Role of e-Government in Europe's Future

The European Council and Commission have recognized the centrality of e-Government to Europe's future and designed strategies and operational programs for more than 5 years. Authorities clearly recognized in the Lisbon strategy that Europe's public sector was at a crossroads, facing challenging economic and social conditions, institutional change and the profound impact of new technologies. However, within the public sector, administrations face challenges to improving efficiency, productivity and quality of their services within limited budgets. Major challenges have been reduction of barriers to the internal market for services and mobility across Europe, effective implementation of national policies and regional or local government.

The eEurope 2005 Action Plan and Ministerial declaration confirmed commitments to making e-Government a reality in Europe. An output of Commission initiatives following the adoption of the Action Plan was a Communication that analyzes the current state of play in e-Government, identifies key issues and barriers and presents a coherent set of actions that reinforce e-Government within the eEurope 2005 context.

The Communication from the Commission to the Council on the Role of e-Government for Europe's Future (COM(2003)567 final) reflects progress on a number of implementation initiatives that are designed to achieve eEurope 2005. Excerpts from this document published in this In-Focus article provide a number of websites and other source materials that can be important resources for government planners and researchers.