Digital solutions for communication with public authorities does not work across Nordic borders
Digital solutions such as for example “e-legitimation” or “e-signature” used by private citizens and businesses in communication with public authorities in the Nordic countries does not work across the Nordic borders.
Border Issue Status: Registered in the Border Database
This problem is registered as a border issue in the Border Database, run by the Nordic Council. It has also been prioritized by the Freedom of Movement Council. This border issue has been discussed at the highest political level and constitutes one of the prioritized areas in the Nordic Council’s Action Plan for mobility for 2019-2021.
Several digital communication solutions such as e-signatures and e-identification tools (such as Nem-ID in Denmark and Bank-ID in Sweden) are currently in use in the Nordic countries. On a national level, these solutions help to to facilitate administrative burdens, reduce costs, and shorten processing time, while sparing citizens and businesses long waiting times when contacting the public sector.
Unfortunately, these solutions have not been developed to work across borders in the Nordics. Often, a physical meeting is required for individual and businesses to access certain services – additionally, businesses might also be required to have a specific legal status. This means that it is impossible for some businesses who have their physical presence in another country to access or participate in the digital administrative infrastructure of another country.
Access to digital services such as “e-legitimation” can facilitate the mobility for individuals who might, for example, work in another country than their country of residence, or who have recently moved to another country in the Nordics.
A mutual recognition of the different digital solutions for online identification and digital signatures currently in place in the Nordic countries would facilitate the access to digital public services in another country for both citizens and businesses. This would have a positive impact on the mobility of individuals and businesses in the Nordics. Nordic citizens should be able to use their own safe login-in solutions, such as personal identification numbers and electronic “e-legitimation”, regardless of where they are currently residing.
