The beginning of this decade is shaping up to be a pivotal point in the future of the digital agenda of the EU. In February 2020, the European Commission adopted the Communication ‘Shaping Europe’s digital future’ (COM(2020) 67). Under the headline ambition ‘Europe fit for the digital age’, the Communication sets out as a key action the development of a ‘reinforced EU governments interoperability strategy’ by 2021, aiming to foster coordination and the adoption of common standards for public services and data flows. Throughout the rest of the year, the need for action in the field of interoperability has become even more prominent as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
Against this background, the Commission has launched an evaluation of the ISA2 programme and an evaluation of the European Interoperability Framework (EIF, COM (2017) 134), as well as an impact assessment for a future public sector interoperability strategy for the EU. the evaluations aim to provide timely input for shaping up a new strategy to enhance the interoperability of public services in the EU, taking into account the needs of stakeholders as well as the role of emerging technologies.
Against this background, CEPS is conducting three independent studies for DG DIGIT of the European Commission to support the evaluations of the ISA2 programme and the EIF, as well as the impact assessment. The studies have the following objectives:
- Evaluating the implementation of the ISA2 programme by considering seven evaluation criteria: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, EU added value, utility, and sustainability;
- Evaluating the implementation of the EIF by assessing the set of non-binding rules put forward in the EIF and focusing on five evaluation criteria: effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value; and
- Defining policy options for a new interoperability strategy and assessing their impacts on specific stakeholder groups and on the functioning of the Single Market.
The studies will rely on a mix of desk research and consultation activities and will follow the Better Regulation Guidelines and Tools relevant for a final evaluation and a back-to-back evaluation and impact assessment.
This project was awarded under the Multiple Framework Contract for the procurement of economic studies and analyses related to impact assessments and evaluations (575/PP/2016/FC) with the European Commission, DG GROW. The full list of CEPS’ Framework Contracts is available here.
Recent publications under this project include:
