ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU), in all its varying previous guises, has been part of the political landscape of Europe for nigh-on 60 years. Though still not representing all nation states to be found on the whole of the European continent, through its developments and expansions – which are still ongoing – it has grown to become a strategic political and administrative entity incorporating 25 independent nation states in levels of co-operation and partnerships almost unthinkable at the time of its inception. Whilst a common perception of the EU is that its operations are bound by the various treaties that punctuate its history and indeed set out the major span of its activities, it could be argued that that this is not necessarily the case. The EU treaties prescribe the scope and range of powers that are assigned to the EU with other powers remaining the prerogative of individual member states’ national governments. Whilst one can see that in the specific case of e-government, the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community confer no such specific responsibility upon the EU, it would be wrong to think that this issue was therefore not part of the action plans of the EU. Whilst the primary initiator of egovernment implementation policies has remained the individual member states’ national governments, one can clearly view in the EU other policy areas for which it has been granted powers of action being used to build upon national efforts. This policy synergy has developed as a consequence of actions taken in a number of, sometimes overlapping, policy domains such as Industrial Policy, Trans European Networks, Research and Technological Development, Internal Market, Competition Policy and Regional Development Policies.1
