Access to information
1. Member States shall ensure that users have easy, online access on their national webpages to the following:
(a)
information about those rights, obligations and rules referred to in point (a) of Article 2(2) that are derived from national law;
(b)
information about those procedures referred to in point (b) of Article 2(2) that are established at national level;
(c)
information about those assistance and problem-solving services referred to in point (c) of Article 2(2) that are provided at national level.
2. The Commission shall ensure that the Your Europe portal provides users with easy, online access to the following:
(a)
information about those rights, obligations and rules referred to in point (a) of Article 2(2) that are derived from Union law;
(b)
information about those procedures referred to in point (b) of Article 2(2) that are established at Union level;
(c)
information about those assistance and problem-solving services referred to in point (c) of Article 2(2) that are provided at Union level.
Access to information not included in Annex I
1. The Member States and the Commission may provide links to information not listed in Annex I which is offered by competent authorities, the Commission or bodies, offices and agencies of the Union, provided that this information falls within the scope of the gateway as defined in point (a) of Article 1(1) and complies with the quality requirements laid down in Article 9.
2. The links to the information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be provided in accordance with Article 19(2) and (3).
3. Before activating any links, the Commission shall verify that the conditions laid down in paragraph 1 are met and consult the gateway coordination group.
Procedures to be offered fully online
1. Each Member State shall ensure that users can access and complete any of the procedures listed in Annex II fully online, provided that the relevant procedure has been established in the Member State concerned.
2. The procedures referred to in paragraph 1 shall be considered to be fully online where:
(a)
the identification of users, the provision of information and supporting evidence, signature and final submission can all be carried out electronically at a distance, through a service channel which enables users to fulfil the requirements related to the procedure in a user-friendly and structured way;
(b)
users are provided with an automatic acknowledgement of receipt, unless the output of the procedure is delivered immediately;
(c)
the output of the procedure is delivered electronically, or where necessary to comply with applicable Union or national law, delivered by physical means; and
(d)
users are provided with an electronic notification of completion of the procedure.
3. Where, in exceptional cases justified by overriding reasons of public interest in the areas of public security, public health or the fight against fraud, the objective pursued cannot be fully achieved online, Member States may require the user to appear in person before the competent authority as a step in the procedure. In such exceptional cases, Member States shall limit such physical presence to what is strictly necessary and objectively justified and shall ensure that other steps of the procedure can be completed fully online. Member States shall also ensure that physical presence requirements do not result in discrimination against cross-border users.
4. Member States shall notify and explain, through a common repository accessible to the Commission and the other Member States, the grounds on which, and the circumstances in which, physical presence might be required for the procedural steps referred to in paragraph 3, and the grounds on which, and the circumstances in which, physical delivery is necessary, as referred to in point (c) of paragraph 2.
5. This Article shall not prevent Member States from offering users the additional possibility of accessing and completing the procedures referred to in point (b) of Article 2(2) by means other than an online channel, or from contacting users directly.
Access to assistance and problem-solving services
1. The Member States and the Commission shall ensure that users, including cross-border users, have easy online access through different channels to the assistance and problem-solving services referred to in point (c) of Article 2(2).
2. The national coordinators referred to in Article 28 and the Commission may provide links to assistance and problem-solving services offered by competent authorities, the Commission or bodies, offices and agencies of the Union, other than those listed in Annex III, in accordance with Article 19(2) and (3), provided that such services comply with the quality requirements laid down in Articles 11 and 16.
3. Where necessary to meet the needs of the users, the national coordinator may propose to the Commission that links to assistance or problem-solving services provided by private or semi-private entities are included in the gateway, where those services meet the following conditions:
(a)
they offer information or assistance within the areas, and for the purposes, covered by this Regulation and are complementary to services already included in the gateway;
(b)
they are offered free of charge or at a price which is affordable for micro-enterprises, non-profit organisations and citizens; and
(c)
they comply with the requirements laid down in Articles 8, 11 and 16.
4. Where the national coordinator has proposed the inclusion of a link in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article, and provides such link in accordance with Article 19(3), the Commission shall assess whether the conditions in paragraph 3 of this Article are met by the service to be included through the link, and if so, shall activate the link.
Where the Commission finds that the conditions in paragraph 3 are not met by the service to be included, it shall inform the national coordinator of the reasons for not activating the link.
Quality requirements related to web accessibility
The Commission shall make those of its websites and webpages through which it grants access to the information referred to in Article 4(2) and to the assistance and problem-solving services referred to in Article 7 more accessible by making them perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
