As of June 2025, Cristina Cosma has taken up her role as the new Deputy Head of the Interoperable Europe Unit at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Digital Services (DG DIGIT). However, she is neither a newcomer to the Commission nor to the Interoperable Europe Unit itself.
Now in her 16th year as a European Commission Official, Cristina originally joined the unit in December 2018. Although she moved in 2022 to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT), she decided to return to the Interoperable Europe Unit with a clear mission: to help with the implementation of the Interoperable Europe Act.
Q: Welcome back, Cristina! Not many people know this, but before you left the unit, you were basically the only unit member engaging in policy. You played a significant role in laying the groundwork for what is now the Interoperable Europe Act.
A: Correct! I came from the European Commission’s Secretariat-General initially, because there was no one at that point in time who had a policy background and a profound understanding of policy-making processes. We only had the programme and the different projects back then. And there was a growing feeling in our unit, which was called ISA² back then, that it had become very difficult to take further practical steps in interoperability and digital public services. And I helped start the work.
So, while a lot of things have changed since I left, I still recognise the unit and many of the projects, like semantics and digital-ready policymaking. And I'm quite excited to see in which direction these will develop. It is such a nice unit. I'm sure we're going to do great together. I'm really happy to be back.
Q: So are we! How were your first weeks?
A: They proved to be hectic, but very rewarding. I'm catching up as fast as I can, but I secretly wish I could benefit from a bit more of the newcomer grace period for a couple of weeks (laughs). The unit has evolved tremendously in the past three years to a higher level. Not only has the policy side become much more prevalent, but now there are also five teams within our unit. When I left it in 2022, there were none. So, a lot of things have changed and I'm still catching up on a lot of projects and different strands the unit is involved in, trying to see how I can best facilitate the work of colleagues.
Q: After your time as a policy coordinator at DG CNECT, what were your main motivations to return to us?
A: At DG CNECT, I really used what I learned during my time from the early stages of the Interoperable Europe Act to coordinate and help shape those processes used to build proposals for digital policies. But my main interest is in working on developing and implementing policies directly - not only coordinating and explaining how they are supposed to work, but really doing the work myself.
This, together with the opportunity of being hands on in the field of digital government, is why I wanted to return. And this is the area in which I profoundly think the Interoperable Europe Act makes an impact.
Q: And I can imagine you also want to see the Act flourish from a small plant into a beautiful flower, since you helped plant the seed.
A: Not just a flower, but a whole garden (laughs). Establishing it, making it really solid and making it grow. Yes, my main ambition would be to see the act working in practice, and making a visible impact. I look forward to working again with the Member States, and with the stakeholders we have, in getting those projects off the ground.
"If there has to be one major success I would like to attain, it is to have at least a few of the Member States run interoperability assessments on their own policies."
Q: At what point in time would you say, “The Interoperable Europe Act is working”?
A: When I can go to France with my Belgian ID card and buy medicine prescribed by my doctor in Belgium or in Romania. Or if I need my Romanian birth certificate and I can just request it with my phone or, even better, that it is no longer requested because the administration knows I’m born. I am well aware that this will not be achievable within the next two years. And I can’t give an exact date for when the full implementation will occur, as policies typically evolve.
I’m already really happy to see the Commission has started assessing the digital impacts of its own proposals. It is an important aspect of policy implementation and helps us really to see the effects policies may have on businesses and citizens’ daily lives.
But, in the short-term, to really say the Interoperable Europe Act is working, my big hope would be that I can see interoperability assessments being conducted also by Member States on their policies and legislative proposals. So, if there has to be one major success I would like to attain, it is to have at least a few of the Member States run those on their own policies. And maybe also to have a regulatory sandbox on interoperability in place to test out policies before enacting them.
Q: At the end of the year, the 2025 SEMIC Conference in Copenhagen will show some real-life effects of European interoperability policy in advancing the EU’s 2030 Digital Decade goals. Can you already give us a little sneak peek at how the EU is doing in public sector digital transformation?
A: We see that we have a tremendous impact. If you look at the eGovernment Benchmark of the Digital Decade for example, you see the clear progress in the availability of digital public services at national level. The public services we have available now from a digital point of view didn't exist five years ago. I now see that, for instance, Romania has a portal for services to citizens that live abroad. I can book my appointment with the consulate to do my paperwork here, and it is far easier.
The recovery and resilience funds post-COVID played an important role in it, as 20% of those funds were invested into digital transformation by the Member States to develop their interoperable public services. COVID showed us how essential digital connectivity truly is.
According to the OECD’s Government at a Glance report 2025, European countries are on average above the rest of the world in terms of digital public services overall. Progress has been tremendous at the national level in the past five years. There are no similar programs anywhere in the world that have been so consistent and for such a long term. We have examples of those interoperable public services in all countries, in all 27 Member States.
However, we still face challenges with cross-border services. We’re currently only at 77% implementation and should reach 100% by 2030.
Q: Has the implementation of the interoperable Europe Act already increased the number of European cross-border public services? Or is it too soon to tell?
A: We are still in the early stages. Although the Act partly entered into force last year, other parts have only been in force since January of this year. We are gradually doing more and more, and we are quite advanced considering the recent adoption of the Act. We support colleagues conducting the Commission’s digital assessments across various policies. The Interoperable Europe Board is set up; governance is in place and fully functioning. We are starting to work on the Interoperability agenda and we are consulting widely on it until the 10th of July.
Now we need to take the next steps. For instance, defining what constitutes an interoperability-labelled solution is one of the biggest tasks still ahead. And we also need more work on digital assessments.
We also need to follow how the legal context evolves in the EU Member States. Will they supplement the European rules in the field of interoperability and public sector digital transformation? Will their legal frameworks work seamlessly together? Due to these questions, I see legal interoperability as a bigger challenge, in particular on cross-border interactions, compared to the technical aspects.
Q: And what is the biggest opportunity now when it comes to the digital transformation of the public sector?
A: To me it is proactive public services empowered by a responsible use of AI.
The examples of the benefits of proactive services are numerous. The birth of a child automatically triggering the local public administration to take care of all the paperwork and to notify the parents that the child is registered and the child allowance will start being paid on a predetermined account belonging to the parents. An algorithm warning local authorities that they need to anticipate a shortage of crèches/nurseries in their neighborhood. The possibility of registering your business in only one Member State and then being able to legally operate in all 27 countries at the same time, instead of registering separately in other Member States.
There are ways in which AI can enhance those services by facilitating data collection, classifying and mapping it, drafting the notes and documents, generally liberating public servants to focus on the citizens and businesses they serve.
But it should all be very much in line with our European values. It should be based on consent, with respect for privacy, with the smallest footprint in energy consumption possible, with citizen-centric data awareness and ownership, with continuous human surveillance of the data collection and with humans always being involved in the decision-making. There are already enough cautionary tales out there to make the need for the risk-based rules defined by the AI Act obvious.
So, while AI brings enormous opportunity, it also demands careful and value-based implementation. But I think we need to go ahead. We cannot miss this train.
"According to the OECD, European countries are on average above the rest of the world in terms of digital public services overall. Progress has been tremendous at the national level in the past five years."
Q: After having worked more than 15 years as a European Commission official, could you explain your personal appeal in working for the EU in the field of digital affairs and public administrations?
A: Certainly. Each element in your question is very closely related to my own persona. I was always a very science driven kid, and I obtained a degree in computer science, which still helps me understand the crucial technical parts of the work and the experience of people on the ground.
And I ended up at the European Commission, because, essentially, I wanted to work on the digital transformation of the public sector already for a very long time. I originally come from Romania, which is a strong country in terms of STEM, especially in mathematics, and my interactions with the public administrations in the past were not always that simple. For example, my experience with coming to Belgium in 2000, before my country joined all those years ago, and all the paperwork and all the queues to file papers. It is not something that I appreciated very much.
So, working on these matters, to make public services easier and faster, and to make public administration work for the people it serves - be it citizens, be it businesses - has been always very close to my heart. Working on the digital transformation of government by building better links between its data and increased interoperability, is something I deeply believe in.
As a person coming from Romania, which knew borders for years and is located next to Ukraine - the EU also really encompasses a vision of values that are close to my heart. Think about unity, peace and solidarity, but also about a vision of working together to make the lives of everyone better. I feel that the challenges humanity faces in this multilateral world - like climate change or defence - are huge. Especially now, you can't make it alone. Being isolated doesn't work. So, for me, the EU encompasses this idea of a Union that is there to make things really happen and to overcome issues we can't face alone as an individual or as a country. Solidarity and working together with allies is key.
It is my interest in computer science, together with my personal interest in EU politics and public policies in general that helped me to develop my own sort of profile, which is in between those two worlds. And it works very well for me.
Q: Does your passion for computer science also pop up elsewhere than in only your professional life?
A: Yes. I have been very hands on with my own kids in introducing them to computer science and science in general. They are fascinated by coding and programming and applying it to things like robots, small electronic boards, Legos, etc.
It is really fun to see how they learn and how they approach it, but it also has a more serious goal. Kids today are practically born with computers and tablets and phones in their hands, and they are absolutely immersed in them all the time. So, I also spent a lot of time discussing with them how to manage information critically, how to take care with their online presence or how to spot fake news.
Q: Interesting. Do you also stem from a family that was already engaged with computers and science?
A: Not really. I come from a very blue-collar environment. Neither of my parents had a university degree, and it was the most important thing for them that me and my brother got a good education. What I did inherit from my parents is their pragmatic way of looking at things and being very down to earth in ways of thinking. These are things that I kept from them for sure and that have stuck with me throughout my life.