PURPOSE: to facilitate the efficient and effective electronic cross-border and cross-sectoral interaction between European public administrations enabling the delivery of electronic public services supporting the implementation of Community policies and activities.
LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision No 922/2009/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on interoperability solutions for European public administrations (ISA).
CONTENT: in accordance with a first reading agreement reached with the European Parliament, the Council adopted a decision establishing, for the period 2010-2015, a programme on interoperability solutions for European public administrations, including local and regional administrations and Community institutions and bodies, providing common and shared solutions facilitating interoperability (the ISA programme).
The ISA programme is a follow-on to the IDABC programme (interoperable delivery of pan-European eGovernment services to public administrations, businesses and citizens), which will end on 31 December 2009.
Objective: this programme aims to support cooperation between European public administrations by facilitating the efficient and effective electronic cross-border and cross-sectoral interaction between such administrations.
The ISA programme shall support and promote:
- the establishment and improvement of common frameworks in support of cross-border and cross-sectoral interoperability;
- the assessment of the ICT implications of proposed or adopted Community legislation and planning for the introduction of ICT systems to support the implementation of such legislation;
- the operation and improvement of existing common services and the establishment, industrialisation, operation and improvement of new common services, including the interoperability of public key infrastructures (PKI);
- the improvement of existing reusable generic tools and the establishment, provision and improvement of new reusable generic tools.
General principles: actions launched or continued under the ISA programme shall be based on the following principles: (a) technological neutrality and adaptability; (b) openness; (c) reusability; (d) privacy and protection of personal data; and (e) security.
Solutions: common frameworks shall be established and maintained by means of studies which shall also serve as a means of supporting the assessment of the ICT implications of proposed or adopted Community legislation and the planning for introduction of solutions to support the implementation of such legislation. Studies shall be published and forwarded to the European Parliament committees responsible as a basis for any future legislative amendments necessary to ensure the interoperability of the ICT systems used by European public administrations.
Implementation rules: in the implementation of the ISA programme due consideration shall be given to the European Interoperability Strategy and the European Interoperability Framework. Involvement of the largest possible number of Member States in a study or project shall be encouraged. A study or project shall be open for accession at any stage, and Member States not involved in a study or project shall be encouraged to join at a later stage. In order to ensure interoperability between national and Community systems, common frameworks, common services and generic tools shall be specified with reference to existing European standards or publicly available or open specifications for information exchange and service integration.
Monitoring and evaluation: the ISA programme shall be subject to an interim evaluation and a final evaluation, the results of which shall be communicated to the European Parliament and the Council by 31 December 2012 and 31 December 2015 respectively. In this context the responsible committee of the European Parliament may invite the Commission to present the evaluation results and answer questions put by its members.
Interaction with stakeholders: the Commission shall bring together relevant stakeholders for the purposes of exchanging views among themselves and with the Commission on issues addressed by the ISA programme. To this end, the Commission shall organise conferences, workshops and other meetings. The Commission shall also make use of electronic interactive platforms and may use any other means for interaction which it considers appropriate.
International cooperation: the ISA programme shall be open to participation, within the framework of their respective agreements with the Community, by the countries of the European Economic Area and the candidate countries. Cooperation with other third countries and international organisations or bodies shall be encouraged, notably within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and Eastern Partnership and with neighbouring countries, in particular those of the Western Balkans and of the Black Sea region. The ISA programme shall promote, where appropriate, reuse of its solutions by third countries.
Financial provisions: the financial envelope for the implementation of the Community action under this Decision for the period from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2015 shall be EUR 164 100 000, of which EUR 103 500 000 is for the period from 1 January 2010 until 31 December 2013. For the period following 31 December 2013, the amount shall be deemed to be confirmed if it is consistent for this phase with the financial framework in force for the period commencing in 2014.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 23/10/2009.
APPLICATION: from 01/01/2010 to 31/12/2015.