The integration of European Community countries has been carried out for many years in the areas of free movement of goods, capital, travel, and employment. Efforts are also being made to remove economic barriers that hinder business activities between member states.
In December 2006, the “Services Directive” was adopted, introducing the freedom to provide services within the Community. Its primary goal is to remove obstacles to the development of service activities between member states and to promote balanced, sustainable economic and social progress. An important recommendation of the directive is the use of internet technology (on-line) in contacts between citizens and businesses with public administration offices. To this end, Community countries have built a network of Points of Single Contact, offering the execution of traditional administrative procedures related to economic turnover on-line. The Points of Single Contact existing in each country (for example www.eu-go.gov.pl) are a technical implementation of the single window concept between the service provider and public administration bodies. Their primary task is to provide information about procedures and to execute them electronically without the need for a personal visit to multiple offices.
The integration of Community states in the area of service provision is currently supported by modern internet technologies. Since July 1, 2011, a pilot of the SPOCS project has been underway, which allows for testing new information technology built to facilitate the provision of cross-border services in the European Community. In the pilot countries, second-generation Points of Contact have been built, utilizing the existing IT infrastructure in the Community to easily start providing cross-border services.
What is SPOCS
SPOCS (www.eu-spocs.eu) provides easy and seamless on-line access to cross-border administrative procedures carried out based on existing national infrastructure. The built technology covers the sphere of publishing descriptions of procedures, their ongoing updates, the on-line execution of cross-border procedures, the delivery and storage of documents, and the standardization of information exchange formats between Community countries. All developed components facilitate and stimulate domestic entrepreneurs to expand their activities to other Community markets. They will find descriptions of procedures in information modules, along with the documents required to start their business in foreign countries. This information is presented in the native language and may contain references to national services that allow obtaining the necessary certificates. A breakthrough achievement of SPOCS technology is the actual on-line execution of administrative procedures in foreign state offices without the need to leave the office. The entrepreneur will be able to use their existing domestic documents or, in their absence, easily find instructions on where to obtain them. All transactions are carried out using a secure, encrypted communication channel, and electronic signatures held by the service provider are accepted.
For example, a Polish entrepreneur running a travel agency intends to expand their business in Greece. To do this, they open a web browser on the Greek Point of Single Contact (http://www.ermis.gov.gr), where they find a description in Polish of the documents required for registration and starting their business in Greece. The portal will inform them about the possibility of using their existing Polish bank guarantees, which are required as an attachment to the application. Additionally, they will find information that they can use their domestic company and entry in the Central Register of Tourism Organizers and Tourism Intermediaries to provide services in Greece without the need to re-register a new business.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 1/2012.