Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 October 2018 establishing a single digital gateway to provide access to information, to procedures and to assistance and problem-solving services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 (Text with EEA relevance.)

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation lays down rules for:

(a) the establishment and operation of a single digital gateway to provide citizens and businesses with easy access to high quality information, to efficient procedures and to effective assistance and problem-solving services with regard to Union and national rules applicable to citizens and businesses exercising or intending to exercise their rights derived from Union law in the field of the internal market, within the meaning of Article 26(2) TFEU;

(b) the use of procedures by cross-border users and the implementation of the ‘once-only’ principle in connection with the procedures listed in Annex II to this Regulation and the procedures provided for in Directives 2005/36/EC, 2006/123/EC, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU;

(c) the reporting on obstacles in the internal market based on the collection of user feedback and statistics from the services covered by the gateway.

Article 2

Establishment of the single digital gateway

The gateway shall give access to:

(a) information on rights, obligations and rules laid down in Union and national law that are applicable to users exercising or intending to exercise their rights derived from Union law in the field of the internal market in the areas listed in Annex I;

(b) information on online and offline procedures and links to online procedures, including procedures covered by Annex II, established at Union or national level in order to enable users to exercise the rights and to comply with the obligations and rules in the field of the internal market in the areas listed in Annex I;

(c) information on, and links to, the assistance and problem-solving services listed in Annex III or referred to in Article 7 which citizens and businesses can refer to if they have questions or problems related to the rights, obligations, rules or procedures referred to in points (a) and (b) of this paragraph.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘user’ means either a citizen of the Union, a natural person residing in a Member State or a legal person having its registered office in a Member State, and who accesses the information, the procedures, or the assistance or problem-solving services, referred to in Article 2(2), through the gateway;

(2) ‘cross-border user’ means a user in a situation which is not confined in all respects within a single Member State;

(3) ‘procedure’ means a sequence of actions that must be taken by users to satisfy the requirements, or to obtain from a competent authority a decision, in order to be able to exercise their rights as referred to in point (a) of Article 2(2);

(4) ‘competent authority’ means any Member State authority or body established at national, regional or local level with specific responsibilities relating to the information, procedures, assistance and problem-solving services covered by this Regulation;

(5) ‘evidence’ means any document or data, including text or sound, visual or audiovisual recording, irrespective of the medium used, required by a competent authority to prove facts or compliance with procedural requirements referred to in point (b) of Article 2(2).

CHAPTER II

GATEWAY SERVICES

Article 4

Access to information

Member States shall ensure that users have easy, online access on their national webpages to the following:

(a) information about those rights, obligations and rules referred to in point (a) of Article 2(2) that are derived from national law;

(b) information about those procedures referred to in point (b) of Article 2(2) that are established at national level;

(c) information about those assistance and problem-solving services referred to in point (c) of Article 2(2) that are provided at national level.

The Commission shall ensure that the Your Europe portal provides users with easy, online access to the following:

(a) information about those rights, obligations and rules referred to in point (a) of Article 2(2) that are derived from Union law;

(b) information about those procedures referred to in point (b) of Article 2(2) that are established at Union level;

(c) information about those assistance and problem-solving services referred to in point (c) of Article 2(2) that are provided at Union level.

Article 5

Access to information not included in Annex I

Article 6

Procedures to be offered fully online

The procedures referred to in paragraph 1 shall be considered to be fully online where:

(a) the identification of users, the provision of information and supporting evidence, signature and final submission can all be carried out electronically at a distance, through a service channel which enables users to fulfil the requirements related to the procedure in a user-friendly and structured way;

(b) users are provided with an automatic acknowledgement of receipt, unless the output of the procedure is delivered immediately;

(c) the output of the procedure is delivered electronically, or where necessary to comply with applicable Union or national law, delivered by physical means; and

(d) users are provided with an electronic notification of completion of the procedure.

Article 7

Access to assistance and problem-solving services

Where necessary to meet the needs of the users, the national coordinator may propose to the Commission that links to assistance or problem-solving services provided by private or semi-private entities are included in the gateway, where those services meet the following conditions:

(a) they offer information or assistance within the areas, and for the purposes, covered by this Regulation and are complementary to services already included in the gateway;

(b) they are offered free of charge or at a price which is affordable for micro-enterprises, non-profit organisations and citizens; and

(c) they comply with the requirements laid down in Articles 8, 11 and 16.

Where the national coordinator has proposed the inclusion of a link in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article, and provides such link in accordance with Article 19(3), the Commission shall assess whether the conditions in paragraph 3 of this Article are met by the service to be included through the link, and if so, shall activate the link.

Where the Commission finds that the conditions in paragraph 3 are not met by the service to be included, it shall inform the national coordinator of the reasons for not activating the link.

Article 8

Quality requirements related to web accessibility

The Commission shall make those of its websites and webpages through which it grants access to the information referred to in Article 4(2) and to the assistance and problem-solving services referred to in Article 7 more accessible by making them perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.

CHAPTER III

QUALITY REQUIREMENTS

SECTION 1

Quality requirements related to information on rights, obligations and rules, on procedures and on assistance and problem-solving services

Article 9

Quality of information on rights, obligations and rules

Where Member States and the Commission are responsible in accordance with Article 4 for ensuring access to information referred to in point (a) of Article 2(2), they shall make sure that such information complies with the following requirements:

(a) it is user-friendly, enabling users to easily find and understand the information and to easily identify which parts of the information are relevant to their particular situation;

(b) it is accurate and sufficiently comprehensive to cover information that users need to know in order to exercise their rights in full compliance with applicable rules and obligations;

(c) it includes references, links to legal acts, technical specifications and guidelines, where relevant;

(d) it includes the name of the competent authority or entity responsible for the content of the information;

(e) it includes the contact details of any relevant assistance or problem-solving services, such as a phone number, an email address, an online enquiry form or any other commonly used means of electronic communication that is most suitable for the type of service offered and for the target audience of that service;

(f) it includes the date of the last update of the information, if any, or, where the information has not been updated, the date of publication of the information;

(g) it is well-structured and presented, so that users can quickly find the information they need;

(h) it is kept up-to-date; and

(i) it is written in clear and plain language adapted to the needs of the target users.

Article 10

Quality of information on procedures

The Member States and the Commission shall, for the purposes of complying with Article 4, ensure that, before users have to identify themselves prior to launching the procedure, they have access to a sufficiently comprehensive, clear and user-friendly explanation of the following elements, where applicable, of the procedures referred to in point (b) of Article 2(2):

(a) the relevant steps of the procedure to be taken by the user, including any exception, under Article 6(3), to the obligation of Member States to offer the procedure fully online;

(b) the name of the competent authority responsible for the procedure, including its contact details;

(c) the accepted means of authentication, identification and signature for the procedure;

(d) the type and format of evidence to be submitted;

(e) the means of redress or appeal which are generally available in the event of disputes with the competent authorities;

(f) the applicable fees and the online methods of payment;

(g) any deadlines to be respected by the user or by the competent authority and where no deadlines exist, the average, estimated or indicative time that the competent authority needs to complete the procedure;

(h) any rules concerning a lack of reply from the competent authority and the legal consequences thereof for the users, including tacit approval or administrative silence arrangements;

(i) any additional languages in which the procedure can be carried out.

Article 11

Quality of information on assistance and problem-solving services

The Member States and the Commission shall, for the purposes of complying with Article 4, ensure that, before submitting a request for a service as referred to in point (c) of Article 2(2), users have access to a clear and user-friendly explanation of the following:

(a) the type, purpose and expected results of the service offered;

(b) the contact details of the entities responsible for the service such as a phone number, an email address, an online enquiry form or any other commonly used means of electronic communication that is most suitable for the type of service offered and for the target audience of that service;

(c) where relevant, the applicable fees and the online methods of payment;

(d) any applicable deadlines to be respected and where none exist, an average, or estimated time required to deliver the service;

(e) any additional languages in which the request can be submitted and which can be used in subsequent contacts.

Article 12

Translation of information

SECTION 2

Requirements related to online procedures

Article 13

Cross-border access to online procedures

Member States shall ensure that, for the procedures referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, at least the following requirements are met:

(a) users are able to access the instructions for completing the procedure in an official language of the Union that is broadly understood by the largest possible number of cross-border users, in accordance with Article 12;

(b) cross-border users are able to submit the required information, including where the structure of such information differs from similar information in the Member State concerned;

(c) cross-border users are able to identify and authenticate themselves, sign or seal documents electronically, as provided for in Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, in all cases where this is also possible for non-crossborder users;

(d) cross-border users are able to provide evidence of compliance with applicable requirements and to receive the outcome of the procedures in electronic format in all cases where this is also possible for non-crossborder users;

(e) where the completion of a procedure requires a payment, users are able to pay any fees online through widely available cross-border payment services, without discrimination based on the place of establishment of the payment service provider, the place of issue of the payment instrument or the location of the payment account within the Union.

Article 14

Technical system for the cross-border automated exchange of evidence and application of the ‘once-only’ principle

The technical system shall, in particular:

(a) enable the processing of requests for evidence at the explicit request of the user;

(b) enable the processing of requests for evidence to be accessed or exchanged;

(c) allow the transmission of evidence between competent authorities;

(d) allow the processing of the evidence by the requesting competent authority;

(e) ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the evidence;

(f) enable the possibility for the user to preview the evidence to be used by the requesting competent authority and to choose whether or not to proceed with the exchange of evidence;

(g) ensure an adequate level of interoperability with other relevant systems;

(h) ensure a high level of security for the transmission and processing of evidence;

(i) not process evidence beyond what is technically necessary for the exchange of evidence, and then only for the duration necessary for that purpose.

Article 15

Verification of evidence between Member States

Where the technical system, or other systems for the exchange or verification of evidence between Member States are not available or are not applicable, or where the user does not request the use of the technical system, competent authorities shall cooperate through the Internal Market Information System (IMI) where this is necessary in order to verify the authenticity of evidence that was submitted to one of them in an electronic format by the user for the purpose of an online procedure.

SECTION 3

Quality requirements related to assistance and problem-solving services

Article 16

Quality requirements related to assistance and problem-solving services

The competent authorities and the Commission shall, within their respective competences, ensure that the assistance and problem-solving services listed in Annex III and those that have been included in the gateway in accordance with Article 7(2), (3) and (4) comply with the following quality requirements:

(a) they are provided within a reasonable timeframe taking into account the complexity of the request;

(b) when deadlines are extended, users are informed in advance of the reasons thereof and of the new deadline given;

(c) where the provision of a service requires a payment, users are able to pay any fees online through widely available cross-border payment services without discrimination based on the place of establishment of the payment service provider, the place of issue of the payment instrument or the location of the payment account within the Union.

SECTION 4

Quality monitoring

Article 17

Quality monitoring

In the event of a deterioration in the quality of the information, of the procedures and of the assistance or problem-solving services referred to in paragraph 1 provided by the competent authorities, the Commission shall, taking into account the seriousness and persistence of the deterioration, take one or more of the following measures:

(a) inform the relevant national coordinator and ask for remedial action;

(b) submit for discussion in the gateway coordination group recommended actions to improve compliance with the quality requirements;

(c) send a letter with recommendations to the Member State concerned;

(d) temporarily disconnect the information, the procedure, or the assistance or problem-solving service from the gateway.

CHAPTER IV

TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS

Article 18

Common user interface

The Commission shall ensure that the common user interface complies with the following quality requirements:

(a) it is easy to use;

(b) it is accessible online through various electronic devices;

(c) it is developed and optimised for different web browsers;

(d) it meets the following web accessibility requirements: perceivability, operability, understandability and robustness.

Article 19

Repository for links

Article 20

Common assistance service finder

Article 21

Responsibilities for the ICT applications supporting the gateway

The Commission shall be responsible for the development, availability, monitoring, updating, maintenance, security and hosting of the following ICT applications and webpages:

(a) the Your Europe portal, referred to in Article 2(1);

(b) the common user interface, referred to in Article 18(1), including the search engine or any other ICT tool that enables searchability of web information and services;

(c) the repository for links, referred to in Article 19(1);

(d) the common assistance service finder, referred to in Article 20(1);

(e) the user feedback tools, referred to in Article 25(1) and point (a) of Article 26(1).

The Commission shall work in close cooperation with the Member States to develop the ICT applications.

CHAPTER V

PROMOTION

Article 22

Name, logo and quality label

The name by which the gateway is to be known and promoted to the general public shall be ‘Your Europe’.

The logo by which the gateway is to be known and promoted to the general public shall be decided by the Commission in close cooperation with the gateway coordination group by 12 June 2019 at the latest.

The logo of the gateway and a link to the gateway shall be made visible and available on the relevant Union-level and national-level websites that are connected to the gateway.

Article 23

Promotion

CHAPTER VI

COLLECTION OF USER FEEDBACK AND STATISTICS

Article 24

User statistics