ACTION PLAN "E EUROPE 2002": APPROVAL OF THE LIST OF SUPPLEMENTARY BENCHMARKING INDICATORS
I. INTRODUCTION
The European Council, held in Lisbon on 23/24 March 2000, set the objective for Europe to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. In June 2000 the Commission presented to the European Council, held in Santa Maria da Feira on 19/20 June 2000, the comprehensive Action Plan "eEurope 2002" (doc. 10486/00). The aim of the "eEurope 2002" Action Plan was to ensure that the targets set by the Lisbon European Council were reached by defining the necessary measures. It identified three main objectives (a cheaper, faster secure Internet; investing in people and skills and stimulating the use of the Internet) where action at European level would add value and it detailed a number of policy actions in connection with these objectives.
The Comprehensive Action Plan "eEurope 2002" indicated that a limited number of targeted eEurope benchmarks would have to be defined, to measure progress in its implementation.
To this end, the "Internal Market/Consumers/Tourism" Council, held on 30 November 2000, approved a list (contained in the Annex to doc. 13493/1/00 REV 1 ECO 338 MI 151) of 23 benchmarking indicators, noting that this list might be reviewed later.
This list contained some indicators under the heading of ‘Governments on-line’ which were to be specified at a later stage, after studying the question with the Member States.
Amongst these indicators were :
- 17 (Percentage of basic public services available on line)
- 18 (Public use of government on-line services)
II. OUTCOME OF PROCEEDINGS
The Committee of Permanent Representatives examined on 2 March 2001 the report from the Working Party "Information Society Services" (doc. 6544/01 ECO 45) on a Commission document on the implementation of the Comprehensive Action Plan "eEurope 2002", listing some benchmarking indicators whose composition had not been, as yet, defined.
The Committee of Permanent Representatives reached a broad consensus on the indicators presented in this document. (Annex)
III. CONCLUSION
Having regard for what had been previously agreed, the Committee of Permanent Representatives decides to forward to the "Internal Market/Consumers/Tourism" Council of the 12 March for approval the list of supplementary indicators as set out in the Annex.
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ANNEX
e
Government indicators for benchmarking eEurope
1. Background
The Lisbon summit in March 2000 established an ‘open method of co-ordination’ to reach the targets in the eEurope Action Plan. This includes establishing quantitative and qualitative indicators for benchmarking. On 1 December 2000, the Council (Internal Market) adopted a set of 23 indicators for the benchmarking of eEurope. These indicators were spelled out in the French Presidency's paper on implementing the eEurope Action Plan (13515/00). Council referred the further definition of the following two indicators for eGovernment to the eGovernment working group.
Ø
Percentage of basic public services available online,Ø
Use of online public services by the public for information purposes or submission of forms.2. Comparable indicators for eGovernment
In establishing indicators for eGovernment, the approach taken is to focus on the demand side, i.e. the bottom-up reality of citizens' and businesses’ contacts with government. The key is the take-up of the services, regardless of by what body or at what level of government these are delivered. A distinction is made between services for citizens and for businesses.
At the meeting of the eGovernment working group on 15 December 2000, it was agreed that Member States should present lists of the 25 main public services to citizens and businesses. On the basis of the replies and the discussions at the meeting of the group on 12 February, a list of 20 basic public services is proposed, 12 for citizens and 8 for businesses. The services are not listed in order of importance.
The draft list of basic public services is attached to this document.
To operationalise the indicators, the level of online sophistication of the services also needs to be measured. For this purpose, a four stage framework is applied in several countries. For the eGovernment indicators, the following model will be used:
Ø
Stage 1 Information: online info about public services,Ø
Stage 2 Interaction: downloading of forms,Ø
Stage 3 Two-way interaction: processing of forms, incl. authentication,Ø
Stage 4 Transaction: case handling; decision and delivery (payment).
The methodology proposed for measuring the degree to which a service is available online is based on the method developed by the Dutch government( 1). This degree depends on the extent to which is possible to carry out a service electronically. All the four stages above may not be relevant for all types of public services. For each service the highest relevant stage is therefore indicated. The basic premise in the method for calculating the 'online percentage' of a service is whether or not a service reaches a given stage. A service that is offered as a full transaction can, for example, achieve a maximum of four points (each stage corresponds to 1 point). The score can therefore be between 0 and 4 points (0 indicating that none of the stages is achieved).
The calculation consists of comparing the sum of the scores on all services and stages with the sum of the maximum possible scores. In this way, the degree to which the agreed set of public services are available can be calculated as a percentage. For the purpose of this exercise, account will not be taken of the relative importance of the various services in terms of the number of customers using the service.
This model will allow to gather information that is relevant for both indicators (the ‘basic public services’ and the ‘use of online public services by the public’. Data will be collected in surveys under the responsibility of the Commission services. These surveys could be complemented by Eurobarometer surveys to give a bottom-up view of the eGovernment services and more detailed information on the second indicator. As decided by Council, the eGovernment indicators will be measured twice a year.
Basic public services online
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A. Public Services for Citizens |
Stage |
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Max. stage |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
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1. |
Income taxes: declaration, notification of assessment |
(4) |
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2. |
Job search services by labour offices |
(3) |
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3. |
Social security contributions (3 out of the following 4): · Unemployment benefits· Child allowances· Medical costs (reimbursement or direct settlement)· Student grants |
(4) |
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4. |
Personal documents (passport and driver's licence) |
(3) |
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5. |
Car registration (new, used and imported cars) |
(4) |
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6. |
Application for building permission |
(4) |
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7. |
Declaration to the police (e.g. in case of theft) |
(3) |
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8. |
Public libraries (availability of catalogues, search tools) |
(3) |
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9. |
Certificates (birth and marriage): request and delivery |
(3) |
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10. |
Enrolment in higher education / university |
(4) |
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11. |
Announcement of moving (change of address) |
(3) |
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12. |
Health related services (interactive advice on the availability of services in different hospitals; appointments for hospitals) |
(4) |
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B. Public Services for Businesses |
Stage |
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Max. stage |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
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1. |
Social contribution for employees |
(4) |
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2. |
Corporation tax: declaration, notification |
(4) |
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3. |
VAT: declaration, notification |
(4) |
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4. |
Registration of a new company |
(4) |
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5. |
Submission of data to statistical offices |
(3) |
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6. |
Customs declarations |
(4) |
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7. |
Environment-related permits (incl. reporting) |
(4) |
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8. |
Public procurement |
(4) |
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Footnotes:
( 1) "25% electronic public service delivery in the Netherlands", BZK, January, 2001