Exchange evidence with administrations across Europe

With OOTS (Once-Only Technical System), the European "once-only" principle, users no longer have to provide evidence held by an administration of another EU country themselves: at their request, the procedure obtains it directly. OOTS-France connects French administrations to this network.

French administrations

Administrations of the other Member States

Evidence travels between administrations, with the user's agreement.

OOTS in brief

OOTS is one of the building blocks of the Single Digital Gateway (SDG). Established by Regulation (EU) 2018/1724, the SDG helps citizens and businesses complete their procedures anywhere in the Union. It rests on three pillars:

  • 1. Information

    Reliable information on the rules and procedures of each country, gathered on the Your Europe portal.

  • 2. Online procedures OOTS

    The main procedures must be fully accessible online to users from other countries. OOTS is its technical part: it obtains evidence held in another country directly.

  • 3. Assistance

    Help and problem-solving services, such as SOLVIT, for users in difficulty with an administration of another country.

A European obligation

Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 on the Single Digital Gateway has applied since 12 December 2023.

Always at the user's request

The user chooses to use OOTS and can preview the evidence before it is transmitted. They can always provide it themselves.

Reliable evidence

The evidence comes directly from the administration that issues it, over a secure network. It is deemed authentic.

Only between European countries

OOTS serves cross-border procedures, not exchanges between French administrations.

How does it work?

An example: Lucas, a French student, applies for a grant to continue his studies in Belgium. The body awarding the grant asks him for evidence issued in France.

  1. Lucas signs in to the Belgian body's website

    He identifies himself with his French digital identity, through FranceConnect+, recognised across the Union (eIDAS).

  2. He asks for his evidence to be retrieved through OOTS

    Rather than uploading it himself, he asks the Belgian body to retrieve it directly from France through OOTS.

  3. OOTS finds the administration that issues his evidence

    The European directory says which French administration issues each piece of evidence requested. The request reaches it over a secure network, through OOTS-France.

  4. Lucas can check his evidence before it is sent

    For each piece of evidence, he can preview it at the provider that issues it, then agree to its transmission to the Belgian body.

  5. The Belgian body receives Lucas's evidence

    It comes directly from the French administration and is deemed authentic.

Two roles, a single connection point

The journey works both ways: your administration can request evidence, provide it, or both. Either way, it connects to OOTS-France alone, which handles the rest:

  • the secure network that carries requests and evidence between countries;
  • the lookup in the European directory, to know which administration issues which evidence;
  • the user's preview of French evidence, before it is sent to the administration of another Member State.

In France

Your procedure

Requests evidence

Your administration

Issues evidence

OOTS-France

National point operated by DINUM

European OOTS network

Secure eDelivery network and European directory

Other Member States

An administration

Issues the evidence

An online procedure

Requests evidence

Diagram: your procedure and your administration connect to OOTS-France. OOTS-France links them, through the European OOTS network, to the administrations and online procedures of the other Member States.

Service provider

Data provider

The European directory: the Common Services

To know which evidence to request, from whom, and in what form it will arrive, all countries rely on the same directories, the Common Services. The European Commission runs them, each country feeds them, and they are public. Three of them describe evidence and those who issue it:

  • What must be proven, and which evidence proves it

    The requirements of each procedure, for instance "proof of a higher education diploma", and for each the evidence types that prove it in each country: a Finnish diploma, an extract from the Estonian education register…

    Evidence Broker

  • Who issues it

    The provider that issues each evidence type, in each country, and its address on the secure eDelivery network.

    Data Service Directory

  • The common vocabulary

    The catalogue of shared descriptions — requirements, evidence types, code lists —, consulted when procedures are designed and not during an exchange.

    Semantic Repository

For each request of a French procedure, OOTS-France reads in these directories which evidence type proves the requirement, and who issues it.

What your administration gains

Reliable evidence

It comes from the administration that issues it and is deemed authentic: less fraud, fewer foreign documents to check.

A procedure open to Europe

Citizens and businesses of the other Member States complete your procedure fully online, as the Single Digital Gateway provides.

A single connection

You connect once to OOTS-France, which handles the exchanges with all the other Member States.

Your obligations met

You comply with Article 14 of the regulation, whose implementation the European Commission monitors in each country.

Is your administration concerned?

OOTS concerns two kinds of administrations. One administration can hold both roles: a university, for instance, requests foreign diplomas and issues its own.

Service provider

Your procedure requests evidence

Your administration runs an online procedure and asks users for documents.

You are concerned if:

Examples: admission to higher education, grant application, declaration of activity, bid for a public contract.

Data provider

You issue evidence

Your administration issues documents that users then present in their procedures.

You are concerned if:

  • you issue this evidence in electronic form (database, API, online service);
  • it is requested by a procedure concerned, in another Member State.

Examples: diplomas, civil status certificates, extracts from the business register, tax or social security certificates.

The procedures concerned

They are the procedures of Annex II to the regulation, grouped by life event, and the procedures of the directives referred to in its Article 14.

  • Requesting proof of registration of birth

  • Requesting proof of residence

  • Applying for tertiary education study financing (grant, loan) from a public body
  • Submitting an initial application for admission to higher education
  • Requesting academic recognition of a diploma or of studies

  • Requesting a determination of the applicable social security legislation
  • Notifying a social security body of a change in circumstances
  • Applying for a European Health Insurance Card
  • Submitting an income tax declaration

  • Registering a change of address
  • Registering a motor vehicle from another Member State
  • Obtaining a road usage sticker or an emission sticker
  • Acquiring or renewing a driving licence (from 26 November 2029)

  • Claiming retirement or pre-retirement benefits
  • Requesting information on one's pension rights

  • Notifying, changing or ceasing a business activity, or obtaining authorisation to carry it out (excluding initial registration and company formation)
  • Registering an employer and employees with pension and insurance schemes
  • Paying social contributions, notifying the end of an employment contract
  • Submitting a corporate tax declaration
  • Declaring a short-term accommodation rental
  • Notifying a data intermediation service, registering as a data altruism organisation

  • Permits to build and operate a critical raw materials project

  • Permits to build, expand or operate a net-zero technology manufacturing project

Reference text: Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/1724, consolidated version.

Connecting to OOTS-France

You connect to OOTS-France alone, which handles the exchanges with the other Member States. The main steps, depending on your role:

Service provider

Connecting a procedure

  1. List the evidence your procedure requires

    With the OOTS-France team, you identify the evidence your procedure requires and the countries that issue it. Your procedure is then registered in the European directory, with this evidence.

  2. Open sign-in to European users

    Add FranceConnect+'s eIDAS button to your sign-in page: a user from another Member State identifies with their country's means of identification, through the French eIDAS node.

  3. Offer OOTS in your form

    At the supporting documents step, the user chooses: upload their document or have it come through OOTS. They must be able to preview each piece of evidence before it is sent, if they wish: your procedure then redirects them to the provider that issues it, and they come back to finish.

  4. Send the request to OOTS-France

    Your procedure calls the OOTS-France API with the procedure code, the country and the user's identity, signed with your procedure's keys and encrypted for the OOTS-France public key. OOTS-France then delivers the evidence to the address your procedure declared to it.

  5. Test, then open to users

    First in pre-production, with the European Commission's testing services, then with another Member State.

Data provider

Providing evidence

  1. Identify your evidence

    Which of it serves the procedures concerned, and for which users: individuals or businesses.

  2. Have it referenced

    It is registered in the European directory, so that the other Member States know whom to request it from.

  3. Open your API to OOTS-France

    You give OOTS-France access to the API that issues your evidence, so that it can be integrated. OOTS-France then queries it for each request from another Member State.

  4. Test, then open

    In pre-production with other Member States. OOTS-France handles the user's preview and consent for you.

What OOTS-France takes care of for you

  • The connection to the secure European network (eDelivery)
  • The lookup in the European directory
  • Compliance with the European technical specifications
  • The user's preview of French evidence
  • The traceability of each exchange
  • The security and accreditation of the national service

Where does OOTS-France stand?

The service is in pre-production: exchanges there involve test data only. It will open to real data after its security accreditation. No French data provider is connected to it today: France answers the other Member States with test evidence only. You can start preparing your connection now.

  1. Done

    December 2023

    OOTS applies across the Union

    The obligations of Article 14 apply, and the European directory is in service.

  2. In progress

    2026

    OOTS-France in pre-production

    Exchange tests in pre-production, and participation in the European test event of November 2026, in Brussels.

  3. Upcoming

    2027

    Opening to real data

    Security accreditation, go-live, then the first connections of French administrations.

Frequently asked questions

No. OOTS is only used at the user's explicit request. They can always provide their evidence themselves, as today.

No, it is reserved for exchanges between Member States.

Only the evidence requested, for the procedure under way, and the administration that receives it uses it for that procedure alone. Exchanges are encrypted and each is recorded in a log kept for 12 months.

It cannot be exchanged through OOTS: the user provides it themselves, as today.

OOTS-France is operated by the interministerial digital directorate (DINUM). The national coordinator of the Single Digital Gateway, at DINUM, is your contact to check your scope and prepare your connection.

This site is intended for administrations. Go through the website of your procedure: if it is connected to OOTS, it will offer to retrieve your evidence directly.

Your administration is concerned, or you are unsure?

The OOTS-France team, at DINUM, helps you check your scope and prepare your connection.