eGovernment is one of Europe’s big challenges, and interoperability is a necessary condition encouraged by the European Commission. Interoperability is believed to ensure effective service to citizens and to perform governmental functions effectively as well as efficiently. Day-to-day commitment as well as demonstrated successes are needed to promote requirements and facilitation for the three main aspects of interoperability: Technical, Semantic and Organisational.

This paper examines samples of European eGovernment initiatives submitted between January 2006 and October 2007 to the EC’s ePractice.eu website for evaluation as “best practice” and seeks to determine to what extent a requirement for interoperability is addressed. It is hoped that this study will contribute to emphasizing how interoperability, particularly through open system standards for eGovernment, is under-utilized as an enabler of more effective government services - within national boundaries as well as across other European nations.

By offering examples that display clear applications of interoperability, the EU through its ePractice program can demonstrate clear long-term vision toward goals identified and re-emphasized through the series of planning documents stating such requirements.