EU Parliament intends to widen participation in the Interoperable Europe Board
Today the EU Parliament’s Committee responsible for the Interoperable Europe Act has adopted its final position. It is a step forward towards a more inclusive Interoperable Europe Board while it introduces clearer indicators and statistics to monitor the progress of the Act. This position must now be upheld during the upcoming trilogue.
Today the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) has voted on its final text of the Interoperable Europe Act which is an improvement of the Commission proposal. The EU Parliament has introduced the possibility for relevant stakeholders to participate with observer status in the Interoperable Europe Board meetings and activities, including within those, the Free Software community.
Furthermore, the EU Parliament has also followed our demand suggesting the introduction of clearer objectives and statistics, that will allow to evaluate and properly measure the progress of the activities that will fall under this Act. Especially, when it comes to monitoring the use and uptake of Free Software solutions among public administrations.
“The inclusion of relevant stakeholders and experts, such as the Free Software community, in the Interoperable Europe Board must be part of the final text of the Interoperable Europe Act. Likewise, proper monitoring and evaluation procedures need to be set up to improve and adapt the interoperability of Europe in the long run. We, therefore, call upon the EU Parliament, especially the rapporteur Ivars Ijabs, to safeguard its position during the upcoming trilogue and to not allow any backwards step” , mentions Lina Ceballos, FSFE Policy Project Manager.
The ITRE Committee has also voted with a large majority to enter the inter-institutional negotiations. This means that the European Parliament must now defend its position and anchor it to the final text which will be negotiated together with the Council and Commission in the coming weeks. This is of high importance bearing in mind that the latest compromise text of the Council is hindering the inclusion of relevant stakeholders in the governance structure of this Act.