eGovernment Dossier

Summary

What is eGovernment

eGovernment represents the set of policies and technologies that enable citizens, businesses, and public administrations to interact securely and efficiently through digital tools. It is not just about digitizing public services, but about creating an interoperable European ecosystem based on trust, transparency, and the protection of personal data.

Through initiatives such as the European Digital Identity, the Wallet for citizens and businesses, the data strategy, and new cybersecurity rules, the European Union aims to guarantee simple and secure access to public and private services in all Member States.

The objective is twofold: on one hand, to foster economic growth and the competitiveness of the single market, and on the other, to strengthen people's digital rights, offering concrete tools for a more inclusive, innovative, and secure Europe.

Digital Identity: The European Wallet for Citizens and Businesses

Creating trust online is fundamental for social and economic growth. The regulation on electronic identification (Regulation (EU) 910/2014) provides a regulatory framework that guarantees secure digital interactions between citizens, businesses, and public entities. To achieve these objectives, in 2024, a regulatory framework for the European digital identity (eIDAS 2 regulation) was adopted, thanks to which, by 2030, 80% of EU citizens will be able to securely access essential public services with a digital identity.

Member States are obliged to provide their citizens with at least one EUDI Wallet within 24 months of the adoption of the implementing acts on the technical specifications. Therefore, in 2025, Italy, through entities like the Agency for Digital Italy (AgID), is actively engaged in developing the national infrastructure and integrating it with existing systems like SPID and CIE. The first EUDI Wallets will begin to be more widely available to citizens starting in 2026, but 2025 is the year of building the foundations and intensive testing.

The Digital Identity Wallet for Citizens

Both the public and private sectors are increasingly offering online services, making secure digital authentication increasingly necessary. At the same time, threats to online privacy are now evident, and people are increasingly concerned about profiling and surveillance.

The response to these challenges is the EU framework on digital identity, based on the principle that everyone should always have control over their own digital identity. European digital identity wallets are the means to achieve this goal.

The EUDI Wallet will allow, via a personal mobile application, EU citizens to:

Identify themselves digitally in a secure manner to access public and private services across the European Union.
Store and share official digital documents (attributes and credentials) such as identity cards, driving licenses, educational qualifications, medical prescriptions, and more.
Fully control which data to share, with whom, and for what purpose, according to the principles of data minimization and privacy by design.

Large-Scale Pilots (LSPs) are underway to assess the functioning of European digital identity wallets in a wide range of situations before they are launched across the EU. Over 350 private companies and public authorities from 26 Member States, plus Norway, Iceland, and Ukraine are participating.

The first group of pilot projects started on April 1, 2023. A second phase will begin during 2025.

For more information: link

The European Business Wallet (EBW)

While the EUDI Wallet is designed for citizens, the European Commission has announced, via the Communication "A Competitiveness Compass for the EU", a specific solution for legal entities: the European Business Wallet. The European Business Wallet (EBW) aims to provide businesses with a European digital wallet to manage their company credentials, access public and private services securely and standardly in different Member States and facilitate cross-border interoperability.

Conceived as a controlled digital environment, the EBW will allow businesses to:

provide certified proof of the legal entity's identity;
provide digital evidence of legal representation, headquarters, legal form, registration in the business register, etc.;
share structured documents (e.g., chamber of commerce records, licenses, certificates) reliably and in compliance with European standards;
access cross-border online services, including tenders, authorizations, relations with public administrations or private partners.

This innovation aims to simplify the digital interaction of businesses across the EU, strengthening trust and efficiency in cross-border transactions. It is based on the "once-only" principle and full interoperability between national systems, in compliance with European rules on privacy, cybersecurity, and data protection.

For Italy, and in particular for the chamber of commerce network that manages the business register through Infocamere, the development of the European Business Wallet represents a strategic step, but also an operational challenge.

For more information: link

Corporate Law in the Digital Age

The European Union is modernizing corporate law to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the digital age. The new rules aim to simplify the online creation and management of businesses, while promoting transparency and cross-border cooperation. Digitizing corporate processes means reducing costs and time for businesses, strengthening the competitiveness of the single market, and ensuring greater accessibility to company information.

Directive (EU) 2025/25, which entered into force on January 30, 2025, represents a further piece of the European regulatory framework aimed at expanding and improving the use of digital tools and processes in corporate law, for this purpose intervening on existing provisions.

The Directive aims to improve business transparency and trust between Member States, as well as to create more interconnected public administrations, while reducing administrative burdens for businesses and other interested parties in cross-border situations. It will thus contribute to a more integrated and digitized single market for businesses.

In particular, the proposal aims to:

make information on companies (e.g., on partnerships and groups of companies) more accessible to the public, particularly at the EU level, through the Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS);

ensure that company data in business registers are accurate, reliable, and up to date, for example by providing for checks of company information before they are entered into business registers in all Member States;

reduce bureaucracy when companies use company information from business registers in cross-border situations, for example by eliminating formalities such as the need for an apostille for company documents, applying the Once-Only principle when companies establish branches and subsidiaries in another Member State, and introducing a multilingual EU company certificate for use in cross-border situations. Businesses will benefit from a reduction in administrative burdens estimated at around €437 million per year.

The European Data Strategy

The European Data Strategy is the reference framework with which the European Union intends to create a common, secure, and reliable data space where citizens, businesses, and public administrations can access and share data in a controlled manner and in compliance with fundamental rights.

This will lead to the creation of European common data spaces, which will ensure that more data becomes available for use in the economy and society, while maintaining the control of the businesses and individuals who generate the data.

The goal is to foster Europe's innovation, competitiveness, and digital sovereignty, promoting the emergence of data-based economic sectors and facilitating the development of ethical and sustainable digital solutions in areas such as health, mobility, environment, and public administration. At the heart of the strategy are trust, interoperability, and openness, the pillars of a human-centric data-based economy.

The Regulation on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data, also known as the Data Act, entered into force on January 11, 2024. The Act is a fundamental pillar of the European data strategy and will contribute significantly to the Digital Decade's objective of promoting the digital transformation.

The new measures complement the Data Governance Act, the first outcome of the European data strategy, which entered into force in September 2023. While the Data Governance Act regulates the processes and structures that facilitate the voluntary sharing of data, the Data Act clarifies who can create value from data and under what conditions. Together, these two acts will facilitate reliable and secure access to data, promoting its use in key economic sectors and areas of public interest. They will also contribute to the creation of a European single market for data, benefiting both the European economy and society at large.

Cybersecurity: Protecting Data, Strengthening Business

Digital security = trust. The EU promotes an SME-friendly cybersecurity culture, thanks to dedicated tools, skills, and support. European policies in this area help businesses protect themselves and grow in an increasingly interconnected market.

The EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), based in Athens, works to achieve a high common level of cybersecurity in the EU. It supports Member States, EU institutions, and other stakeholders in improving cybersecurity and managing cyber-attacks.

Key EU Cybersecurity Policies

In 2022, the EU adopted a revised NIS directive (NIS 2) to replace the 2016 NIS directive. The new rules ensure a high common level of cybersecurity in the Union in response to the evolving threat landscape.

The Cyber Resilience Act establishes cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements connected to the internet or other devices, ensuring that products such as home cameras, refrigerators, televisions, and connected toys are secure before being placed on the market and throughout their lifecycle.

The Cyber Solidarity Act establishes capabilities at the EU level to make Europe more resilient and reactive in the face of cyber threats, while strengthening cooperation mechanisms.

The EU Cybersecurity Act introduced a European certification scheme. Previously, EU countries used different cybersecurity certification schemes for information and communication technology (ICT) products, leading to market fragmentation and regulatory obstacles. With the Cybersecurity Act, the EU introduced a single certification framework across the EU aimed at stimulating trust and facilitating trade throughout the EU. The framework provides a comprehensive set of rules, technical requirements, standards, and procedures.

More information: link

An Interoperable Europe

The digital agenda emphasizes e-government and cross-border cooperation in the public sector. In March 2024, following the Commission's proposal from November 2022, the Regulation on an Interoperable Europe was adopted to improve public services in the EU.

The regulation aims to establish a new cooperation framework for EU public administrations in order to ensure the continuous provision of public services at the cross-border level and to provide support measures that promote innovation and foster the exchange of skills and knowledge.

The new regulation will establish an interoperability governance structure with the aim of creating an ecosystem of shared interoperability solutions for the EU public sector, through the creation of regulatory sandboxes. Public administrations in the EU will thus be able to contribute to these solutions and reuse them, innovate together, and create added value.

For more information: link

Business Registers in the EU

BRIS

To guarantee greater transparency and traceability at the European level, in 2017 the EU started the interconnection of national business registers through the BRIS system (Business Registers Interconnection System). This system allows for the access and automatic exchange of information on companies registered in the Member States, facilitating cross-border operations, legal checks, and consumer protection.

BRIS will be further strengthened and integrated with BORIS (i.e., the Business Registers Interconnection System for beneficial ownership) and IRI (the Interconnection of Insolvency Registers system).

BRIS is accessed from the e-Justice Portal managed by the European Commission.

➡️ For more information: link

The European Business Registers Association (EBRA)

EBRA is the European Business Registers Association, born in 2019 from the merger of two previous associations. Despite being only 6 years old, it boasts over 30 years of history.

EBRA is based in Brussels and brings together 43 members from across Europe, who manage business and beneficial ownership registers. EBRA provides best practices, expert groups, and sector knowledge to promote the functioning and maintenance of business registers.

Among its activities, EBRA coordinates working groups and research projects to analyze emerging policies and common challenges of registers. Members participate in expert working groups dealing with relevant topics such as beneficial ownership and current corporate law initiatives concerning business registers. Furthermore, the association funds and coordinates an international project on business registry data from around the world (Business Registry Insights project) and has recently established a Cybersecurity Expert Network.

For more information: link