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Main legal texts impacting on the development of eGovernment
Last updated: January 2010
This ordinance – also referred to as the ‘teleservices ordinance’ – has been adopted on 8 December 2005 on the basis of the Legal Simplification Law of 9 December 2004.
It aims at establishing a comprehensive legal framework for the shift to an ‘electronic administration’ by 2008, by creating the conditions for simple and secure electronic interactions between citizens and public authorities. The text covers all exchanges of electronic documents, email or digital communications among, on the one hand, public authorities, and on the other hand, citizens and central administration, regional governments and private organisations licenced to carry out public services.
It grants the same legal status to email as that of traditional paper-based correspondence and legalises the use of electronic signatures by public authorities. Moreover, the ordinance includes a provision for users to have the option of securely storing and receiving official correspondence and administrative forms on personalised online mailboxes. Lastly, the text lays down provisions on both the security of exchanges and the interoperability of information systems.
The Law of 17 July 1978 on access to administrative documents provides for a right of access, by all persons, to administrative documents held by public bodies.
Those administrative documents include: files; reports; studies; records; minutes; statistics; orders; instructions; ministerial circulars; memoranda or replies containing an interpretation of positive law or a description of administrative procedures; recommendations; forecasts and decisions originating from the State, territorial authorities, public institutions and public or private organisations managing public services. The mentioned documents can be found in any form. Documents handed over are subject to copyright rules and cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes.
Public bodies must respond to requests for documents within one month. A Commission of Access to Administrative Documents (CADA) is tasked with oversight. It can mediate disputes and issue recommendations; its decisions are not, however, binding. A complaint must be decided upon by the CADA before it can be appealed to an administrative court.
France adopted the Law on ‘Informatics and Liberty’ on 6 January 1978, becoming one of the first European countries to have a data protection legislation.
The Law provides a legal framework for the use of identifiers in databases and the processing of personal data by public and private sector organisations. The Law created a National Commission for Informatics and Liberty (CNIL), which is in charge of overseeing its implementation and observance. The CNIL also has an advisory role in the planning of administrative data systems.
The Law on Informatics and Liberty was amended by law no. 2004-801 of 6 August 2004 implementing the EU Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC).
Adopted on 21 June 2004, the Law for trust in digital economy implements the EU Directive on electronic commerce (2000/31/EC) and sets the legal framework for the development of eCommerce services in France. Among others, this law lays down the opt-in principle for receiving advertisement email messages and regulates the liability of certification service providers issuing qualified digital certificates.
Adopted on 9 July 2004, this law implements the EU regulatory framework for electronic communications, namely: Directive 2002/21/EC (Framework Directive); 2002/20/EC (Authorisation Directive); 2002/19/EC (Access Directive); 2002/22/EC (Universal Service Directive); and 2002/58/EC (Directive on privacy and electronic communications). Transposition was subsequently completed with the adoption of several decrees.
The Law of 13 March 2000 on electronic signature gives legal value to electronic signatures and electronically-signed documents, and further implements the EU Directive 1999/93/EC on a Community framework for electronic signatures. This law was complemented by an application decree issued on 30 March 2001.
The so-called ‘teleservices ordinance’ of 8 December 2005 gives the same legal force to an eSignature on public documents as that of a hand-written signature.
The latest version of the French public procurement code was adopted on 1 August 2006 and entered into force on 1 September 2006. It transposes the EU Directives on public procurement (2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC), including their eProcurement provisions relating to eAuctions and Dynamic Purchasing System.
In comparison with its previous version of 2004, the procurement code of 2006 provides for a wider use of a dematerialised public procurement, so as to enhance the efficiency of procedures (shortened delays for reception of applications and tenders, electronic access to consultation/information documents, authorised sending of backup copies during the transmission of applications).
It is worth mentioning that the new public procurement code states that as from 1 January 2010, the French contracting authorities have the right to require the transmission of applications and tenders in electronic format only.
The second part of the code fully transposes specific provisions of Directive 2004/17/EC that are applicable to network operators.
The Law on access to administrative documents of 17 July 1978 was amended by a Government ordinance of 6 June 2005 implementing the provisions of the EU Directive on the re-use of public sector information (2003/98/EC).
