The EIF as a driving force for the European digital single market
The provision of seamless European digital public services, both to other public administrations and to citizens and businesses, is a key factor in achieving a functioning European single market.
The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) serves as a guideline here for planning cross-border and cross-sector digital public services in such a way that data, processes and IT systems can work together seamlessly.
The EU’s changing priorities – particularly with regard to strengthening competitiveness, enhancing technological sovereignty, resilience, the responsible deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and the simplification of the digital regulatory framework – necessitate an update to this framework.
The European Commission therefore conducted a wide-ranging consultation in 2026 to gather information from public authorities, standardisation bodies, associations and businesses, which is to be incorporated into the update of the EIF.
Feedback was requested, in particular, on the following topics:
1. Which elements of previous versions of the EIF should be retained or further developed?
2. What are the main obstacles to the implementation of the EIF at EU, national, regional or local level?
3. What additional guidance would facilitate a more systematic roll-out?
4. How can the future EIF support the next steps in the digital transformation of public administrations?
5. What changes or improvements would you suggest for the future EIF?
From a strategic guideline to a practical tool
msg’s position paper advocates developing the European Interoperability Framework from a predominantly strategic guideline into a practical implementation framework. In particular, it proposes reusable reference architectures, concrete project and procurement templates, clear governance and data responsibilities, and verifiable requirements for interfaces, data quality, security and portability. Furthermore, the EIF should be more strongly focused on machine-readable administrative data, European data spaces, responsible AI and digital sovereignty. The aim is to make interoperability directly applicable to public authorities and to demonstrate its concrete benefits.
