The single digital gateway

KEY POINTS

A single online point of access to information, procedures and assistance

• The single digital gateway will guide people and companies to information on national and EU rules, rights and procedures, and also to the websites where they can carry out these procedures online. Users looking for help will be guided towards assistance and problem-solving services.
• In practical terms, a search function on the ‘Your Europe’ portal will provide:
  • access to information – people will be able to easily find reliable, qualitative information on EU and national rules that apply to them when they want to exercise their internal market rights;
  • access to procedures – people will find out exactly how to carry out administrative procedures and what steps they need to follow;
  • the possibility to submit documents and other evidence between authorities across borders that are needed for these procedures;
  • access to assistance – if users are still confused about which rules apply or if they have trouble with a procedure, they will be guided to the most suitable EU or national assistance service to solve their problem.
• The quality, user friendliness and adequacy of the information provided by the European Commission and by authorities in Member States will be monitored on the basis of user feedback.

Digitised administration

• The regulation establishing the gateway also requires that the key administrative procedures be available online both to users in their own country and to cross-border users.
• By 12 December 2023 at the latest, a list of 21 important administrative procedures will be fully available online in all Member States. These cover situations that are relevant for doing business, working, studying or moving from one location to another. Examples include:
  • requesting a proof of residence;
  • applying for study grants;
  • asking for academic recognition of diplomas;
  • registering a vehicle;
  • getting a European health insurance card;
  • claiming pension benefits; and
  • registering employees for pension and insurance schemes.
• All national online procedures will have to be made fully accessible to cross-border users.
• The ‘once-only’ principle (i.e. users should not have to submit to authorities documents or data already held by other authorities) will be applied to cross-border exchanges of evidence for a range of procedures. For these procedures, users will be given the option to request the direct exchange of evidence between authorities in different Member States.
• In addition, starting in December 2020, users have been able to provide feedback on problems they come across in the single market, with a view to improving policymaking.

Implementation

The functioning of the gateway will be supported by technical tools developed by the Commission in cooperation with national administrations. A gateway coordination group composed of the national coordinators and the Commission will support the regulation’s implementation. The application of the regulation will be reviewed in December 2022 and the functioning of the gateway will be reviewed every 2 years from 2022.

Implementing acts

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1121

• In 2020, the Commission adopted Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1121, which sets out the rules on collecting and sharing user statistics and feedback on the services of the single digital gateway. The data collected will be used by the service providers, national coordinators and the Commission to monitor whether the services provided through the gateway comply with the quality criteria, and to improve those services and the functionality of the single digital gateway.
• Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1121 was accompanied by a Commission declaration, which states that it intends to explore, together with the Member States in the context of the gateway coordination group, the feasibility of and the demand for a common EU-level service managed by the Commission. Another solution could be proposed to facilitate the collection and transmission of statistics related to web pages that are part of the gateway and are under the responsibility of municipal authorities.

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1463

• In 2022, the Commission adopted Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1463, which lays down the technical and operational specifications of the technical system for the cross-border automated exchange of evidence and application of the ‘once-only’ principle. The regulation also specifies Member States’ role, in particular that of the respective national authorities when acting as evidence requester or evidence provider, and of the intermediary platforms, where applicable, in relation to the protection of personal data included in the evidence that is exchanged through the ‘once-only’ technical system.