In Estonia it is possible to register a company within 12 minutes without leaving home. All you need is an Estonian eID card and an Internet connection. The process is fast and can be done online. To enter the system, you will have to authenticate yourself with the eID or through an Internet bank. In Estonia, every citizen has an eID card and easy access to the Internet. CReP provides the entrepreneur with the possibility to handle all communication with the Commercial Register through the portal without extra paperwork.

Policy Context

The European Commission is in the process of rendering its legal environment more competitive. Above all, this means that the competitive edge of the EU will increase in comparison with other developed countries or regions of considerable economic power, most importantly, the US. Among other, developments in this area are highly welcome due to the fact that Estonian company law is mostly delimited by EU legislation. The simplification of EU laws gives Estonia a chance to render our own company law less complex regardless of whether or not other Member States choose to take that opportunity. The Government of Estonia gives its full support to the development of electronic services in our country. In this area, the Government considers the digitalisation of services intended for companies to be of high importance. Within the framework on company law (and above all, Directive 2003/58/EC amending Council Directive 68/151/EEC), our goal is to ensure that companies are able to make their internal decisions and transmit notices related to such decisions by electronic means. The final provisions of the European Council of 15 to 16 June 2006 provide that as of the end of the year 2007, foundation of a company in Member States should not take longer than one week. Arising from this provision, the Estonian Commercial Code was amended such that the time for reviewing applications for registration, which used to be 15 days, will be 5 working days as of 1 January 2007. At the same time the company registration portal was launched. In the future, the possibility to make use of expedited procedure will be extended even more. Next big priority for Estonia is to find a reliable technical solution for the authentication of the digital signatures of foreign persons.

Description of target users and groups

Entrepreneurs who would like to register a new legal entity and/ or are related to some legal entity and wish to submit annual reports and amendment petitions for changes in the registered information. The second target group is citizens who would like to register a new legal entity.

Description of the way to implement the initiative

The development team for CReP consisted of 11 people: 9 from the Centre of Registers and Information Systems and 2 from the Ministry of Justice. 1 administrator, 1 analyst, 1 architect, 2 developers and 3 software testers were managed by one project manager. In addition two legal advisers from the Ministry of Justice were used to follow the portals accordance with the legislation. Centre of Registers and Information Systems also offers the IT-solutions to the all organizations under the governance of the Ministry of Justice and therefore it was not necessary to include any partners into the development process of the CReP. Multi-channel issues: The portal can only be used online. There is no offline version. The user's computer has to have access to the internet, web browser and a smart-card reader (with the according software, which is very easy to install). Users also need to have a valid eID card with activated certificates for authentication and digital signing.

Technology solution

Technology choice: Accessibility-compliant (minimum WAI AA)

Main results, benefits and impacts

One of the most important qualitative changes for the entrepreneurs and citizens is that they can file the documents or register a new legal entity without leaving home or filling in paper forms. Before CReP was implemented, entrepreneurs or citizens had to wait in the long queues for the notary, many papers were to be filled in and then taken to the Registration Department. In the Registration Department only paper applications were accepted, all necessary information was inserted into the computer one by one, all documents were taken from one clerk to another on paper and finally documents were archived on paper. In case of registering a private limited company it was also necessary to visit the bank in order to open a bank account. Before, in the fastest cases, the average time spent was 5 days. Now, there is no need for the notary due to the digital signature and all bank-related transactions can be made through the portal. In the fastest cases, now a new legal entity is entered into the register 12 minutes after the person has filed the petition application. What used to take 5 days on paper is now reduced to 12 minutes online! It saves the time, the energy, the money, the paper and other recourses for all parties and is a sustainable solution. Since the beginning of 2007, when CReP was launched, 25% of the petition entries for registering private limited companies have been submitted through the portal, and this percent is growing every month. In 2008 40% of new private limited company's were established online. Also annual reports (20%) were submitted electronically. 

Innovation: The case is innovative as Estonia is the first country in the world where, due to the concurrence of the changes in the legislation, developments in the IT and changes in the bureaucracy, it is possible to register a new legal entity within such a short time. One of the big advantages about CReP is the opportunities it offers to use high technology in the interest of entrepreneurs and citizens. The whole process is digital and paper free.

http://www.epractice.eu/en/news/301963

 

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Track record of sharing

CReP has been introduced at several conferences in the world. Feedback has always been positive and interest towards the portal is enormous. Several European countries and Japan and Russia have been interested in the portal and it has been introduced to the delegation of these countries during their visits to Estonia. We have received an invitation to participate in the working group by the European Commission in order to contribute to the eJustice online implementations with our know-how.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - It is possible to create a new innovative and very functional system with a small team and little time when working effectively.

Lesson 2 - When PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) is supported nationally, it is much easier to provide online e-services.

Lesson 3 - CReP shows how it is possible to reduce steps for creating a company and how to make it paper free.

Scope: Cross-border, International, National, Pan-European