OpenPEPPOL Position Paper

Transcription

1 1 OpenPEPPOL Position Paper on the European Commission proposal for a Directive on electronic invoicing in public procurement Brussels,11October2013 OpenPEPPOLAISBL Rond pointschuman6 1040Brussels,Belgium info@peppol.eu

2 OpenPEPPOL opinion on the proposal for a Directive on electronic invoicing in public procurement Introduction OpenPEPPOLwelcomestheEuropeanCommission sproposalforadirectiveonelectronicinvoicingin publicprocurement 1,andthefocusonshiftingtowardsapaperlesspublicadministration,particularlyits cross borderdimension. ThemissionofthePEPPOL(Pan EuropeanPublicProcurementOnline)projectandnowofitssuccessor, OpenPEPPOL,isspecificallytoenablecross borderinteroperabilityofelectronicpublicprocurement, promotingtheuseofitsstandardsbasedspecificationsacrosseurope. OpenPEPPOLstronglysupportstheobjectiveoftheDirectivetoremovemarketaccessbarriersincrossborderpublicprocurement,inordertoimprovetheconditionsforthefunctioningoftheinternalmarket. Summary of the OpenPEPPOL position 1 TheDirectiveshouldacknowledge,initspreamble,theeffortsmadebytheECco fundedlarge ScalePilotPEPPOL(Pan EuropeanPublicProcurementOnline)tofacilitatecrossbordere invoicing inpublicprocurement.inparticular,theresultsachievedthroughuseofthepeppolbusiness InteroperabilitySpecifications(BIS),itsnetwork 2 ensuringsecureandreliabletransmissionofeinvoicesandotherbusinessdocumentsbetweentradingpartners,aswellasthelegalframework 3, establishedtofacilitateseamlessmany to manyinteroperability,shouldberecognisedasthe platformforthefurtherdevelopmentofend to ende procurementinthepublicsectorineurope. ThePEPPOLBISimplementstheresultsoftheCENworkshoponBusinessInteroperability InterfacesforPublicProcurementinEurope(CENWSBII).ThroughPEPPOLandimplementationsin severalmemberstatesandassociatedcountries,resultsfromcenwsbiihavealreadybeen thoroughlytestedandhaveprovedtheirusefulnessinpractice. 2 ConsideringthespecificscopeofthedraftDirectivewhichfocusesonlyonelectronicinvoicesin publicprocurementandinthelightofthecommission sobjectivetoachieveend to endelectronic procurementtomodernisepublicadministrations 4,itisimportanttonotethattheCENWSBIIis theonlyrelevantstandardisationinitiativeineuropethatsupportsnotonlye Invoicingbutalsothe completeend to endprocurementcycle. 3 OpenPEPPOLsupportsthedevelopmentandmandatoryuseofacommonsemanticdatamodelof thecoreelectronicinvoicebasedonexistingspecificationsandmethodology,developedbythe Europeanstandardisationorganisation(CEN).OpenPEPPOLrecommendsthattheresultsfromthe CENWSBII,andinparticularthattheCENWorkshopAgreement(CWA)16562,isusedasbasisfor theestablishmentoftheeuropeanstandardforthesemanticdatamodel. 1 EuropeanCommissionProposalforaDirectiveoftheEuropeanParliamentandoftheCouncilonelectronicinvoicing inpublicprocurement.com(2013)449final.brussels, ThePEPPOLTransportInfrastructure(PEPPOLnetwork)isbasedonasetofstandardisedcommunicationprotocols thatensuresthesecureandreliableexchangeofelectronicdocumentsbetweenpublicsectorbuyersandtheir suppliers.formoreinformation: transport infrastructure 3 TheGovernanceofthePEPPOLnetworkisregulatedbythePEPPOLTransportInfrastructureAgreements. 4 EuropeanCommissionCommunicationonEnd to ende procurementtomodernisepublicadministration. COM(2013)453final.Brussels,

3 4 OpenPEPPOLrecommendslimitingthenumberofsyntaxesthatcontractingauthoritiesinEurope mustbeabletoreceiveandprocessbasedontheeuropeanstandardforthesemanticdatamodel. Thisinordertoreducethecostandcomplexityofconversionfromonesyntaxtoanother,thatare significantevenifthesyntaxesarebasedonacommonsemanticdatamodel.thebefore mentionedcwa16562providesanapproachforsyntaxbindingthatcouldbeusedinthiscontext. Whilethenumberofmandatorysyntaxmappingsshouldbeverylimited,contractingauthorities couldonavoluntarybasisaccepttoreceiveelectronicinvoicesbasedonothersyntaxes,compliant withthecommonsemanticdatamodel. 5 OpenPEPPOLrecommendsthattheCommissionshallbeempoweredtoadoptdelegatedacts. 5 As withintheproposedpublicprocurementdirective 6 thepossibilitytoadoptdelegatedactsshouldbe giventoensuretheinteroperabilityoftechnicalformatsaswellasofprocessandmessaging standards,especiallyinacross bordercontexttoestablishthemandatoryuseofsuchspecific technicalstandards.fore invoicingthiscouldcoversyntaxmappingsanduseoftransmission protocolsandshouldapplyonlywheretechnicalstandardshavebeenthoroughlytestedandhave provedtheirusefulnessinpractice. 6 BasedontheexperiencegainedinEuropeancountrieswithahighlevelofe Invoicingadoption,itis notsufficienttofocusonthecontractingauthorities obligationtoreceiveandprocesse invoices. Thisisagoodstartingpoint,buttheremustalsobeanobligationforEconomicOperatorstosend invoiceselectronicallytotheirpublicsectorcustomers.openpeppolrecommendsasaminimum thatcontractingauthoritiesaregiventherighttomandatetheuseofe Invoicingfromtheir suppliers.ideally,itshouldbemandatoryforalleconomicoperatorstosendinvoicestotheir publicsectorcustomerselectronicallyashasbeendoneindenmark. 7 OpenPEPPOLrecognisesthatthetimerequiredtodevelopandtransposethecommonsemantic datamodelintoaeuropeanstandardwillbebetween2to3years.forthisreason,theeuropean Commissionshouldpublishaclearandconciseroadmapbytheendof2013,providingguidanceto themarketintheinterimperiod.openpeppolalsorecommendsthatthecommissionconsider reducingthetranspositionperiodfrom48toamaximumof24months. 5 The Treaty of Lisbon creates a new category of legal act: delegated acts. These delegated non-legislative acts (Article 290 TFEU) are acts of general application to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of the legislative act. Furthermore, the legislator sets the conditions under which this delegation may be implemented. 6 Directive replacing Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts. 3

4 General remarks 1 Development of a European semantic data model Akeyelementoftheproposalisthata Europeanstandard willbedevelopedwithintheframeworkof CEN,asevidencedinArticle3.Thisstandardreferstoasemanticreferencemodelforthecorecontentof aneinvoice.thepurposeofthis standard istocreateaunifiedconceptandasemanticreferencemodel fore invoiceswhichshouldbetobridgedifferente invoiceformats(syntax). OpenPEPPOLsupportsthedevelopmentofacommonsemanticdatamodelofthecoreelectronicinvoice basedonexistingspecifications,includinginparticularthosedevelopedbyeuropeanorinternational organisationssuchascenbusinessinteroperabilityinterfacesforpublicprocurementineurope(cenws BII),whichresultedintheCENWorkshopAgreement(CWA)16562;CWA16356;ISO(FinancialInvoice basedontheiso20022methodology),andun/cefact(ciiv.2.0),aswellastheresultsofanyrelevant workcarriedoutwithintheframeworkofthecommission slarge ScalePilotProjects. OpenPEPPOLrecognisesthatsignificanteffortshavebeenmadeinthisfieldand,inordertomakethetask easierforcenandtherebyacceleratingtheprocess,proposestomandatecentodevelopthesemantic datamodelthusleveragingtheresultsofcenwsbii,asthestartingpoint.thisdatamodelhasalready proveditsvalueinthepeppolprojectandthedatamodelalreadyincludessyntaxmappingstoboththe CrossIndustryInvoice(CII)andtheUniversalBusinessLanguage(UBL) 7. Moreover,theuseofstructuredformatsfore InvoicesasproposedintheDirectiveisimperativeforthe implementationofcost effectivesolutionswithefficientsupportfor(semi )automatedprocessing.it shouldbenotedhowever,thatallcurrentsuccessfulexamplesofpublicprocurementsolutionsarebased onxmltechnologies.thisshouldatleastberecognizedandpreferredinfavourofoldertechnology formatssuchasedifactthataremainlydeployedinindustry specificareaswithhighspecializationof supplychains.examplesofwidespreaduseofedifactalsoinpublicprocurementexistinsweden,butuse ofxmlisdominantamongnewimplementersalsothere.imposingarequirementtosupportformatsother thanxmlwillinvolveadditionaltechnologiesrequiredandsubsequentincreasedcostsforallpublic ContractingAgencies. InordertoensurecompliancewiththeobjectivesofDirective2006/112/EC,theEuropeanstandardshould notcontainrequirementsforelectronicsignatures,whiledefiningsemanticdataelementsreferringto correspondingsellerandbuyerdata,processidentifiers,invoiceattributes,invoiceitemdetails,delivery information,paymentdetailsandterms. 2 Implications and cost of conversion between formats AccordingtoArticle4,contractingauthoritiesarerequiredtoreceivealle invoicescompliantwiththe SemanticdatamodelasapartoftheEuropeanStandard.InpracticethismeansthatContracting authoritiesareboundtoreceiveacurrentlyunknownnumberofe invoiceformatsandsyntaxes. Accordingtoarecentstudy 8 carriedoutbytheswedishfinancialmanagement.authority(esv)onthe impactofthedraftdirective,noneoftoday'sitsolutionshavethecapabilitytoacceptanarbitrarye 7 UniversalBusinessLanguage(UBL)isalibraryofstandardelectronicXMLbusinessdocumentssuchaspurchase ordersandinvoices.ublwasdevelopedbyanoasistechnicalcommitteewithparticipationfromavarietyof industrydatastandardsorganizations.ublisownedbyoasisandiscurrentlyavailabletoall,withnoroyaltyfees. 8 Summaryofthereportonconsequencesofthedirectiveproposalone invoicinginpublicprocurement(esv 2013:50). 4

5 invoiceformatinanautomatedmanner.thisisalsoexpectedtoleadtoquitesubstantiallyincreasedcosts forcontractingauthorities. Inparticular,ESVestimatesthattheaveragecosttoestablishformatconversionforthe540contracting authorities subjectofthisanalysis wouldbeover10mleuro(sek95million).approximatelyhalfofthis costwouldbeincurredforpublicauthorities,withouttakingintoaccountongoingtransactionfeesand othercosts.aconclusiontobedrawnfromthisisthatthecostofhandlingformatconversionsisthesingle largestcostitembroughtonbythisproposal.conversionscould,accordingtoesv scalculations,costtwice asmuchasthechangemanagementandtheinvestmentsmadebythefewagenciescurrentlynot acceptinge Invoices. Thealternativeisforeachagencytouseane Businessserviceprovidertohandletheformatconversion process,whichalsocomesatasignificantcost.however,serviceprovidersarenowalsorealisingthereal costof anytoany formattranslations,becauseitisnotonlyacaseofspendingmoremoneytosupport morevariations.othersignificantcostdriversincludethetimespentongettingtradingpartnersupand running,theneedtosimplifytheprocess,andmakeitarepeatableprocess(aspartoftheoperation slife cyclemanagement).thereisnodoubtthatlimitingthenumberofstandardssignificantlylimitsthe numberofvariationsbutthisdirectivecouldactuallyserveto increase thenumberofstandardsused (providingtheyallincorporatethesamesemanticdatamodel). Finally,theconceptthatseveralapprovedsyntaxesmightexist,willalsofurtherprohibitsoftwareproviders andparticularlyerpvendorsfrominvestinginasinglee invoicingstandardandmakingtheirerpor Accountingsoftwarecapableofproducing readytosendorreceive e invoiceexport/importcapability, whichwouldmakee InvoicingmucheasierforSMEs. 3 Adoption of Delegated Acts AccordingtoArticle290TFEU,theEuropeanCommissionisgrantedthepowertosupplementoramend thenon essentialelementsofabasicact,forthesakeofspeedandefficiency,throughtheadoptionof DelegatedActs,whichrepresentasimplifiedlegislativeprocedure. Accordingtoarticle19section7a,3rdparagraphoftheproposedpublicprocurementdirective 9,the EuropeanCommission,inordertoensureinteroperabilityoftechnicalformats,aswellasofprocessand messagingstandards,especiallyinacrossbordercontext,isempoweredtoadoptdelegatedactswhere technicalstandardshavebeenthoroughlytestedandprovedtheirusefulnessinpractice.thecurrentlistin theproposedpublicprocurementdirectiveincludese submission,e cataloguesandthemeansfor electronicauthentication. ConsideringthepotentialnegativeimpactofArticle4,ascurrentlydraftedinthedraftDirectiveone Invoicinginpublicprocurement,OpenPEPPOLrecommendstheEuropeanCommissiontoadopta DelegatedActtosupplementthetechnicalaspectsrelatedtothedevelopmentofaEuropeanstandardfor thesemanticdatamodel.thedelegatedactcouldalsoincludetheguidelinesandreference implementationsformappingthemaine Invoicingsyntax(es)totheEuropeanstandardforsemanticdata model,inordertoavoidamultitudeofvariationsinfuturee Invoicingimplementations,aswellasuseof transmissionprotocols. 9 Directive replacing Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts. 5

6 4 Timeline and Roadmap OpenPEPPOLrecommendstoreducethetranspositionperiodoftheDirectivefrom48tomaximum24 months,basedonthecentimeframetodevelopaeuropeanstandard(seefigurebelow). Consideringthatmarketdevelopmentsandadoptionwillcontinueoverthenextfewyears,itisimportant toprovideaclearroadmapwhichwillindicateexactlythesteps,thetimelinesandtheexpectedresultsof theworkrequiredtodeveloptheeuropeanstandard.itwillbeequallyimportantalsotocommunicate regularlytheprogressmadebycen,sothatthemarketcanstartplanningthetestingandimplementation process. Moreover,significantworkalready carriedoutwithincenbiicould representthestartingpointfor thefurtherdevelopmentofthe Europeanstandard.Thereforeit shouldbepossibletoaccelerate thetechnicalworkrequiredinthis contextsignificantlyifcen WorkshopAgreement(CWA) 16562isusedasbasisforthe EuropeanStandard. 5 Mandatory e Invoicing for suppliers to the public sector BasedontheexperienceofcountrieslikeNorwayandDenmarkwhichenjoyaveryhighe Invoicing adoptionlevelinthebusiness to governmentcontext,animportantlessonlearnedisthatmandatingthe receivingcapabilitiesamongpublicsectorentitiestoprocesselectronicinvoicesisnotsufficienttopromote itsadoption.indeed,atwo stepapproachishighlyrecommended.forexample,thenorwegian governmentmandatedthatallcentralgovernmententitiesshouldbeabletoreceiveinvoicesinastandard formatfrom1 st ofjuly monthslateronlyasmallnumberofinvoiceshadbeenreceived.then, from1 st ofjuly2012itbecamemandatoryforallcentralgovernmententitiestorequiretheirsuppliersto invoicethemelectronicallyunderallnewcontracts.14monthslater,morethan1millioninvoiceshadbeen received.currently,thenumberofinvoicesreceivedincreasesat20 30%permonthasmorecontracting authoritiesmandatee invoicingfromtheirsupplierswhenenteringintonewcontracts. InDenmarkitbecamemandatoryforprivatecompaniestoinvoicetheirpublicsectorcustomers electronicallyin2005,withanoptionforsmestosendpaperinvoicesthatwerethenscannedandsent electronicallytothepublicsectorrecipient.thisgavearapidgrowthinnumberofinvoicesreceivedfully electronicallyfrom thefirstmonthto permonthoneyearlater. 6

7 Interoperability for e Invoicing in public procurement in Europe 1 CEN BII for public procurement in Europe Introduction TheobjectiveoftheCENBusinessInteroperabilityInterfaces(BII)forpublicprocurementinEurope initiativeistoprovideaframeworkforinteroperabilityinpan Europeanelectronicprocurement transactions,expressedasasetofrequirementsandtechnicalspecifications,referredas BIIprofiles. Inlinewithitsapprovedbusinessplan,thefocusofBIIistocollectEuropeanrequirementsandtoprovide guidanceforconsistentimplementationoftheserequirementsutilizingexistinginternational developments,i.e.fromun/cefactandoasis UBL.Theactualimplementationiscarriedout bytheusercommunitiesandinitiativessuchas PEPPOL/OpenPEPPOLataEuropeanlevel. Thefundamentalassumptioninthisapproach isthatinordertoachievethegoalof interoperability,severalorganizationsand initiativesneedtoworktogether each contributingwiththeirpieceofthepuzzle. Theillustrationdepictedhereshowsthe specification standards implementation ecosystem.toacknowledgeandcontinuouslyimproveonhowtheentitiesofthisecosystemarebrought togetheriskeyinsecuringthecontinuedsuccessandexpansionofe InvoicinginEurope. Core requirements InthecontextofBII,itisrecognisedthattherequiredinformationcontentofeachbusinesstransactionwill dependonthebusinessscenarioinwhichitisapplied.forinstance,inanadvancedwarehousingscenario theremaybeaneedtoprovideveryspecificinformationelementsrelatedtothehandlingandstorageof goodsnotgenerallyrequiredbyallbusinesses.itisalsorecognisedthatwithanaimtofacilitatetrue interoperability,thereisaneedtodefinetheminimumsetofinformationelementsforeachbusiness transactionthatisusefulandunderstandableinallbusinessscenarios.basedonthisneedtheinformation RequirementModelsdefinedbyBIIintendtodefineacoreinformationsetapplicableatEuropeanlevel. Thiscoresetofinformationelementswilltypicallysupportthemajorityofuserrequirements.Notall requirementspertinenttoindustryspecificneedswillbecoveredbythecoreinformationelements. However,thecoreinformationsetallowsforindustryspecificadoptionusingthecombinationof mandatory/optionalelementsandrestrictions/extensions. AlthoughthedeliverablesprovidedbyBIIareexpectedtobereadyforimplementationastheyare,the focusondefiningthecoreinformationsetalsoimpliesarecognitionthatfurthercustomizationmay/willbe requiredbyusergroupsorevenindividualusers. 7

8 CEN BII profiles developed for e Invoicing in public procurement TheCENBIIworkshophasanumberofdeliverablesthatarerelevantfore invoicinginpublicprocurement andtheproposedinitiativetodevelopaeuropeanstandard(en)forasemanticdatamodelforaeuropean CoreeInvoice.ThesedeliverablesarerelevantnotonlyfortheSemanticdataModelitself,butalsoforthe methodologyrelevantforitsdevelopmentandadoption. BIIdeliverable CWA16558AnnexB BIIGuideline;CapturingOfBusiness Requirements CWA16558AnnexC BIIGuideline;ConformanceAnd Customizations CWA16562AnnexB BIIProfile04;InvoiceOnly CWA16562 AnnexC BIIProfile05;Billing Comment Describesamethodologyforhowtoidentifyanddescribe businessrequirements. ThisdeliverableiscurrentlyunderreviewandrevisioninCEN WS/BII3. Describesamethodologyforhowtoadoptandmakeuseof thebiiprofilesinaspecificbusinesscontext,whileensuring continuedinteroperability. ThisdeliverableisscheduledforreviewandrevisioninCEN WS/BII3. Thisprofiledescribesaprocesscomprisingonlyasupplier initiatedelectronicinvoice.itisintendedtosupportusecases wheretheinvoicingisconveyedinanelectronicformat,but whereautomationofmatchingittootherdocumentsisnot required. TheInvoiceisaself containeddocumentthatadheresto commercialandfiscalrequirements. Itisnotaprimaryobjectiveofthisprofiletofacilitate automaticordermatchingand/orcostallocation;theprofile assumeslimitedornoprocurementdatacontentandlimited ornoalignedandsynchronizedidentifiersinthesystemto matchthetransaction. ThisprofilemaycoverInvoicefactoringarrangementsbutis notdesignedforself billing. Theprofileincludesasemanticinformationrequirement modelfortheinvoicetransaction. Thisprofiledescribestheprocessthatprovidessupportfor theprocessingofanelectronicinvoiceand,potentially,an electroniccreditnote,orjustanelectroniccreditnote.itis intendedforsituationswhereinvoicingiselectronicbut wherematchingoftheinvoicetootherelectronicdocuments maynotbepractical.theinvoiceandcreditnoteareselfcontaineddocumentswiththatadheretocommercialand fiscalrequirements. Billinginconsistencies/errorsarenotifiedtothereceiverof theinvoiceandthenresolvedbytheissuingofacreditnote and/oracorrectiveinvoice.thisprofileisalsousedwhena CreditNoteneedstobeexchangedforotherreasonsthanfor correctinganinvoice. Itisnotaprimaryobjectiveofthisprofiletofacilitate 8

9 automaticorder Invoicematchingand/orcostallocation;the profileassumeslimitedornoprocurementdatacontentand limitedornoalignedorsynchronizedidentifiersinthesystem tomatchthetransaction. TheInvoiceallowsfortheuseoftextaswellasidentifiersand codes.forexample,theinvoicemaycontainitems(goodsor services)withitemidentifiersaswellasitemsthatare referencedusingfreetextdescriptions. ThisprofilemaycoverInvoicefactoringarrangements.This profilecanbeusedwithlittleornointegrationtoerp systems. Theprofileincludessemanticinformationrequirement modelsfortheinvoiceandcreditnotetransactions. 2 The PEPPOL project and OpenPEPPOL Introduction In2008,thePEPPOL(Pan EuropeanPublicProcurementOnline)projectwaslaunchedwiththepurposeto alignbusinessprocessesusingcommonstandards,addresscommonlegalissues,todeveloptechnologies availableasopensourceandtocreateanopenandaccessiblenetworkthatwouldcaterforareliableand secureexchangeofinformation.theprojectwasco fundedbytheeuropeancommissionanda consortiumof18governmentagenciesfrom11memberstatesandassociatedcountries:austria, Denmark,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Italy,Norway,Portugal,SwedenandtheUnitedKingdom. PEPPOLdevelopedtheBusinessInteroperabilitySpecifications(BIS)forcommone procurementprocesses suchase catalogue,e orders,ande invoicestostandardizeelectronicdocumentsexchangedandvalidated throughanopenandsecurenetwork,betweensendingandreceivingaccesspointsforpublicsectorbuyers andtheirsuppliersacrosseurope.avirtualcompanydossierwasdevelopedforsupplierstosubmit companyinformationinastandardized re usable format,ane catalogueforuseinthetenderingprocess, andapan Europeane signaturevalidationservice. InSeptember2012,theOpenPEPPOLAssociationwassetupinordertoassumetheresponsibilityforthe maintenanceofthepeppolspecificationsandtopromoteimplementationacrosseurope.membershave theuniqueopportunitytodrivestandardisation,processautomationandconnectivityacrosseurope.inits firstyearofoperation,over75membershavejoinedfromboththepublicandprivatesectorsin18 countries,withover60peppolaccesspointsestablished. Link between CEN BII profiles and PEPPOL BIS SincetheverybeginningofthePEPPOLendeavour,theBIIandPEPPOLinitiativeswheredesignedto constitutecomplementaryentities. CENBIIisastandardizationinitiativefocusingondevelopingstandards,intheformofCEN workshopagreements.itsdeliverablesarespecificallytargetedatfacilitatingelectronic procurementandinvoicinginthepublicsectorineurope,althoughtheyhaveproventobeuseful alsoinanumberofapplicationsintheprivatesector. PEPPOL,andnowitssuccessor,OpenPEPPOL,focusonimplementationandpracticaluseoftheBII deliverablesincross borderpublicprocurementineurope. 9

10 Overtheyears,CENBIIandPEPPOLhavedevelopedagoodworkingrelationship,andalsosharemanyof thesamestakeholdersandparticipants. PEPPOL BIS: a common denominator for cross border e Invoicing InessencethePEPPOLBISprovidethestakeholders serviceproviders,systemsvendorsandindividual organizationswhoimplementandprovidepeppolservices withasetofelementsthatleveragethecen BIIprofiles.Theseadditionalelementswillguideimplementersintheirefforts.ExamplesofPEPPOLBIS elementsthatcomplementthebiiprofilesare: Stylesheets Testfiles Contextdescriptions(process,usecasesandexamples) Businessrules Messagestructureandinformationcontent ThePEPPOLBISforaspecificspecificationisalsoaccompaniedbyanadditionaldocument the conformancestatement.thisdocumentdescribesthelevelofconformancewiththeunderlyingbii specification,clearlystatingthedeviationsfromtheprofilespecifications(incaseanyexist).thedeviations mightbemanifestedas restrictions or extensions.theconformancestatementconstitutesanimport elementinthefeed backloopmechanism OpenPEPPOL CEN,asitprovidesinputtothecurrent(or upcoming)workshopintermsofrequirementstoconsiderforfutureversionsofthebiispecifications. ThePEPPOLBISformthebasisforcrossborderexchangeoftheinformationcoveredbythePEPPOLBISset ofelements catalogue,ordering,invoice,despatchadviceand,latertheautumnof2013,alsobilling (Invoiceandcreditnote)andmessagelevelresponse.Usingcommonspecificationstoexchangee Procurementinformationacrossbordersoffersgreatbenefitstosuppliers,buyersandservices/systems alike. ThePEPPOLBISalsoformsthebasisfornationalleveladoptionsoftheCENBIIprofiles.TheNorwegianEHF specificationsconstituteanexampleofthis,whereminoradoptionsofpeppolbisaredonetocaterfor nationallevellegislationandspecificconsiderations.insweden,futurenationallevelspecificationsofthe SWE familyofspecifications(swe Invoice/Svefaktura,Swe Order/Sveorderetc.)areexpectedtobe basedonthepeppolbis. PEPPOL adoption for e Invoicing in public procurement in Europe 1. Austria:From2014,eInvoicingtotheFederalgovernmentwillbemandatory.UseofPEPPOL specificationsandnetworkisoneofthetwooptionsallowed. 2. Denmark:NationaleInvoicingplatform NemHandel (mandatorysince2005)ispeppolenabled. 3. France:FrenchStateconnectedtoaPEPPOLAccessPoint;UGAP(CentralGovernmentalProcurement Agency)planningdeploymentofPEPPOLe Invoicingwithlocalauthorities. 4. Ireland:GovernmentplansnationalrolloutofPEPPOLwith7activeAccessPointsalreadyinplace.First tenderrequiringuseofpeppolinfrastructureforeinvoicingpublishedinaugust Italy:Intercent ER(EmiliaRomagna)withmanyHealthcareauthoritiesandENIimplementingeOrdering &einvoicing;telecomitaliaimplementingeinvoicing.regionoflombardiatoimplemente Orderswith PEPPOLforallCAsintheregionbyend2013 PEPPOLAuthoritytobesetupby2013.Healthcare privateindustryalreadycollaboratingwiththeregionstobeconnectedtopeppolbyendof

11 6. Netherlands:NationaleInvoicinginitiative SimplerInvoicing pilotedthepeppolspecificationsfor einvoicingintheb2bandb2g,duringsummer2013,withsuccessfulresults.softnationalroll outtobe announcedbyendof Norway:FromJuly2012eInvoicingtothegovernmentismandatory,basedonPEPPOLspecifications andpeppolnetworkusewasrecommended.vastmajorityofcentralgovernmentorganisationscan receivepeppol basedeinvoices. 8. Poland:PEPPOLtobepartofthenationale Invoicingstrategy.PolishMinistryofEconomyinchargeof implementingtheeinvoicingdirectiveinpublicprocurementisthecandidatepeppolauthority. 9. Sweden:PublicsectoreInvoicingandeOrderingmandated.PEPPOLspecificationsandnetwork recommendedforcrossborderuse.thepeppolbisincreasinglyformthebasisforthenationallevele Procurementspecifications.Asanexampleofthis,itshouldbenotedthatthenewnationallevel DespatchAdvicespecificationisbasedonPEPPOLBISDespatchAdviceinitsentirety. ItisnoteworthytomentionthatOpenPEPPOLAISBL,initsfirstyearofoperations,hasrecruitedover75 activememberorganisationsacross18countries.whileinitiallyapublicsectorfocusedinitiative, OpenPEPPOLmembersincludelargeglobalmultinationalsandasignificantnumberofSMEsfromawide rangeofindustriesandsectors. 3 Other initiatives: ZUGFeRD vs. BII/PEPPOL BIS Introduction ZUGFeRDisaninitiativewithintheGermanmarketdevelopedasaresultofcooperationamongst "membersfromthepublicadministration,threegermanfederalministries,industryassociationsinthe financial,taxandsoftwaresectors,andotherorganizations." CurrentlythespecificationsofZUGFeRDareavailableinGermanlanguageonly,thusadetailedanalysisof allaspectsofthisinitiativehasnotbeenpossible.wehavebeeninformedthattheenglishversionofthe specificationwillbemadeavailableduringnovember2013. BasedontheavailablematerialitisclearthatZUGFeRDiscomprisedoftwomaincomponents: 1) asemanticdatamodel,and 2) atechnicalimplementation(syntaxsolution)basedonstructuredxmlembeddedinpdf The ZUGFeRD semantic data model TheZUGFeRDdatamodelisstatedtobebasedintheCrossIndustryInvoice(CII)fromUN/CEFACT. Howeverananalysisofthematerialavailable( zugferdsyntax with cross industry invoice v2)suggeststhattherearesignificantdifferencesbetweenzugferd andanyofthepubliclyavailablespecificationsofciifromun/cefact. The ZUGFeRD technical implementation TheZUGFeRDtechnicalimplementationisbasedonISO (PDF/A)wheretheXMLinvoicedatais embeddedinthepdfdocumentasanattachment.althoughthismaylooklikeanattractivesolution (combiningthebestofelectronicpaperandstructureddata)similarfunctionalitymaybeachievedbyother techniques,suchasxmlstylesheets.theuseofxmldataandstylesheetapproachissignificantlymore widespreadthanuseofpdf/aforhandlingofbusinessdocuments.whenusingthepdf/astandardthereis alsoariskforinconsistencybetweenwhatispresentedinthepdf documentandtheunderlyingstructured data.thisrepresentsapotentiallegaluncertaintywithinapdf/aapproachthatdoesnotexistinanxml dataandstylesheetapproach. 11

12 4 Conclusions InthecomingmonthsitwillbecriticalfortheCommissiontoprovideaclearandconciseRoadmapofthe cominglegislativechangesandrecommendations,particularlyduringthisperiodwhereboththeprivate andpublicsectorsareinvestinginandimplementingeinvoicingsolutions.themarketshouldnotneedto waituntilthelegislativeandstandardisationprocesseswillbecompleted. TheRoadmapshouldclearlystatethattheresultsoftheCENworkshoponBusinessInteroperability InterfacesforpublicprocurementinEuropewillbeusedasthebasisforthedevelopmentoftheEuropean standardforthesemanticdatamodel.thisisnecessaryinordertoavoidthatuncertaintycouldhinderany developmentleadingtoasituationwherememberstatesandcontractingauthoritieswillnotbeableto makedecisionsonanye Invoicingimplementationsforthenext2 3years. ItisequallynecessarythatMemberStatesasktheircontractingauthoritiestoimplementreceiving capabilityfore Invoiceswithin1yearfollowingthepublicationoftheEuropeanstandard.However,MS shouldbefreetochoosethepreferredsyntaxforcross borderanddomestice Invoicingtransactions(or morethanonesyntaxiftheysodesire),aslongasitiscompliantwiththeeuropeanstandardforthe semanticdatamodel.itisimportanttoclarifythatpeppolhasimplementedtheresultsofthecenbii workshop(cenbiiprofiles)throughthepeppolspecifications(peppolbis),whichareimplementedin severalpublice Procurementsystemsandcurrentlyusedforcross border,nationalandregionale Invoice exchanges,usingthepeppolnetworkasthetransmissionchannel. Moreover,experienceinsomememberStateshasproventhatmandatinge Invoicereceivingcapabilities forcontractingauthoritiescanbeineffectiveunlesseconomicoperatorsarealsorequiredtosend electronicinvoicestotheirpublicsectorclients.thedeadlineforpublicsectorsupplierstosendinvoices electronicallytothepublicsectorshouldbesetwithin1yearfollowingthemandatorydeadlinefor contractingauthoritiestohavetheirreceivingcapabilitiesinplace. AboutOpenPEPPOL AsthePan EuropeanPublicProcurementOnline(PEPPOL)projectreachedasuccessfulcompletionatthe endofaugust2012,withthepeppolspecificationsbeingimplementedacrosseurope,theopenpeppol Association,comprisedofpublicandprivatemembersofthePEPPOLcommunity,hastakenresponsibility forallactivitiespreviouslycarriedoutinthepeppolproject,promotingimplementationacrosseurope. Formoreinformation: 12