Public Administrations (PA) must guarantee that interested parties can interact with them by electronic means.

They are also obliged to assist people who are not obliged to have an electronic relationship in the use of electronic media.

For these purposes, the regulations determine that PAs must have a register (or equivalent system) that allows for recording the officials authorized to:

  1. Make authentic copies , in a way that guarantees that they have been issued appropriately; and/or,
  2. Identify and sign electronically on behalf of the interested party , using the signature mechanism that the official has. In this case, it will be necessary for the interested party to identify themselves to the official and give their express consent for the specific action, which must be kept to record it in cases of discrepancy or litigation.
How should the creation of the Register of Skilled Civil Servants be approached?

To implement this obligation, PAs must:

  1. Use an existing system, such as the EACAT Skilled Civil Servants Registry module, or create your own system where public employees with these functions are identified (this can be a database).
  2. Approve this register by means of a decree from the Mayor's Office (or whatever is appropriate), which includes, at a minimum, the employees of the registration assistance offices. The authorization of the Corporation Secretary as a member of this register may also be considered.
  3. Manage authorizations and integrations with other registries (this action is not necessary if you use the EACAT module).
  4. Publish the information so that it can be consulted by interested parties and other PAs.

User entities of EACAT have at their disposal the Register of Qualified Officials module in order to comply with this obligation. For more information, you have at your disposal the Manual of the Register of Qualified Officials in EACAT.

What does the consultation of the EACAT module offer me?

By consulting the Register of Skilled Officials of EACAT, I can find out:

  • Name and surname of the official
  • We
  • Dates of registration and cancellation of the authorization
  • Roles (assistance and/or copy functions)
  • Administrative unit (this is a free and optional field).

For more information, see How does the search engine for qualified civil servants work?

Other forms of assistance

Apart from the regulatory framework, PAs have a wide margin of practical action to take initiatives that fit with citizen assistance.

From AOC we highlight some examples of Catalan Administrations that have taken innovative initiatives to expand assistance channels for citizens:

  • Video assistance : the relationship between the interested party is carried out remotely through electronic videoconferencing platforms. There are different degrees of assistance (only information, guided processing or processing by an authorized official). Some PAs that use this assistance channel are: the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Barcelona City Council.
  • Self-service points : many OAMRs and OACs have public computers for citizens to use to process electronically. In addition, in most cases, the staff at these offices also offer assistance with processing and even obtaining identification and electronic signature mechanisms.
  • In-person assistance with personal device: an assistance option offered by Mataró City Council consists of allowing citizens to go to the municipal OAC with a personal laptop, where they are assisted in a similar way to self-service points. The difference, in this case, is that the device is that of the interested person. You will find more information on the Mataró City Council's electronic headquarters.
  • Use of chatbots: taking advantage of current technology, AOC has launched a guided assistance service for carrying out registration procedures.

Please note that it is common to have to make an appointment to use these assistance mechanisms.

Regulations

Law 39/2015: art. 12 and 27

RD 203/2021: art. 4

Related solutions

EACAT