The digital transformation poses major challenges for local authorities. In order to keep pace with
modern development, various basic administrative procedures need to be digitized. The status of
digitization in German municipalities demonstrates that they are reaching their limits. As
administrative units are to be considered as an interface between society and state, the following
paper will focus on this topic.
This paper reflects on the necessary expansion of eGovernment services in local authorities against
a European background, with the aim of bringing together the European and municipal levels. The
European Union (EU) has set itself the goal of contributing to the modernisation of digital public
services and serving as a catalyst through various programs. This paper discusses to what extent the
EU achieves its stated goal and whether its actions generate added value in local authorities by using
eInvoicing as an example. With the Directive 2014/55/EU the EU set a standard, henceforth all
European public administrations must be able to accept invoices in electronic format from their
suppliers. The paper aims to demonstrate the significance of the above stated directive, with a specific
focus on local authorities.