Brussels, 21/08/2013 (Agence Europe) - The EU wants to encourage public services to move more to digital, especially when the public services are cross-border. The European Commission is therefore making a €13.7 million investment in this. The new e-SENS project (Electronic Simple European Networked Services), which was presented on 14 August, will help develop online public services in order to simplify life for European citizens - be it for work, travel, study or business in another country. Emphasis will also be put on business people so as to help them create new companies, set up offices in new countries and take part in calls for tender. Finally, e-SENS will encourage European public services to collaborate with each other more closely.
In the view of European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes, this interconnection will be for the benefit of all: “Governments can make the best of their online strategies; businesses can cut the costs of doing business in the single market; and citizens have less bureaucracy to deal with as they move around Europe”.
The e-SENS project is the result of several pilot projects conducted by over 100 partners in 20 countries, bringing together the European Commission, the member states, businesses, administrations, universities, the private sector and public authorities. The €13.7 million made available by the Commission will cover half the budget for project (€24.7 million) over the next three years. From 2014, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) envelope for digital infrastructure will also be able to contribute to the continuation of e-SENS. (MD/transl.fl)