TOOP: The Once-Only Principle

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) building blocks have been identified as key enablers of the Once Only Principle in practice. CEF supports multiple digital infrastructure projects which contribute to improvements in the daily lives of Europeans through digital inclusion, the connectivity and interoperability of European digital services, and the development of a Digital Single Market. Read the Connecting Europe Success Story to see how CEF eDelivery, eID and eSignature support the once-only principle.

On 1 January 2017, the European Commission launched the “Once-Only” Principle (TOOP) project. The “Once-Only” principle in the context of the public sector means that citizens and businesses supply diverse data only once to a public administration.

The TOOP project is funded under Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and coordinated by the Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia). The project explores and demonstrates the “once-only” principle on a cross-border scale with the aim to reduce the administrative burden of businesses and public administrations. The project is part of the EU eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 and will contribute towards the creation of a Digital Single Market.

The Once-Only Principle

The once-only principle is an e-government concept that aims to ensure that citizens, institutions, and companies only have to provide certain standard information to the authorities and administrations once. By incorporating data protection regulations and the explicit consent of the users, the public administration is allowed to re-use and exchange the data with each other. The once-only principle is part of the European Union’s (EU) plans to further develop the Digital Single Market by reducing the administrative burden on citizens and businesses.