Brussels, 24/04/2003 (Agence Europe) - Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic, Malta, Estonia, and Cyprus have signed Memoranda of understanding with the European Commission, formalising their participation in the IDA Programme (system for exchanging electronic data between administrations). The six EU Accession Countries could thus join the pan-European electronic infrastructure that the EU institutions and Member States use to exchange data for the purposes of applying EU law, enforcing single market rules, and supplying e-government services across borders to citizens and businesses. They will also contribute to IDA's € 25 million annual budget. Accession and Candidate Countries already have observer status in IDA working groups of national experts in areas such as network security, e-Government portals, eProcurement services and frameworks for increased interoperability between public administration, enterprises and citizens. Last year, initiatives were launched to inform Accession and Candidate Countries about the programme. This year, IDA Information Days have been organised in Bulgaria, Malta and Poland. Other events of this kind will be held too. Hungary will be next to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, and the remaining Accession Countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia) and three Candidate Countries (Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey) will follow in 2003.