The Spanish Council of Ministers approved on 6 November 2009 a Royal Decree whose purpose is to partially implement the Law on Citizens' Electronic Access to Public Services of 2007. The relevant decree (Real Decreto 1671/2009) was published in the Official Gazette of 18 November 2009.
The Law on Citizens' Electronic Access to Public Services (otherwise known as the 'Law on eAdministration') seeks to make the most of information and communication technology (ICT) in an aim to bring citizens closer to the Public Administration while enhancing the transparency and efficiency of the relevant administrative proceedings, so as to enable the citizens' electronic access to most of the public services via the Internet.
The same law officially recognises the right of citizens to communicate electronically with Public Administrations, i.e. to conduct their administrative business by electronic means, 24 hours a day.
Relevant State bodies are obliged to facilitate this via diverse channels such as the Internet, television or other technology. This new right is to be respected by all Public Administrations from 31 December 2009 onwards. Furthermore, this law stipulates that any business conducted by electronic means will be just as valid as if it were conducted by traditional means.
The Real Decree 1671/2009 establishes a more flexible framework for the implementation of eGovernment, without neglecting however security requirements and the protection of the citizens' rights and interests. The Decree regulates the following aspects:
- The 'electronic offices' - electronic access points to the central government services -, the Decree defines a common framework for their creation, their features and their application scope, thus reinforcing their reliability while easing their localisation by the citizens;
- The 'General Access Point', that is, the single access gate - to the public services of the central government and other public bodies - through which citizens will find the information they need to take part in electronic proceedings;
- Electronic registers, with a major novelty, namely, the creation of a Common Electronic Register which will receive all the documents and communications that were presented by citizens to the wrong eRegisters, so as to allow the Administration to know about these documents.
- The minimal and essential requirements pertaining to identification and authentication, so as to strengthen the flexibility criterion introduced by the eAdministration Law. To this end, the decree lays down specific provisions to facilitate the performing of proceedings in the name of a third party by means of two mechanisms: the authorisation to present electronic documents on behalf of an interested party and the possibility for mandated civil servants to carry out the identification and authentication of citizens in the services and procedures for which they are needed.
- The proceedings for obtaining or submitting documents which are in the hands of the central government and its public bodies. Thanks to this regulation, citizens are exempt from having to visit the Administrations' offices to obtain or to bring such documents.
- Electronic documents: features, validity, electronic copies, groups of senders, archiving, preservation and disposal.
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