Characteristics of the electronic data exchange systems
Article 9
1. The electronic data exchange systems shall ensure data security, data integrity, data confidentiality, authentication of the sender in accordance with Articles 122(3), 125(4)(d), 125(8) and 140 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. The electronic data exchange systems shall be available and operational during and outside standard office hours, except for technical maintenance activities. 2. If a Member State, on its own initiative, imposes a compulsory use of electronic data exchange systems upon beneficiaries, it shall ensure that the technical characteristics of those systems will not disrupt smooth implementation of the Funds nor restrict access for any beneficiaries. This requirement does not apply to electronic data exchange systems for beneficiaries which were made compulsory by a Member State during a previous programming period and comply with other requirements laid down in this Regulation. 3. The electronic data exchange systems shall be equipped with at least the following functionalities: (a) interactive forms and/or forms prefilled by the system on the basis of the data which are stored at consecutive steps of the procedures; (b) automatic calculations where applicable; (c) automatic embedded controls which reduce repeated exchanges of documents or information as far as possible; (d) system-generated alerts to inform the beneficiary that certain actions can be performed; (e) online status tracking allowing the beneficiary to monitor the current status of the project; (f) availability of all previous data and documents processed by the electronic data exchange system.