At the proposal of the Ministries of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation and of Territorial Policy and Civil Service, the BOE publishes today the Regulation on the performance and functioning of the public sector by electronic means, which addresses the global and unitary regulation of the functioning of the public sector by electronic means both within the administrations and in inter-administrative relations and with citizens and businesses.

The Royal Decree unifies in a single Regulation the development of all aspects related to the performance and functioning of the public sector by electronic means provided for in the two main laws in this matter (Law 39/2015, of 1 October, of the Common Administrative Procedure of the Public Administrations and Law 40/2015, of 1 October, of the Legal Regime of the Public Sector). As a result, a major systematization and management effort is achieved, with a considerable effort to simplify technically complex concepts.

The Regulation deepens the objective of having a digital, modern, accessible and personalized public administration to the needs of different social groups. This Royal Decree consolidates the regulations on electronic services to citizens and businesses, and drives the use and benefits of digitization in the administration.

The adoption of this Regulation complies with one of the measures for the digital transformation of the public sector included in the Spain Digital Agenda 2025 and with one of the reforms contemplated in the Recovery Plan Transformation and Resilience for the first semester of the year.

This regulation has four main objectives:

• Improving the efficiency of e-government
• Increase transparency of administrative action and people’s participation in e-government. Thus, the operation of the General Electronic Access Point (GPA) and the Citizen Folder in the State Public Sector is developed.
• Have easily usable and accessible digital services so that the data subject’s relationship with the Administration can be made easy, intuitive and effective when using the electronic channel.
• Relate the Public Administrations electronically to each other, in addition to the internal electronic functioning of the Administration.

As regards the positive impacts of the Regulation:

• It enables the increase of legal certainty, as well as the predictability of the actions of the public administrations, contributing to improve the service to citizens, the institutional image of Spain and confidence.
• It promotes equal opportunities, non-discrimination and universal accessibility for people with disabilities, as electronic media provide an alternative means of communication with the Administration.
• It strengthens the defence of individual rights. This is the case of the right to prompt, effective and efficient access to public services through electronic means;
• It meets the needs of citizens with quality web services, allowing transparent and truthful information and at the same time the right to preserve the privacy of citizens and their personal data.

The regulation also has a positive environmental impact by reducing the carbon footprint of traditional processing where paper, laser printing and logistics are widely used.

See the BOE page here