Interoperability and eGovernment: A Legal Approach to the European Union and Spanish Models

To achieve a significant level of interoperability in eGovernment, especially for political structures, such as federal states or the European Union, it is necessary to improve some rules concerning the eGovernment model and define a minimum standard for the different dimensions of interoperability. The legal dimension of interoperability consists of the rules concerning interoperability in a specific legal system and, so-called interoperability model. In this article, the author analyze the interoperability models of the European Communities and Spain. There are different legal models of interoperability according to four criteria of classification: volunteer or mandatory (binding), flexible or rigid, united or decentralized, and participatory or unilateral. In this article, the describe the characteristics of each of these criteria. The author defend the need to maintain mandatory frames of interoperability to the largest territorial level, whether united or decentralized. However, the ability to maintain these different mandatory frames faces several obstacles.