Comment Neelie (Kroes)

Your Excellency, Minister Miller,

I am grateful for the good cooperation with the Polish presidency in organising this important Conference, and it is my pleasure to address it. sentence permalink

Last year I spoke at a similar event, under the Belgian presidency, right after we adopted the eGovernment Action Plan. sentence permalink

We discussed how we need to do more with less, how the promised eGovernment remained largely unfulfilled, how changes and reform in this area were long overdue. sentence permalink

Since then, these key ideas have not changed. sentence permalink

What has changed is that the economic crisis we face is yet more troubling. sentence permalink

For me the crisis underlines all the more the need to reform. sentence permalink

We should be not more conservative, but all the more ambitious, in our quest to make public efficiency savings. sentence permalink

We should not shy away from, but actively seek out, new market opportunities. sentence permalink

We should not be scared of, but embrace the possibilities of open data and joined-up service delivery.sentence permalink

Let me tell you my vision.

These days, for too many people, dealing with government services can be trying or time-consuming.sentence permalink

First and foremost, governments can and should put these users in control, and in the centre. sentence permalink

I want citizens to benefit from services they really want to use, services targeted to their needs, services that are smooth and seamless. sentence permalink

Students and retirees, parents and patients, employees and entrepreneurs. sentence permalink

And, when governments are themselves the customer, for public procurement, governments should likewise benefit from the most opportunity, the widest market, the most choice. sentence permalink

Second, we have given the people of Europe powerful legal freedoms. sentence permalink

The freedom to travel wherever they want, to study, work, or retire wherever they want, to invest or trade wherever they want. sentence permalink

Millions of citizens take advantage of those rights; millions of businesses feel their economic benefits. sentence permalink

Technology can unlock the potential of these freedoms. sentence permalink

When citizens travel or live across Europe, they still have to correspond with administrations that are far away. sentence permalink

That isn't easy: they are unable to present themselves or their documents in person without considerable hassle. sentence permalink

Genuine, cross-border eGovernment could help here. sentence permalink

It could help put the citizen in the centre: it could strengthen the reality of the Single Market. sentence permalink

But, to date, eGovernment, which should be part of the solution, has been part of the problem. sentence permalink

National eGovernment systems have developed in isolation, creating new digital borders where physical ones have long since disappeared. sentence permalink

Fragmenting the EU rather than unifying it.sentence permalink

To give an example, students have the legal right to enrol at any university across the EU. sentence permalink

But often they cannot do so online, because national electronic ID systems are not recognised abroad. sentence permalink

Even though paper ID would be.

Isn't that crazy?

There are similar obstacles for businesses looking to operate cross-border. sentence permalink

They must respond to calls for tender launched miles away in other languages, and very few of them bother. sentence permalink

They must reclaim VAT from foreign administrations, using procedures which are unfamiliar, lengthy or cumbersome.sentence permalink

None of this makes sense in the digital age. sentence permalink

We are imposing extra frustrating obligations on citizens. sentence permalink

We are imposing extra barriers on businesses who want to expand within the Single Market. sentence permalink

And we are imposing extra costs on public authorities.sentence permalink

Remember that electronic procurement can bring significant savings for governments, while online forms can be processed at a fraction of the cost. sentence permalink

Going online saves public money.

Luckily, across the EU, people are beginning to realise that we must do something about this. sentence permalink

That we must work together.

That all these eGovernment conferences should not be for nothing!sentence permalink

First, the European Council has underlined how much a digital Single Market matters to Europe's future growth. sentence permalink

They highlighted in particular the cross-border use of online services: an advance that can be unlocked by secure eIdentification people can trust. sentence permalink

Indeed, we are working on this key issue of legal interoperability of eID. sentence permalink

And I know member states are engaging constructively in this idea, as seen in Warsaw last week. sentence permalink

Second, the Commission has proposed the Connecting Europe Facility to ensure sustainable financing: 9 billion euros we are putting on the table, including sizeable funds to establish and start running pan-European digital public services.sentence permalink

Third, after a lot of hard work, we have developed the building blocks for some of those services: for eProcurement, eID, business mobility, and even electronic patient records. sentence permalink

These building blocks are the large scale pilots. sentence permalink

They show we can support true mobility of people and services, across the EU. sentence permalink

Can you imagine what this means?

The market potential it opens?

The freedom it gives people to exploit their talents, expand their businesses, explore new horizons?sentence permalink

It could bring down costly administrative barriers – so that entrepreneurs can look far beyond borders, into new markets. sentence permalink

It could create new areas of demand and new opportunities for innovation – benefiting IT suppliers. sentence permalink

And it offers efficiencies for governments, who can absorb non-nationals into their systems with less cost and less complexity. sentence permalink

The large-scale pilots show we can achieve this by connecting the different eGovernment services Member States have already developed. sentence permalink

We can build on existing achievements and bring the benefits of eGovernment to a European scale. sentence permalink

Not a new, twenty-eighth, EU system; not centralisation or additional bureaucracy. sentence permalink

Rather, a way of linking up the systems that already exist – and getting most value from the investments already made. sentence permalink

Such an approach is consistent with the 2009 Malmö Declaration; it is consistent with our eGovernment Action Plan.sentence permalink

Most of all, it is consistent with our objective of boosting growth and jobs, by applying 21st century tools to the Single Market. sentence permalink

To make this a reality, it is up to you, Member States, to tell us your priorities. sentence permalink

I realise that commitments of any kind are difficult in the current climate. sentence permalink

But, by the same token, the current climate means that we cannot afford to miss such opportunities to save government money. sentence permalink

So we need to know, what are you willing to commit to, politically and financially? sentence permalink

And which cross border services would you like to see online by 2015? sentence permalink

To the title of this conference I would add it’s a motto, a slogan.sentence permalink

Just three words: build, connect, grow.

These actions are the three key milestones on the road towards borderless eGovernment. sentence permalink

We have already done the hard part of building systems.sentence permalink

Member States have invested considerably in doing so, and it is starting to pay off.sentence permalink

Now we need to take the next step, of connecting those systems. sentence permalink

Then we can grow them: into other areas, into other countries.sentence permalink

If we do that, our governments can make the most out of their investment; our people can connect to more opportunity, our economies can benefit. sentence permalink

We can tear down digital barriers and deliver services seamlessly across borders.sentence permalink

So that each and every one of us, wherever we come from and wherever we want to go to, can enjoy the opportunities of the Single Market.sentence permalink

Thank you.