What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Added:1. The Interoperable Europe Board shall recommend interoperability solutions for the cross-border interoperability of network and information systems which are used to provide or manage public services to be delivered or managed electronically in the Union. When an interoperability solution is recommended by the Interoperable Europe Board, it shall carry the label ‘Interoperable Europe solution’ and shall be published on the Interoperable Europe portal.

Added:The Interoperable Europe Board may withdraw its recommendation resulting in removal of the ‘Interoperable Europe solution’ label, and its removal from the portal, if necessary.

Added:2. In order to qualify for the label ‘Interoperable Europe solution’ a solution shall at least:

Added:(a) be available for re-use;

Added:(b) be aligned with open standards;

Added:(c) be in use in at least one Member State or one Union institution;

Added:(d) comply with the guidelines set by Interoperable Europe Board.

Added:Interoperable Europe portal

Added:1. The Commission shall provide a portal (‘the Interoperable Europe portal’) as a single point of entry for information related to cross-border interoperability of network and information systems which are used to provide or manage public services to be delivered or managed electronically in the Union. The portal shall be easily electronically accessible to all citizens, including persons with disabilities in line with Directive (EU) 2016/2102 and Directive (EU) 2019/882 and free of charge. The portal shall have at least the following functions:

Added:(a) access to Interoperable Europe solutions;

Added:(b) access to other interoperability solutions not bearing the label ‘Interoperable Europe solution’ and provided for by other Union policies or fulfilling the requirements set out in Paragraph 2;

Added:(c) access to ICT technical specifications eligible for referencing in accordance with Article 13 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012;

Added:(d) access to information on processing of personal data in the context of innovationsandboxes referred to in Articles 11 and 12, if any high risks to the rights and freedoms of the data subjects, as referred to in Article 35(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council12a and in Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council12b, has been identified, as well as access to information on response mechanisms to promptly mitigate those risks. The published information may include a disclosure of the data protection impact assessment;

Added:(e) fostering knowledge exchange between members of the Interoperable Europe Community, as set out in Article 16, such as providing a feedback system to express their views on measures proposed by the Interoperable Europe Board or express their interest to participate to actions related to the implementation of this Regulation;

Added:(ea) listing best practices and knowledge sharing of technical, operational, organizational or administrative guidelines supporting interoperability and competitiveness in the context of public procurement, information security, IT integration and data management;

Added:(f) access to interoperability-related monitoring data referred to in Article 20;

Added:(g) allowing citizens , businesses, in particular SMEs, as well as the civil society organisations to provide feedback on the published content;

Added:(ga) other functions proposed by the Interoperable Europe Board.

Added:2. The Interoperable Europe Board may propose to the Commission to publish on the portal other interoperability solutions or to have them referred to on the portal. Such solutions shall:

Added:(a) not be subject to third party rights or contain personal data or confidential information;

Added:(b) have a high-level of alignment with the Interoperable Europe solutions which may be proven by publishing the outcome of the interoperability assessment referred to in Article 3;

Added:(c) use a licence that allows at least for the reuse by other public sector bodies or institutions, bodies or agencies of the Union or be issued as open source. An open source licence means a licence whereby the reuse of the software is permitted for all specified uses in a unilateral declaration by the right holder, and where the source codes of the software are made available for users;

Added:(d) be regularly maintained under the responsibility of the owner of the interoperability solution.

Added:3. When a public sector body or an institution, body or agency of the Union provides a portal, catalogue or repository with similar functions, it shall take the necessary measures to ensure interoperability with the Interoperable Europe portal. Where such portals collect open source solutions, they shall allow for the use of the European Union Public Licence.

Added:4. The Commission may adopt guidelines on interoperability for other portals with similar functions as referred to in paragraph 3.

Added:Policy implementation support projects

Added:1. The Interoperable Europe Board may propose to the Commission to set up projects to support public sector bodies in the digital implementation of Union policies ensuring the cross-border interoperability of network and information systems which are used to provide or manage public services to be delivered or managed electronically (‘policy implementation support project’).

Added:2. The policy implementation support project shall set out:

Added:(a) the existing Interoperable Europe solutions deemed necessary for the digital implementation of the policy requirements;

Added:(b) any missing interoperability solutions to be developed, deemed necessary for the digital implementation of the policy requirements;

Added:(c) other recommended support measures, such as trainings, sharing of expertise or peer-reviews;

Added:(ca) financial support opportunities to assist the implementation of interoperability solutions.

Added:3. The Commission shall set out, after consulting the Interoperable Europe Board, the scope, the timeline, the needed involvement of sectors and administrative levels and the working methods of the support project. If the Commission has already performed and published an interoperability assessment, in accordance with Article 3, the outcome of that assessment shall be taken into account when setting up the support project.

Added:4. In order to reinforce the policy implementation support project, the Interoperable Europe Board may propose to establish a innovation sandbox as referred to in Article 11.

Added:5. The outcome of a policy implementation support project as well as interoperability solutions developed in the project shall be openly available and made public on the Interoperable Europe Portal.

Added:Innovation measures

Added:1. The Interoperable Europe Board may propose to the Commission to set up innovation measures to support the development and uptake of innovative interoperability solutions in the EU (‘innovation measures’).

Added:2. Innovation measures shall:

Added:(a) contribute to the development of existing or new Interoperable Europe solutions also as a prerequisite of an open ICT ecosystem;

Added:(aa) provide technological changes through incremental innovation on existing products and services, combining systems, components or applications;

Added:(b) involve GovTech and CivicTech actors.

Added:3. In order to support the development of innovation measures, the Interoperable Europe Board may propose to set up innovation sandboxes , with the aim of offering innovative public services to citizens.

Added:4. The Commission shall make the results from the innovation measures openly available on the Interoperable Europe portal.

Added:Establishment of innovation sandboxes

Added:1. Innovation sandboxes shall provide a controlled environment for the development, testing and validation of innovative interoperability solutions ▌for a limited period of time before putting them into service, with the aim of offering innovative public services to citizens and businesses.

Added:2. Innovation sandboxes shall be operated under the responsibility of the participating public sector bodies or Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and, where the sandbox is authorised to process personal data by public sector bodies, under the supervision of other relevant national, regional or local supervisory authorities, or where the sandbox is authorised to process personal data by institutions, bodies, and agencies of the Union, under supervisionof the European Data Protection Supervisor.

Added:3. The establishment of a innovation sandbox as set out in paragraph 1 shall aim to contribute to the following objectives:

Added:(a) foster innovation and facilitate the development and roll-out of innovative digital interoperability solutions for public services;

Added:(b) facilitate cross-border cooperation between national regional and local competent authorities and synergies in public service delivery;

Added:(c) facilitate the development of an open European GovTech ecosystem, including cooperation with small and medium enterprises, research and educational institutions and start-ups;

Added:(d) enhance authorities’ understanding of the opportunities or barriers to cross-border interoperability of innovative interoperability solutions, including legal or infrastructure barriers;

Added:(e) contribute to the development or update of Interoperable Europe solutions.

Added:4. The establishment of innovation sandboxes shall contribute to improving legal certainty through cooperation with the authorities involved in the innovation sandbox with a view to ensuring compliance with this Regulation and, where appropriate, with other Union and Member States legislation.

Added:4a. In order to ensure a harmonised approach and support the implementation of innovation sandboxes, the Commission may issue guidelines and clarifications, without prejudice to the provisions of other Union legal acts that apply in the course of the implementation of this Regulation. In particular, where a sector-specific Union legal act requires the participants in an innovation sandbox to comply with specific additional legal, technical, administrative or organisational requirements, the relevant provisions of that sector-specific Union legal act shall also apply.

Added:5. The Commission, after consulting the Interoperable Europe Board and, where the innovation sandbox would include the processing of personal data, the European Data Protection Supervisor, shall upon joint request from at least three participating public sector bodies authorise the establishment of a innovation sandbox. Where appropriate the request shall specify information such as the purpose of the processing of personal data, the actors involved and their roles, the categories of personal data concerned, and their source(s) and the envisaged retention period. This consultation shallnot replace the prior consultation referred to in Article 36 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and in Article 40 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. Where the sandbox is set up for interoperability solutions supporting the cross-border interoperability of network and information systems which are used to provide or manage public services to be delivered or managed electronically by one or more institutions, bodies or agencies of the Union, eventually with the participation of public sector bodies, no authorisation shall beneeded.

Added:Participation in the innovationy sandboxes

Added:1. The participating public sector bodies shall ensure that, to the extent the innovative interoperability solution involves the processing of personal data or otherwise falls under the supervisory remit of other national, regional or local authorities providing or supporting access to data, the national data protection authorities and those other national, regional or local authorities are associated to the operation of the innovation sandbox. As appropriate, the participating public sector bodies may allow for the involvement in the innovation sandbox of other actors within the GovTech ecosystem such as national or European standardisation organisations, notified bodies, research and experimentation labs, innovation hubs, and companies wishing to test innovative interoperability solutions, in particular SMEs and start-ups. Cooperation may only be envisaged with third countries establishing mechanisms to support innovative interoperability solutions for the public sector, provided that safeguards concerning data protection are envisioned.

Added:2. Participation in the innovation sandbox shall be limited to a period that is appropriate to the complexity and scale of the project, and in any case not longer than 2 years from the establishment of the innovation sandbox. The participation may be extended for up to 6 monthsif necessary to achieve the purpose of the processing.

Added:3. Participation in the innovation sandbox shall be based on a specific plan elaborated by the participants taking into account the advice of other national competent authorities or the European Data Protection Supervisor, as applicable. The plan shall contain as a minimum the following:

Added:(a) description of the participants involved and their roles, the envisaged innovative interoperability solution and its intended purpose, and relevant development, testing and validation process;