Business Plan for a CEN Workshop on eInvoicing phase 3

Business Plan for a CEN Workshop on eInvoicing phase 3
(CEN WS/INV3)

Chapter 1 Status of this Business Plan
V0.4: Draft version 4 December 2009

Chapter 2 Workshop proposers or participants (companies,
organizations, etc.)

The eInvoicing 3 participants (see list in annex A).

Chapter 3 Workshop objectives

The implementation of electronic invoicing across Europe is currently a high priority in many
European countries; large, small and medium sized companies are willing to move to
electronic invoicing. Electronic invoicing will benefit both companies trading intra-Member
State and those trading within national borders by simplifying and harmonising processes and
reducing costs, which particularly will benefit SMEs.

The work in the first two phases of the CEN eInvoicing Workshop has demonstrated the need
for a common stakeholder understanding of the means to implement electronic invoicing. The
Expert Group on eInvoicing, set up by the European Commission, has been a practical
demonstration of the need for a clear regulatory and policy framework for raising awareness
and bringing political emphasis.

The European Expert Group on eInvoicing delivered its final report at the end of 2009. The
Expert Group recommends a substantial number of standards-related actions. The basic
“technological” characteristics of the invoices themselves are proposed to be those carried
out under the UN/CEFACT umbrella (the “cross-industry invoice – CII”), but additionally
further work at European level is needed on implementation guidelines, electronic signature
applications and other issues. These recommendations together with the result of the
previous phase of the eInvoicing workshop are expected to form the major basis for the
CWAs described below.

In addition to Expert Group on eInvoicing, two more groups have to be mentioned, which both
touch upon the areas of interest for the CEN Workshop on eInvoices, although both initiatives
are focused on public procurement:

a) CEN Workshop on Business Interoperability Interfaces for public procurement in Europe
(CEN WS/BII):

The objectives of this CEN Workshop are:
to identify and document the required business interoperability interfaces related to pan-
European electronic transactions in public procurement expressed as a set of technical
specifications taking due account of current and emerging UN/CEFACT standards in order to
ensure global interoperability, and
to co-ordinate and provide support to pilot projects implementing the technical specifications
in order to remove technical barriers preventing interoperability. The Workshop is about to be
nd
concluded; the draft CWAs were under public review until 2 September 2009 and they will
be published soon.

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b) Pan-European Public eProcurement On-Line (PEPPOL):
The objective of the PEPPOL project is to set up a pan-European pilot solution that, conjointly
with existing national solutions, facilitates EU-wide interoperable public eProcurement. The
vision of the PEPPOL project is that any company and in particular SMEs in the EU can
communicate electronically with any European governmental institution for the entire
procurement process.
The final outcome of PEPPOL will be an interoperational environment build upon national
systems and infrastructures supporting the full cycle of eProcurement activities. The pilots
that will be developed in PEPPOL will support any economic operator in the EU and the
European Economic Area (EEA) to respond to any published public tender notice
electronically and to govern the entire procurement process from their own national
infrastructure to any another national infrastructure. Thereby PEPPOL will focus on the
engagement and participation of SME companies to public eProcurement

However, both activities clearly demonstrate that standards in the area of electronic invoicing
and interoperability have a normative dimension and can be a platform both for compliance
and for constructive regulatory change.

The major objective of the Work Shop is to provide support for a continuing technical
platform to carry out the specific European work that stakeholders require, both in terms of
the technical needs expressed in the CEN eInvoicing Workshop Phase 2 and the
recommendations of the Expert Group by producing a set of defined CWAs. The overall target
of Phase 3 will be “Integration of efforts in standardisation and developments”.

This CEN e-invoice Platform will:

 Be open to the participation of any interested party;
 Reach stakeholder consensus on standards-related issues;
 Provide the appropriate interface with international and other European standards
activities

Chapter 4 Workshop's Work Programme

4.1 General
The overall target of Phase 3 will be “Integration of efforts in standardisation and
developments” in the following areas:

 Standards (e-invoicing modules for business software, methodology of software tools,
functionalities and specifications for business software requirements)
 Compliance (improvement of cooperation between companies and tax authorities,
establishment of clear common understanding between companies and tax authorities in
EU, accessibility of rules and regulation)
 Implementation (best practice implementations with model agreements for electronic
invoicing, model processes and SME focussed best practices)
 Business Process (integration of electronic invoice in existing business processes).

4.2 Four specific projects

The project will last 23 months; from January 2010 to November 2011.

The tasks described below and the milestones are also presented in the project schedule
(see below).

Task 0: Launching the project within the CEN Workshop

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The project will be approved by the Workshop based on this Business Plan, defining the
Phase 3 activities (WS/eINV 3).The Business Plan contains the detailed Terms of Reference
text (based on the Grant Agreement text), and the exact description of CWAs 1 to 4 inclusive.

Task 1: Circulation of the project description and detailed work programme to all
interested parties. The work programme will be distributed to members of the Workshop
during phase 2, and in addition to a wide range of other interested parties. Announcement of
the Workshop project will be made available on the CEN website,
http://www.cen.eu/cenorm/sectors/sectors/isss/activity/einvoicing_2.asp, and on the
CEN/ISSS e-Invoice Gateway, http://www.e-invoice-gateway.net/.

Task 2: Selection and establishing of the Project Teams 3 months after the date of
signature. Small Project Teams of paid experts are necessary to help the Workshop
members agree on drafting the deliverables. These experts will be selected through an open
call for nomination circulated by e-mail and posted on the CEN web-site. The proposed text to
be used for the call for experts will be submitted to potential members of the Workshop. The
experts of the Project Team will be appointed under CEN Workshop rules.

Task 3: Setting up of a web site devoted to the Workshop with a private area for
Workshop members. The work programme will be posted on the public area, along with other
public documents. All Workshop members will be provided with personal login data.

In accordance with the CEN practice, links will be established with the CEN web pages,
where the Workshop deliverables will be posted. CWAs supported by the Commission‟s ICT
work programme are available free of charge for downloading from Internet.

Task 4: Organisation of a kick-off meeting open to all interested parties within 3 months
after the date of signature of the Grant Agreement.

Task 5: Organisation of Workshop meetings. The Workshop will meet in plenary sessions
four times a year. Besides, the Workshop will work electronically, an electronic repository and
electronic list will be provided by the Workshop Secretariat.

Task 6: Drafting the eINV 3 CWAs

 CWA 1: Development of sustainable compliance guidelines for electronic invoicing,
to be used by companies across Europe. The aim is to produce a simplified version of the
eInvoicing Compliance Guidelines taking into account all current and evolving principle
issues to be observed – legal and technical as well as the perspective of taxation and
auditing. To translate it into as many different languages as possible and prepare an
interactive “compliance tool box” which will be ready for awareness campaign in the
Member States. The major languages in the EU will be targeted (EN, DE, ES, IT, FR, PL)

 CWA 2: Electronic invoice processes in Europe and enablement of SMEs to use
them efficiently.

E-Invoicing procedures are currently predominantly used amongst big companies and are
very seldom used in the SME environment. It is therefore important to define procedures,
which will help to spread this concept as widely as possible including to SMEs, in view of
its potential to shorten the transaction chain. Member States have their own regulations,
with substantial differences, that hinder implementation and provide no added value to the
user communities. The aim of this activity is not to list again all legal requirements, but to
develop - based on the Workshop's previous work and on the Business Requirements and
SME guidelines developed by the Expert Group on e-Invoicing - harmonized procedures
and agreements between trading parties and as far as possible tax authorities at European
level to permit harmonized cross border invoicing. This will be mainly process oriented, but
will also include technical and legal requirements. It will include new business practices in
achieving electronic invoices easily, e.g. self-billing and the development of an electronic
invoice module, which should lead to a standardised API for accounting software
producers and service providers.

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 CWA 3: Conformance criteria for interoperability across e-business networks and
services.

In order to foster interoperability across e-business networks and their services, it is
proposed to define a set of conformance criteria. These conformance criteria shall be set
for different levels of interoperability to provide a “stairway to interoperability” especially for
SMEs participating in eBusiness, in order to give them crystal-clear indications of the steps
to be taken. These phased conformance criteria could start from conformance with legal
and regulatory requirements and continue towards more detailed specifications of
operational and technical interoperability, aiming finally to full eBusiness interoperability
throughout the supply chain. This conformance system will be voluntary in character, but
will be used by (a) companies themselves, wishing to migrate into eInvoicing, (b) by
solution providers offering compliant solutions and (c) by tax administrations wishing to
assess certain solution on the market. Conformance testing itself should be voluntary and
each organisation should be able to make a self-assessment against the identified criteria,
but it should also be possible for organisations to offer a compliance testing.
The CWA will take due account of the relevant activities of CEN Workshop BII and the EU
PEPPOL project (both activities are explained in see section 5.1), and of the Guidance
Recommendations for Interoperability from the Expert Group on e-Invoicing, that outlines
the following requirements:
 To develop and maintain a consistent and accepted terminology
 To develop minimum business and technical requirements for messaging and
connectivity based on international/European standards
 To tackle the addressing and routing issue
 To develop technical recommendations for the various operating models (2,3,4
corner etc)

 CWA 4: Awareness and promotion

The CEN/ISSS e-Invoice Gateway website, http://www.e-invoice-gateway.net/.has turned
out to be one of the key sources for companies willing to invest and start a project in the
area of electronic invoicing. The gateway brings all the 27 EU countries and in addition
non-EU countries in one platform and fulfills truly the function of a gateway. This gateway
should be used to drive more efficiency, spread the information and simplify the access of
companies to information on electronic invoicing in each aspect. The gateway will be
developed into a self contained platform for users and will be used as an open and easy
knowledge tool. As a key requirement, this website will remain an open and neutral
platform with no commercial purposes. The organisation of the website will be self
contained and managed by a non-profit-organisation. The proof of concept and the longer-
term organization and arrangements will be described and settled by end of the Workshop
Phase 3.

Task 7: delivery to the EC of the Interim report, consisting of draft CWAs (eInv 3) 10
months after the date of signature.

Task 8: Organisation of a public conference 18 months after the date of signature
To inform a larger audience of the Workshop activities and collect additional comments on the
draft deliverables before the web public consultation.

Task 9: Posting the draft CWAs for public consultation 19 months after the date of
signature

Task 10: Process of the public comments to the draft CWAs. All comments received are
taken into consideration and are resolved to obtain the final draft. The experts must either
introduce the proposed changes, or explain why they consider them not applicable. The
disposition of comments shall be published in a Workshop document.

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Task 11: Adoption of the 4 CWAs at the final plenary session, 22 months after the date of
signature. The eInv 3 CWAs are adopted at a Workshop plenary meeting. The experts
present their resolution of comments at the plenary session.

Task 12: Satisfaction survey conducted during the adoption plenary session. The
satisfaction survey is proposed to the participants of the eInv 3 WS

Task 13: Submission to the European Commission of the Final technical report to 23
months after the date of signature. Delivery to the European Commission of the Final
technical report, consisting of:
- the approved CWAs;
- the performance indicators;
- and the satisfaction survey results
- a management report on the work, carried out for the execution of the action.

S = contract signature date
Task Time line
Task 1: Circulation of the project description work programme to all S + 0 to S+ 2 months:
interested parties
Task 2: Selection and establishing of the Project Teams S + 3 months:
Task 3: Setting up of a web site devoted to the project Workshop S + 0 to S+ 3 months
with a private part for Workshop members
Task 4: Organisation of a kick-off meeting open to all interested S + 3 months
parties within 3 months after the date of signature
Task 5: Organisation of Workshop meetings S + 0 to S+ 22 months:
Task 6: Drafting eINV 3 CWAs 1 to 4 inclusive S + 3 to S+ 22 months:
Task 7: Delivery to the EC of the Interim report, consisting of draft S + 10 months
CWAs
Task 8: Organisation of a public conference S + 18 months
Task 9: Posting the draft CWAs 1 to 4 for a public consultation S + 18 months to S +
20 months
Task 10: Incorporation of the comments into the 4 draft CWAs S + 21 months to S +
22 months
Task 11: Adoption of the 4 CWAs at the final plenary session S + 22 months
Task 12: Satisfaction survey conducted during the adoption plenary S + 22 months
session
Task 13: Submission of the Final technical report to EC S + 23 months

Task 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Chapter 5 Workshop Organization
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The Workshop will operate under CEN/ISSS rules.

Two Workshop Co-Chairs will manage the Workshop.

The responsibility of the Workshop Co-Chairs is:
 To preside at Workshop plenary meetings.
 To ensure that the Workshop delivers in line with its Business Plan.
 To manage the consensus building process
 To interface with the CEN/CMC regarding strategic directions, problems arising,
external relationships, etc.
Under the responsibility of the Workshop Chairs, the Secretariat will support the Workshop in
all its activities.

The four projects will each require a Project Team, i.e. a team of paid experts that are given
the task of a large editing job in a short period of time. This tool can be used in those cases
where there is a requirement to produce a substantial piece of new text for the Workshop's
consideration in a short time frame.

The creation of a Project Team requires the agreement by the Workshop of detailed Terms of
Reference in each case, the establishment of a neutral selection panel, and Workshop
endorsement of the selected candidates.

Chapter 6 Resources

Workshop Co-Chairs

This is a voluntary function; the Chairs will be appointed by the Workshop at the Kick-
Off meeting.

Workshop Secretariat

This function will be carried out by the Netherlands national standardisation
organisation NEN. It is estimated that 30 man-days effort will be required, funded by
the fees of the registered participants of the Workshop and by the EU and EFTA
under the eEurope Standards Action Plan.

Workshop Expert Team
The drafting of the documents requires specialized expertise, which is not available
to standardization managers as permanently employed by CEN and its member
[AFNOR, DIN, NEN, etc]. This is the justification for the sub-contracting of some of
the Commission financial support.

To employ such specialised experts by a CEN member would be expensive and not
economically viable considering the very specific area of specialization that is
required for the execution of this contract. To engage the services of the appropriate
specialist experts from the market is more cost-effective. This sub-contracting also
enables the quick availability of the drafts to enter the consensus building and
validation processes, which are CEN‟s core business.
The number of mandays that will be needed is 200 distributed between 4 experts.
The budget foreseen for these experts is 130.000 €.

CEN has a standard methodology to select specialized experts, which participate in
Project Teams. Project Team experts are selected by a selection panel from the
applications received as the result of an open Call for Experts. The open call refers to
the expertise required for being eligible for participation in the Project Team.

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For these Project Teams, the selection panel will, in accordance with the existing
rules for the selection of Project Team experts, consist of the co-chairs of the
technical activity, the Secretary and a CMC staff member as the representative of the
CEN Secretary General.

Candidates should have in general the qualifications required for each of the work
packages indentified by the Workshop. For the Project Teams in relation to this
Grant, experts should have specific expertise and knowledge, which will be the main
criterion for their selection and which is described in detail below:

Common criteria to all Project Team experts:
 Electronic invoices: thorough overall understanding of processes and issues at stake,

 Business and/or commercial experience in electronic invoices,

 High knowledge and proven experience of work in standards' bodies.

 Team player and supportive to the Plenary;

 Experience in working in European and international projects must be proven;

More specifically:

Project Team Expert(s) 1 – 60 man days:

The expert(s) dealing with development of a sustainable toolbox for electronic invoicing
should have:

 Experience in IT security, transport level security and emerging security technologies
must be very good;

 Legal and VAT knowledge (compliance parts only);

 Knowledge in operational and technical interoperability in the frame of e-business

 will edit the CWA 1 on “Development of sustainable compliance guidelines for
electronic invoicing”


The expert(s) dealing with electronic invoice processes in Europe and enablement of SMEs to
use them efficiently

 Deep knowledge in international trade/ebusiness recommendations and standards for
interoperability

 Legal and VAT knowledge (compliance parts only),

 Experience in SME needs;

 will edit the CWA 2 on „Electronic invoice processes in Europe and enablement of
SMEs to use them efficiently‟.


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The expert(s) dealing with conformance criteria for interoperability across e-business
networks and services:

 Deep knowledge in e-business networks and services

 Deep knowledge in international trade/eBusiness recommendations and standards
for interoperability

 Knowledge in legal and regulatory requirements for eBusiness

 will edit the CWA 3 on „Conformance criteria for interoperability across e-business
networks and services‟.


The expert(s) dealing with Awareness and promotion

 Very good communication skills:

 Technical experience for designing website, wikis etc.

 Experience in programming easy to use tools on gateway;

 will develop the Gateway website into a self contained platform for users and will be
used as an open and easy to use standardisation tool. As a key requirement, this
website will be an open and neutral platform with no commercial purposes. The
organisation of the website will be self contained and managed by a non-profit-
organisation. The proof of concept will be reached by end of the Workshop phase 3.

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Chapter 7 Related activities
TBP

Chapter 8 Contact points
CEN/ISSS eInvoicing Workshop interim Co-Chairs:
Stefan Engel-Flechsig stefan@engel-flechsig.de

Anders Grangard anders.grangard@gs1.org

CEN/ISSS eInvoicing Workshop Secretariat - NEN:

Gertjan van den Akker gertjan.vandenakker@nen.nl

CEN/ISSS:
Alain Dechamps alain.dechamps@cen.eu

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Annex A
WS Participants

Name Company Country
ASCHBACHER Helmut Campus 02 - University of Applied Sciences (Graz) AT

BERTHOMIEU Francis France Télécom R&D FR

BOCK Stephan AUDI AG DE

Borendal Johan Trustweaver FR

BRYANT Charles Euro Banking Association GB

CACCIA Andrea AITI IT

CAVRARO Fabio InfoCert S.p.A. IT

COLLET Gilles B2Boost s.a. BE

CONTE Antonio European Commission - DG ENTR/D4 BE

DECHAMPS Alain CEN/IBD BE

DESMEYTERE Isabelle VAT Forum BE

DUBOIS Eric Accelya France FR

EL-KHOURY Mounir Scarlet BE

ENGEL-FLECHSIG Stefan CEN/WS eInvoicing2 DE

FREYSTATTER Werner Basware FI

GAETHOFS Danny Atos Origin NL

GRANGARD Anders GS1 BE

HEMMERLING Marc ABBL - Association des Banques et Banquiers LU
Luxembourg
HOHENSTEIN Hubert TecCom GmbH DE

HOJKA Paul UK payments association GB

KUIPERS Joost The Netherlands Tax and Customs Administration NL

MATT Wolfgang Hilti Corporation DE

MOCK Werner VDA DE

NICHOLSON Lynn B2Boost BE

NISBETT Tony IBM/EDIFICE GB

ORFILA Benoit Atos Origin BE

POTGIESER Peter Royal Bank Scotland NL

SALO Jari TIEKE FI

SAUTEREAU Cyrille Deskom FR

SCHMANDT Phillip OFS Portal US

SCHRADER Olaf ARIBA DE

SEGARRA Santiago Spanish Tax Agency ES

SKULASON Bergthor NITA DK

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Name Company
Country
SORRENTINO Fabio CBI Consortium IT

SPUND Benjamin STS Group BE

THORNTON Kevin HMRC GB

VAN DALEN Leen Equens SE NL

VAN DEN AKKER Gertjan NEN NL

VAN DER LINDEN Oliver Crossgate AG DE

VAN DER VALK Christiaan Trust Weaver FR

WALLIS Dave OFS Portal GB

Walther Jörg Odette International DE

WEIDENBACH Dirk xft GmbH DE

ZWART Rob Ricoh Nederland B.V. NL

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Business Plan for a CEN Workshop on eInvoicing phase 3

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