BRIEFING

Multilevel governance in action

Digital public services in the National

Recovery and Resilience Plans
Mid-term multilevel governance appraisal

This briefing analyses digital public services in the national recovery and resilience plans (NRRPs)
from a multilevel governance perspective. It seeks to present the current state of affairs, examine
how existing policy is working on the ground, and identify best practice and ideas for the future on
the part of governmental organisations at all levels of the European system of multilevel
governance. It presents an initial appraisal of available evidence and takes as its starting point digital
public services in the NRRPs of Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Greece and Slovenia.

Summary of findings
EPRS initial analysis of measures relating to digital public services in the national recovery and
resilience plans (NRRPs) of Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Greece and Slovenia, complemented by
additional sources, leads to the following conclusions.
Overall, local and regional authorities state that their involvement in the preparation of the NRRPs, as
well as their ownership of the plans, are limited. They feel they are observers rather than active
participants in the process, with a few exceptions. These findings appear to be confirmed in the area
of digital public services, where their involvement would be essential. The authors of this briefing
received few evidence sources on the subject of analysis. The reason for this could be that
sub-national authorities may not easily be able to distinguish digital public services from other
strands of the digital transformation measures included in the NRRPs. Moreover, they may not be in
a position to know – or provide evidence on – digital public service measures affecting them, with
limited exceptions.
In all six Member States under analysis, the top two categories in terms of allocated budget are the
general 'IT solutions, e-services and interoperability' categories, including at regional level (ranging
from 33 % to 89 %), followed by health (ranging from 6 % to 66 %). Overall, transport, justice and
digital identity are allocated proportionally fewer funds. Interoperability and the regional dimension
are a feature of several measures. When looking at the three largest measures relating to digital public
services in the NRRPs of the six countries under review, between 43 % and 89 % of the budget is
allocated to them.
Typically, digital public service measures under review in this briefing try to ensure coherence with
national plans. However, limited evidence has been found of attempts to ensure coherence with
regional strategies. When there is co-funding between EU and national money, the contribution of
EU funds is recognised only in some cases.

EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

Authors: Claudio Collovà and Velina Lilyanova with Nele Lüker; Graphics: Samy Chahri
Linking the Levels Unit and Members' Research Service
PE 762.287 – April 2024 EN
EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

1. Current state of play

Background
Digital transition is a core EU priority, backed by many initiatives aiming to foster the EU's digital
sovereignty. The European Commission declared the years from 2020 to 2030 as Europe's 'digital
decade', setting up strategic digital objectives for 2030. The targets cover four broad areas: digital
skills, digital infrastructure, digital transformation of businesses and digitalisation of public services.
While it has been estimated that achieving this agenda could unlock over €2.8 trillion in economic
value, the Commission noted that a substantial investment gap remains in the digital area.
In this context, digital transformation is also a central theme of the EU's largest financing
instrument – the Next Generation EU (NGEU) recovery instrument. NGEU was created to help
Member States address the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and emerge
more resilient and better prepared for the green and digital transitions. The NGEU's main
implementing tool, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), is one of the EU tools employed in
addressing digital challenges, along with the 'Digital Europe' and other EU funding programmes,
and Member States' national budgets.
The RRF is a temporary, performance-based instrument from which Member States receive funds in
the form of grants and loans (for a total of €743.8 billion, including €20 billion from REPowerEU),
once they have met prior commitments (milestones and targets). The funds help Member States
carry out the reforms and investment they have envisaged under dedicated national recovery and
resilience plans (NRRPs). The RRF is structured around six pillars (policy areas of EU relevance), one
of which is the digital transformation pillar. The RRF Regulation requires that each NRRP allocate at
least 20 % of its funds to digital measures. To calculate the 20 %, the regulation sets out a
methodology for digital tagging. It includes seven digital policy dimensions based on the digital
economy and society index (DESI): connectivity; digital-related investment in research and
development; human capital; e-government, digital public services and local digital ecosystems;
digitalisation of businesses; investment in digital capacities and deployment of advanced
technologies; and greening the digital sector.
All RRF-financed measures have to be completed by the end of 2026. The facility has entered into
the second half of its lifetime, and the Commission is tracking the NRRPs' ongoing implementation.
Its 2023 second annual report notes that the total estimated digital expenditure in the plans
amounts to €144 billion, distributed across several digital policy areas. The 'digital' reforms and
investment in all NRRPs have thus exceeded the above-mentioned target of 20 %, standing at some
26 % of all plans' worth. In a 2023 report on 'Mapping EU level funding instruments to digital decade
targets', the Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) finds that the RRF is the instrument devoting
the largest amounts to supporting the digital decade targets.
This briefing focuses on the NRRP measures linked to the digitalisation of public services. To meet
the relevant targets in this category, by 2030, the EU would have to provide all key public services
online, ensuring that all citizens can access their medical e-records and a digital identity (ID). All
NRRPs acknowledge that the digital transformation of government is the most efficient way to
provide faster, cheaper and better services, and include measures on digital public services and
e-government totalling some €53 billion. This represents more than a third of the RRF's digital
expenditure (37 % of the digital transformation pillar), and makes it the most supported digital
policy area. The JRC report mentioned above also shows that the allocation against the 2030 digital
decade targets is uneven, with more than 65 % of the funds (35.1 % and 30.3 % respectively) going
to the digital transformation of businesses and digitalisation of the public sector.
The measures are aligned with the overarching EU digital priorities but tailored to each country's
national context. Key reforms include integration of electronic identity (e-ID) solutions in all
government processes and implementation of the 'once only principle'. Investment in general seeks

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to modernise and improve public administration processes to make them more user-friendly,
citizen-oriented and interoperable, and boost access to and uptake of digital public services by
people and businesses. According the Commission's 2024 mid-term evaluation of the RRF, so far,
the RRF's implementation has brought positive results in this area. For example, 21 Member States
reported that the number of users of new or upgraded public digital services has risen to almost
309 million. A supporting case study notes that the RRF has been crucial in healthcare digitalisation.
The 2023 state of the digital decade report takes stock of the EU's progress towards a successful
digital transformation. Based on the latest data from 2022, it acknowledges the wide differences in
terms of digitalisation across Member States, which also indicates varying needs at both national
and regional levels. The report states that, in general terms, 88 % of central government services are
completely online, compared with 76 % of regional and 62 % of local government services. Regions
and local communities have a key role to play in delivering digital decade targets and can effectively
contribute through contributions to national roadmaps and involvement in European Digital
Infrastructure Consortia (EDICs), and by taking ownership of the digital decade approach while
setting up and implementing their own digital strategies, among other things.

Methodology
The data sources for this briefing were obtained through:
1 general requests for input from governmental organisations at all levels of
government; and
2 proactive desk research, aiming to obtain additional relevant input online.
Firstly, general requests for input on key European Commission priorities were sent to all the
governmental organisations in the Linking the Levels Unit network. These are active in a broad
range of policies. This was done by means of the monthly newsletter The Link, 1 with calls sent each
month between January and July 2023 to an expanding network, reaching over 1 600 contacts by
the end of that period.
Secondly, pro-active desk research was carried out to gather further information from other
governmental organisations online, as well as from the relevant literature, using European
Parliament Library knowledge resources. This process took place from July 2023 to February 2024.
This briefing focuses on six Member States: Italy, Spain, Greece and Slovenia – from which we
received initial input – plus Germany and France, added to ensure a wider coverage. The analysis
covers all the measures that
Figure 1 – Total digital public services-related budget in fully count towards the digital
the NRRP of six Member States tagging in the six Member
States, amounting to
some€33 billion out of the
quoted €53 billion in total in
the EU. 2 The breakdown is
shown in Figure 1.
To facilitate the analysis, the
methodology for digital
tagging in Annex VII to the RRF
Regulation was simplified,
combining the 15 original
categories relating to digital
public services into the six
Source: Authors, based on Commission data. shown in Table 1.

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Table 1 – Correspondence table between this briefing and Annex VII of the RRF Regulation

This briefing Intervention field and type of intervention in Annex VII Code

Government information and communications technology (ICT) solutions, e-services,

IT solutions, applications, including advanced technologies (e.g. high-performance computing,
e-services and cybersecurity and artificial intelligence) for public services and decision-making, and 011
interoperability interoperability of digital public services and infrastructure (regional, national and
cross-border)

Government ICT solutions, e-services, applications compliant with greenhouse gas

emissions reduction (GHG) or energy-efficiency criteria. The measure aims to process
or collect data to enable GHG emissions reductions that result in demonstrated 011bis
Climate and
substantial life-cycle GHG emissions savings; alternatively, the measure requires data
energy
centres to comply with 'European Code of Conduct on Data Centre Energy Efficiency'

Smart energy systems (including smart grids and ICT systems) and related storage 033

Digital identity Deployment of the European digital ID scheme for public and private use 011ter

E-health services and applications (including e-care, internet of things for physical
013
Health activity and ambient assisted living)

Digitalisation in healthcare 095

road 063

Digitalisation of transport: rail 070

other transport modes 084

Transport
Digitalisation of transport when dedicated in part to GHG emissions reduction: the codes above are
respectively 063bis, 070bis and 084bis

European rail traffic management system (ERTMS) 071

Digitalisation of urban transport 076

Justice Digitalisation of justice systems 011quater

Source: Authors, based on Annex VII of the RRF Regulation

2. Initial appraisal of evidence in six Member States

Italy Figure 2 – Digital public services in
In Italy's NRRP (24 November 2023), the digital public Italy's NRRP
services' top categories relate to health (35 %); IT solutions,
e-services and interoperability (33 %); and transport (21 %)
(Figure 2). The top three measures in terms of budget
account for 43 % of the total €13.87 billion invested by the
Italian NRRP in digital public services (Table 2). The
following targets and milestones relate to these measures,
as specified in the annex to the Council implementing
decision on the approval of the plan's assessment
(November 2023). In the transport sector, the aim is to
equip 2 785 kilometres of railways with the European rail
transport management system (ERTMS) by the second
quarter of 2026. ERTMS is an interoperable railway safety
system and, according to industry information, the RRF
project will be implemented in Lazio, Abruzzo, Umbria Source: Authors, based on Commission data.
and Sicily. As to the 'home as the first place of care and

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telemedicine' digital measure, at least 480 Territorial Coordination Centres (Centrali operative
territoriali) should be operational by end-2024 to coordinate health and emergency services.
The ultimate aim is to assist at least 300 000 people by telemedicine by end-2025 and to treat over
800 000 people with chronic or terminal illness in integrated home care by the second quarter of
2026. The health measure on technological infrastructure and tools should be completed by the
second quarter of 2026. By that date, all regions and autonomous provinces should have adopted
and be using the electronic health record. This measure has a strong interoperability component.
On top of this, IT solutions, e-services and interoperability are implemented through 14 additional
projects, the largest of which is 'Cloud enablement for local public administrations' (€1 billion).
Table 2 – Digital public services in the Italian NRRP: Top three measures (sums invested)

Category Measure € million % total

Transport Introducing the ERTMS 2 466 18 %

Home as the first place of care and telemedicine (digital) 1 780 13 %

Health Strengthening the technological infrastructure and the tools for data
1 672.50 12 %
collection, data processing, data analysis and simulation

Sub-total 5 918.50 43 %
Source: Authors, based on European Commission data.
Related to interoperability, the Italian Emilia Romagna region shared with the authors the views
of the Italian Conference of Regions on the Interoperable Europe Act adopted in March 2024.
Italian regions and autonomous provinces recommend: (i) taking into account the possible presence
of national interoperability systems that started operating before the new EU regulatory framework
was adopted and may conflict with it, creating mismatches and requiring the use of substantial
human and financial resources for implementation; and (ii) assessing a possible excess of
governance, with overlapping roles and functions between the European regulatory sandboxes,
peer reviews, the Interoperable Europe Board and the Interoperable Europe Community.

Germany
Figure 3 – Digital public services in
In Germany's NRRP (16 November 2023), most of the
budget for digital public services is allocated to IT Germany's NRRP
solutions; e–services and interoperability (51 %); and
climate and energy (42 %) (Figure 3). The top three
measures in terms of budget fall within these categories
and account for 87 % of the total €7.14 billion invested
by the German NRRP in digital public services (Table 3).
The following targets and milestones relate to these
measures, as specified in the annex to the Council
implementing decision on the approval of the plan's
assessment (July 2021). 3 First, €3 billion of the German
budget is allocated to a measure to future-proof
hospitals. The measure aims to create a fund to finance
hospital modernisation in Germany, including
digitalisation.
The projects focus on digital infrastructure, emergency Source: Authors, based on Commission data.
capacity, telemedicine, robotics, and cybersecurity. The
measure is part of the German Hospital Future Act (Krankenhauszukunftsgesetz). The measure aims
to achieve full implementation of at least 75 % of the funded digitalisation projects by end-2026. To
support the digitalisation of the public administration, the second measure seeks to make more

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public services available digitally by the end of 2022, in line with the Online Access Act
(Onlinezugangsgesetz). As digital public services are offered by federal, regional and local authorities,
implementation requires extensive coordination across multiple levels. The third largest measure
aims to invest in the digitalisation and IT system interoperability of public health services, with a
focus on the nationwide introduction of an IT system to track pandemic developments. For instance,
the measure aims to ensure that, by the end of 2026, at least 70 % of the public health offices have
improved their digital maturity compared with the 2021 level.
Table 3 – Digital public services in the German NRRP: Top three measures (sums invested)

Category Measure € million % total

Health Programme to future-proof hospitals 3 000 42 %

Digitalisation of the administration – implementation of the

2 521 35 %
IT solutions, Online Access Act
e-services and
interoperability Strengthening the digital and technical resources of the public
684 10 %
health service

Sub-total 6 205 87 %
Source: Authors, based on European Commission data.
To ensure successful implementation of the Online Access Act, the Association of German Cities calls
for a closer collaboration between federal, state and local governments. To highlight the willingness
to advance the digitalisation of the public administration together across all levels, a cooperation
agreement – the 'Municipal Pact' – was initiated in 2023. The City of Stuttgart's Chief Information
Officer, for example, supports this, as 'municipalities have the necessary experience and the know-
how to change the situation of German administrative digitalisation fundamentally'. As an example
of a local project managed by a federal ministry for which public information is available, the
University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein has been awarded NRRP funding for six projects to
support the hospital's modernisation and digitalisation. The hyperlinked page acknowledges EU
funding.

Spain Figure 4 – Digital public services in

In the Spanish NRRP (2 October 2023), most of the budget Spain's NRRP
for digital public services relates to IT solutions, e-services
and interoperability (89 %) (Figure 4). The top three
measures in terms of budget fall within this category and
account for 44 % of the total €5.84 billion invested by the
Spanish NRRP in digital public services (Table 4). The
following targets and milestones relate to these
measures, as specified in the annex to the Council
implementing decision on the approval of the plan's
assessment (October 2023). The largest measure to
digitalise the central government aims to invest in the
digital transformation of various sectors by the end of
2025, including health, justice, employment, social
security and migration. For example, in the healthcare
sector, the aim is for the central administration and
Source: Authors, based on Commission data.
regions to have fully interoperable platforms in order to
share social security and health data. The second and
third largest measures follow the same principles and target respectively the central government
(€960 million) and the regional/local administration (€1 000 million). These measures are in line
with Spain's Digital Strategy 2025 and the Plan for the Digitalisation of Spain's Administration: 2021-

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2025. Reforms include public procurement, digital infrastructure and cybersecurity. Targeting
regional and local governments, Spain seeks to implement investment for the digital transformation
and modernisation of various public authorities by end-2026. The milestone requires each
autonomous community and local government to have completed at least one project within the
Spanish NRRP's strategic lines, which include mobility, data-centric public administration and
cybersecurity. In addition, the measure aims to implement at least 17 pilot projects of the Personal
Digital Care Plan designed to promote personalised care for citizen's healthcare needs. The pilot
projects aim to test IT systems for managing patient data, providing personalised digital care, and
supporting diagnosis and monitoring of patients.
Table 4 – Digital public services in the Spanish NRRP: Top three measures (sums invested)

Category Measure € million % total

Projects for the digitalisation of the general state administration 1 205 17 %

Digital transformation and modernisation of the Ministry of

IT solutions,
Territorial Policy and the civil service, the national health service, and 1 000 14 %
e-services and
of Autonomous Communities' and local authorities' administration
interoperability
Digital transformation and modernisation of the general state
960 13 %
administration

Sub-total 3 165 44 %
Source: Authors, based on European Commission data.
At the regional level, the Parliament and the government of Catalonia provided us with the
following information. In Catalonia, the Directorate-General for Digital Administration proposed
11 digital transformation projects, which have been allocated some €57 million from the Spanish
NRRP, and about 2 250 public authorities in Catalonia. Three of the projects deal with
interoperability between the central, autonomous and local administrations and the improvement
of digital public services at local level. For these three, collaboration with local communities is
channelled through the Consortium for the Open Administration of Catalonia (Administració
Oberta de Catalunya, AOC). The government of Valencia informed us they are implementing six
digital transformation-related projects, coordinating them with the Spanish plan and Valencia's
digital transformation plan.

France
In France's NRRP (26 June 2023), digital public services' Figure 5 – Digital public services in
top categories relate to health (66 %); and IT solutions, France's NRRP
e-services and interoperability (33 %) (Figure 5). The
top three measures in terms of budget fall within these
categories and account for 87 % of the total
€3.05 billion (Table 5). The following targets and
milestones relate to these measures, as specified in the
annex to the Council implementing decision on the
approval of the plan's assessment (November 2023).
The digital health measure, the largest in terms of
amounts invested (66 % of the total French digital
public services' envelope), aims to be completed by the
end of 2024. The goal is to provide 40 million patients
with a national electronic health record and a secure
health e-mail address. 15 million documents, such as
biology, radiology and hospital reports as well as
hospital certificates, should be saved in the new system Source: Authors, based on Commission data.
by end-2024. By that date, it is planned to have

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410 000 active electronic medico-social records. The digital upgrade of the state and territories
relates to the past: by the first quarter of 2023, 200 companies were benefiting from public orders
in the context of innovation and digital transformation and the Public-Agent Digital Backpack (Sac
à dos numérique de l'agent publique); by the third quarter of 2023, 95 % of a pool of 395 000 civil
servants should have been equipped for teleworking. Also by end-2023, France planned to have
30 000 enrolments in distance training courses proposed by Pôle Emploi (now France Travail, the
French governmental agency dealing with unemployment). 4
Table 5 – Digital public services in the French NRRP: Top three measures (sums invested)

Category Measure € million % total

Health Digital health 2 000 66 %

IT solutions, Digital upgrade of the state and territories 500 16 %

e-services and
interoperability Distance training courses (Programmes internationaux courts, or PIC) 160 5%

Sub-total 2 660 87 %
Source: Authors, based on European Commission data.
At regional level, Nouvelle-Aquitaine highlights the difficulty of monitoring the RRF in the country,
as French RRF funds have been blended into a larger national plan, France Relance, stating that 'the
different values and data do not allow to have a clear view of the RRF resources invested in each
territory'. 5 Taking the €500 million digital upgrade of the state and territories as an example, France
Relance information shows that no additional national funds were engaged in this case. Innovation
and digital transformation was allocated €292 million, € 88 million of which went to the territories.
The Public Agent Digital Backpack was allocated the remaining €208 million. France Relance data list
the French municipalities and departments as being involved in the digital upgrade of state and
territories, without however affording a clear overview; the web page does not acknowledge EU
funding.

Greece
In Greece's NRRP (21 November 2023), digital public Figure 6 – Digital public services in
services top categories relate to IT solutions, Greece's NRRP
e-services and interoperability (74 %); and health
(10 % (Figure 6). The top three measures in terms of
amounts invested in digital public services fall within
these categories and account for 46 % of the total
€2.7 billion (Table 6). The following targets and
milestones relate to these measures, as specified in
the annex to the Council implementing decision on
the approval of the plan's assessment (December
2023). Key archives should be digitised by end of
2025. This measure concerns nine sub-projects,
namely the digitisation of: the general archives of the
state, including local agencies; justice; health; urban
planning; expropriations; cadastre; immigration and
asylum; and maritime affairs. The ninth sub-project
relates to the secure storage of documents. The entire Source: Authors, based on Commission data.
measure aims to reduce the time needed for and the
cost of providing services to the public. Digital
transformation of education includes the installation of at least 36 000 interactive learning
systems (such as white-boards, laptops and interactive projectors) for primary and secondary school
classrooms by the end of 2025. Digital transformation of health relates to five projecs to be

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 Digital public services in the national recovery and resilience plans

completed by end-2025. These relate to: the national digital patient health record; cancer;
telemedicine; hospital digital readiness including the digital upgrade of the national emergency aid
centre (Eθνικό Κέντρο Άμεσης Βοήθειας, EKAB) and medicines agency (Εθνικός Οργανισμός
Φαρμάκων, EOF); the integrated information system of the National Organisation for the Provision
of Health Services (Εθνικός Οργανισμός Παροχής Υπηρεσιών Υγείας', EOPYY), including
interoperability.
Table 6 – Digital public services in the Greek NRRP: Top three measures (sums invested)

Category Measure € million % total

IT solutions, Digitisation of archives and related services 598 22 %

e-services and
interoperability Digital transformation of education 365 14 %

Health Digital transformation of health 278 10 %

Sub-total 1 241 46 %
Source: Authors, based on European Commission data
The Department for Parliamentary Research and Studies of the Hellenic Parliament has shared
the following information with us. The Greek NRRP finances the Digital Transformation Bible
2020-2025, which captures Greece's strategy for the transition to the digital age. The Greek
department singles out in particular the digital and administrative reform of Citizens' Service
Centres (Κέντρο Εξυπηρέτησης Πολιτών, ΚΕΠ). With €56 million allocated to it, this is one of the
smaller measures. It includes the launch of the MyKEPlive service, which allows citizens and
businesses to access and be assisted by Citizens' Service Centres in municipalities through a
videoconferencing platform. Citizens' Service Centres are the public services' contact points with
the Greek citizens.

Slovenia
In Slovenia's NRRP (29 September 2023), most of the Figure 7 – Digital public services in
budget for digital public services is allocated to IT Slovenia's NRRP
solutions, e-services and interoperability (59 %); and
health (32 %) (Figure 7). The top measures in terms of the
amount invested (Table 7) account for 57 % of the total
€339 million invested by the Slovenian NRRP in digital
public services. The following targets and milestones
relate to these measures, as specified in the annex to the
Council implementing decision on the approval of the
plan's assessment (October 2023). The first measure seeks
to advance the digital transformation of healthcare by
the end of 2025, including ensuring easy access to high-
quality harmonised healthcare data, expanding the range
of digital services, and facilitating telemedicine. It aims to
implement a telemedicine system, to facilitate online
consultations with doctors, communication between
health professionals, and remote monitoring of vital Source: Authors, based on Commission data.
signs.
To modernise the digital environment of the public
administration, Slovenia is investing in the development of user-centric e-services and the
modernisation of the IT infrastructure of public administration. By end-2026, Slovenia aims to
implement a multi-country secure quantum communication network with its neighbouring
countries, and dedicated satellites to other networks. Moreover, this second measure aims to
establish a single digital e-law platform to support the drafting, adoption and publication of

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legislation for all public authorities. Finally, the measure aims to train at least 40 000 civil servants,
to improve their digital literacy. The third measure aims to interconnect the spatial and
environmental digital data infrastructure of Slovenia by end-2025. By combining data from the
areas of real estate, environment, water records, public infrastructure, and building-land records,
Slovenia has access to real-time spatial data, which can be used to foster smart management of
natural resources and develop digital services relating to environmental issues, flood areas, as well
as land policy and spatial planning at local and national levels.
Table 7 – Digital public services in the Slovenian NRRP: Top three measures (sums invested)

Category Measure € million % total

Health Health digital transformation 83 32 %

IT solutions, Modernising the digital environment of public administration 60.77 23 %

e-services and
interoperability Green Slovenian location framework 33.50 13 %

Sub-total 177.27 68 %
Source: Authors, based on European Commission data.
The Association of Urban Municipalities of Slovenia has shared the following information with
us. According to the association, the digital gap between the national and local levels is widening.
The association argue that they ended up being disadvantaged by the complementary principle
between the RRF and cohesion policy, as the government seemingly lowered cohesion funds for
digitalisation, with the argument that digitalisation was already supported through the RRF. The
association's position is that the RRF funds for digitalisation only support national measures. Some
more advanced urban municipalities started to develop their own digital platforms, which risks
increasing the digital divide within the country. On a more positive note, the government included
local authorities in the preparation of national digital strategies that now, for the first time,
specifically mention the local level. In particular, the Slovenian government adopted the Digital
Public Services Strategy 2030 (Strategija digitalnih javnih storitev 2030) in December 2022, to
coordinate action and accelerate the digital transformation of the public administration. To
implement the strategy, the Ministry of Public Administration has developed an action plan jointly
with other authorities and stakeholders.

3. Conclusions
Digital public services in the NRRPs are indirectly affected by measures in the other digital
transformation strands within the NRRP plans, such as digital infrastructure and investment in
human capital. This briefing focuses on digital public services only, as public authorities providing
these services are the measures' direct intended recipients.
Already back in 2022, a targeted consultation among local and regional authorities, carried out by
the European Committee of the Regions and the Council of European Municipalities and
Regions, concluded that the involvement of these public authorities in the preparation of the NRRPs
appeared to be overall low. Moreover, ownership of the plans was 'worryingly low' among
respondents. Mid-way through the plans' implementation, the Regions for EU Recovery initiative
reassessed this finding with a survey among 15 regions from eight Member States (Austria, Belgium,
Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain). In December 2023, they stated that overall, they
still feel as observers in the plans, with the exception of the Belgian region of Flanders. Flanders
directly manages 38 % of the national RRF, whereas the other regions manage from between 0 % of
the RRF (Bavaria, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Helsinki-Uussimaa and Lower Austria) to 1.60 % in
Lombardy.
These findings appear to be confirmed in the area of digital public services, as well, where the
involvement of sub-national authorities would be essential. As the Commission points out in its

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 Digital public services in the national recovery and resilience plans

report on the implementation of the digital decade objectives, the success of the EU's digital
transformation depends on the involvement of all actors at all levels. Moreover, the 2023 state of
the digital decade report notes that the digital decade policy programme relies on close
cooperation with Member States to ensure collective progress and the involvement of all
stakeholders at European, national, regional and local levels. Some cooperation is happening
between the European and the sub-national level on interoperability, for instance in the framework
of the Living-in.EU initiative, which has adopted a declaration, principles and technical specifications
for interoperability.
Our EPRS network of over 1 600 contacts, mainly at regional and local levels, was able to provide
only limited evidence on digital public services in the NRRPs. Desk research on publicly available
sources yielded only limited additional evidence, either at national level or on broader topics such
as interoperability. Possible explanations for this include, first, that sub-national authorities may not
easily be able to distinguish digital public services from other strands of the digital transformation.
Second, most sub-national staff at public authorities may not be in a position to know – or to provide
evidence on – digital public services measures affecting them, with the possible exception of some
staff with reporting obligations, likely to the national level.
Given these constraints, this briefing performed an analysis of the topic in six Member States,
drawing mainly from publicly available country-specific evidence from European Commission and
Council sources, as well as the European Parliamentary Research Service. In all the six Member States
under analysis, the top two categories in terms of budget allocated are the general 'IT solutions,
e-services and interoperability' categories, including at regional level (ranging from 33 % in Italy and
France to 89 % in Spain), followed by health (ranging from 6 % in Spain to 66 % in France).However,
overlaps exist: the general category mentioned above encompasses several policy areas, including
health and justice. Conversely, interoperability and the regional dimension are often a key feature
of other policy areas, including education and health. This applies, for instance, to Italy, the largest
beneficiary, where health is a regional competence. There are also striking similarities in the reforms
financed in the different countries, notably in the health area. The third category is transport. Justice
and digital identity are allocated less funds, and are, for instance, absent in Germany and Spain.
Fewer funds are allocated also to climate and energy, at least if one excludes – as we did – measures
that count mainly towards climate tagging, such as smart energy systems (see endnote 2).
When looking at the three largest measures relating to digital public services in the NRRPs of the six
countries under review, between 43 % and 89 % of the budget in Italy and France/Germany
respectively is allocated to them. In some cases, Commission and Council sources quote sub-
national authorities, without however affording a clear overview of their involvement. A notable
exception is the recent case study on the digitalisation of health, where the Commission evidences
cooperation with regional authorities for instance in Belgium, Denmark, Czechia and Croatia. This
represents a good practice that could be replicated.
Typically, digital public services' measures under review in this briefing try to ensure coherence with
national plans. Limited evidence has been found of attempts to ensure coherence with regional
strategies, for instance in Catalonia, which also had a pro-active role in proposing measures relating
to digital public services in the Catalan region. When there is co-funding between EU money and
national money, the contribution of EU funds is recognised in some cases but not in others. Finally,
the European Commission's JRC shared with us several publications on the topic, including a 2021
report (referenced below) that provides an overview of applications of location data and technology
to improve public services focused specifically on local and regional governments.

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EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

EXPERT READING ON THE TOPIC

Joint Research Centre, Leveraging the Power of Location Information and Technologies to Improve Public
Services at the Local Level, State of the Art report, 2021.
Lilyanova V. Digital public services in the National Recovery and Resilience Plans, EPRS, December 2022.
Niestadt M., Interoperable Europe act, EPRS, European Parliament, February 2024.

ENDNOTES
1
Governmental organisations wishing to subscribe to 'The LINK' newsletter can write to EPRS-
LinkingLevels@europarl.europa.eu.
2
Within digital public services, we have included only the measures with a 100 % coefficient for the calculation of
support to digital transition. We have excluded the measures with a double coefficient, i.e. 40 % for digital transition
and 100 % for the calculation of support for climate change objectives. This amounts to €5.06 billion devoted to smart
energy systems and related storage in Italy (€3.61 billion), Spain (€1.37 billion) and Slovenia (€0.08 billion).
3
The Council implementing decision on the approval of the assessment of the NRRP for Germany of 7 February 2023
amends the quoted annex of July 2021, but does not amend milestones and targets relating to digital public services.
4
We could not find additional evidence on the digital backpack's and online courses' targets in publicly available
sources.
5
Recovery and Resilience Facility mid-term evaluation, contributions of 'Regions for EU Recovery' initiative, p. 17.

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© European Union, 2024.
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