EU pushes for cross border procurement

The European Commission has launched a new portal which it believes will herald the arrival of the next generation of e-government services as well as help businesses in their contact with the EC.

The Your Europe Portal, which can be found here, has a section dedicated to e-services for businesses and is also charged with cutting through administrative red tape to help businesses from within the Union to win public sector contracts with foreign governments.

The portal provides advice for companies trying to expand overseas on topics including social security issues and how to register a business overseas. Your Europe also has its own area which focuses on open source, including case studies and ongoing trials in the public sector.

Commission vice president Günter Verheugen described the portal as a key step towards pan-EU e-government.