17
Apr
2023
Watch
eGovernment accelerating digital public services that support the functioning of the single market (short presentation)
Dear Vice-President, Commissioner, colleague and colleague, the digital transition we are witnessing, which is further accelerating due to the Covid 19 pandemic, fundamentally changes citizens' behavioural patterns, their communication with the administration and the way they buy. In such circumstances, we must ensure that no one is left behind. While we are aware that digitalisation has many positive sides, we must not forget that the protection of citizens’ data must remain a priority, especially in challenging geopolitical circumstances and especially for sensitive data, such as health data. With the Digital Compass, the European Commission has set ambitious targets, so by 2030, key public services must be fully accessible online, and 80% of citizens should use digital identification by then, which will greatly facilitate the use of digital services. However, research has shown that as many as 42 percent of EU citizens do not have basic digital skills, which is why achieving digital goals would not be possible without systematic education of citizens. Moreover, the European Digital Single Market cannot be built without improving digital skills and broadband availability. Therefore, in the report, we called on the Commission to implement decisively the Digital Education Action Plan and further called for the necessary infrastructure to be built. Especially on the islands and in mountainous areas. Digital provision of public services can significantly reduce the administrative burden, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. In this regard, we need a more ambitious approach at all stages of building permits. It is also necessary to continue the further digitalisation of land registers, as this is the only way for the European Union to remain competitive when it comes to attracting investment. Unfortunately, when establishing ownership, citizens often have problems accessing land registers, their historical extracts, which can lead to legal uncertainty. Simplification of administrative procedures for citizens is at the core of this report. That is why it is important to emphasize that a large part of citizens do not have printers, so we believe that citizens must be able to fill out, sign and submit forms digitally, without the need to print. Furthermore, as citizens increasingly use mobile phones, we also believe that all public service websites must be adapted to access from mobile devices. It is also important that Member States implement the ‘once-only’ principle, which means that they do not require citizens to provide repetitively those documents that are already in the possession of public authorities. Digitalisation still needs to reach its full potential also in the areas of health and justice. This is why we strongly welcome the creation of the European Health Data Space as a necessary part of the digital transition. Furthermore, we noted that digitalisation can also have a positive impact on enforcement proceedings, which is why we invited the Commission to assess how digitalisation can reduce the costs of enforcement proceedings for the consumer, and these high costs are a very significant problem for many of them today. Also, in the report, I focused in particular on public procurement. Indeed, the abuse of appeals for the sole purpose of prolonging a public procurement procedure very often hinders investment and delays the procedure. This is why the report calls on the Commission to assess the extent to which abusive remedies are taking place and to consider ways to prevent them. Finally, the report highlights the importance of adopting a new e-services strategy that will respond to the needs of European citizens and prepare the Single Market for the digital age. And, here, only in the end, in addition to all the above, I would also like to thank all the colleagues who worked on this report and I believe that tomorrow it will be fully adopted by a large majority in plenary.