for an apostille for company documents, applying the Once-Only principle when companies establish branches and subsidiaries in another Member State, and introducing a multilingual EU company certificate for use in cross-border situations. Businesses will benefit from a reduction in administrative burdens estimated at around €437 million per year.
-
The European Data Union Strategy
The Data Union Strategy will increase the availability of data for AI development, announce the simplification of EU data rules and strengthen the EU’s global position on international data flows.
Artificial intelligence is becoming a driving force of our economies, both in the tech sector and beyond as it provides new solutions across industries. To be able to compete in this new global market, the EU must be able to fuel AI with high-quality data.
The Data Union Strategy addresses this need for high-quality data in Europe, with the aim of exploiting the untapped potential of data and completing the Single Market for data, as outlined in President von der Leyen’s political guidelines. This will help our businesses, especially our SMEs, compete in a global economy increasingly shaped by AI and deliver concrete benefits for all European citizens. For example:
-
Businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), will get simpler and cheaper access to data sets and lower compliance costs
-
Researchers and innovators will get high-quality data to train AI
-
Consumers will benefit from more innovation and new services
The strategy identifies three priority areas for action based on:
-
Scaling up access to data for AI to ensure our businesses have access to high-quality data needed for innovation
-
Streamlining data rules to give legal certainty to businesses and reduce compliance costs
-
Safeguarding the EU’s data sovereignty to strengthen our global position on international data flows
More information: link
-
Cybersecurity: Protecting Data, Strengthening Business
Digital security = trust. The EU promotes an SME-friendly cybersecurity culture, thanks to dedicated tools, skills, and support. European policies in this area help businesses protect themselves and grow in an increasingly interconnected market.
The EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), based in Athens, works to achieve a high common level of cybersecurity in the EU. It supports Member States, EU institutions, and other stakeholders in improving cybersecurity and managing cyber-attacks.
Key EU Cybersecurity Policies
-
In 2022, the EU adopted a revised NIS directive (NIS 2) to replace the 2016 NIS directive. The new rules ensure a high common level of cybersecurity in the Union in response to the evolving threat landscape.
-
The Cyber Resilience Act establishes cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements connected to the internet or other devices, ensuring that products such as home cameras, refrigerators, televisions, and connected toys are secure before being placed on the market and throughout their lifecycle.
-
The Cyber Solidarity Act establishes capabilities at the EU level to make Europe more resilient and reactive in the face of cyber threats, while strengthening cooperation mechanisms.
-
The EU Cybersecurity Act introduced a European certification scheme. Previously, EU countries used different cybersecurity certification schemes for information and communication technology (ICT) products, leading to market fragmentation and regulatory obstacles. With the Cybersecurity Act, the EU introduced a single certification framework across the EU aimed at stimulating trust and facilitating trade throughout the EU. The framework provides a comprehensive set of rules, technical requirements, standards, and procedures.
More information: link
-
An Interoperable Europe
The digital agenda emphasizes e-government and cross-border cooperation in the public sector. In March 2024, following the Commission's proposal from November 2022, the Regulation on an Interoperable Europe was adopted to improve public services in the EU.
The regulation aims to establish a new cooperation framework for EU public administrations in order to ensure the continuous provision of public services at the cross-border level and to provide support measures that promote innovation and foster the exchange of skills and knowledge.
The new regulation will establish an interoperability governance structure with the aim of creating an ecosystem of shared interoperability solutions for the EU public sector, through the creation of regulatory sandboxes. Public administrations in the EU will thus be able to contribute to these solutions and reuse them, innovate together, and create added value.
For more information: link
Business Registers in the EU
BRIS, BORIS, IRI
To guarantee greater transparency and traceability at the European level, in 2017 the EU started the interconnection of national business registers through the BRIS system (Business Registers Interconnection System). This system allows for the access and automatic exchange of information on companies registered in the Member States, facilitating cross-border operations, legal checks, and consumer protection.
BRIS will be further strengthened and integrated with BORIS (i.e., the Business Registers Interconnection System for beneficial ownership) and IRI (the Interconnection of Insolvency Registers system).
BRIS is accessed from the e-Justice Portal managed by the European Commission.
➡️ For more information: link
The European Business Registers Association (EBRA)
EBRA is the European Business Registers Association, born in 2019 from the merger of two previous associations. Despite being only 6 years old, it boasts over 30 years of history.
EBRA is based in Brussels and brings together 43 members from across Europe, who manage business and beneficial ownership registers. EBRA provides best practices, expert groups, and sector knowledge to promote the functioning and maintenance of business registers.
Among its activities, EBRA coordinates working groups and research projects to analyze emerging policies and common challenges of registers. Members participate in expert working groups dealing with relevant topics such as beneficial ownership and current corporate law initiatives concerning business registers. Furthermore, the association funds and coordinates an international project on business registry data from around the world (Business Registry Insights project) and has recently established a Cybersecurity Expert Network.
For more information: link