An informal ministerial meeting on eGovernment is being held today in Malmö within the framework of the Presidency. The aim of the ministerial meeting is to make further progress towards a more open Europe. Egovernment uses new technology to make activities more efficient and simplify contacts between government agencies, the public and business. This is the fifth ministerial meeting on eGovernment. The last meeting was held in Lisbon in 2007.

At the meeting, ministers are expected to adopt a declaration on how eGovernment in Europe will be designed, with common objectives that extend to 2015.

The declaration primarily concerns creating benefits for everyone in society by opening up public administration so that public information and services can be accessed by multiple actors. Another important question that the declaration addresses is increasing mobility in the internal market in Europe by developing eServices that make it easier for people to study, work, live and retire in Member States other than their homeland.

The declaration also addresses how to reduce the administrative burden for the public and business. Another issue is how the authorities can improve their management by using IT to promote the climate objectives.

A further issue is finding the right keys to achieve the vision of an open, flexible and efficient government.