From artificial intelligence to digital sovereignty, the latest European Commission eGovernment Benchmark report reflects the changing nature of online services provision and argues that EU Member States must accelerate in order to meet Europe’s Digital Decade target.

More mobile friendly services

Online provision of public services for citizens and businesses continues to grow across EU Member States. However, in comparison to the big jumps and improvements observed during the Covid pandemic, growth is characterized by a slow and steady pace. This growth pattern is revealed in the 2026 eGovernment Benchmark report produced by Capgemini, in partnership with Sogeti and IDC.

Signaling steady improvement in online service delivery is the 97.4 score (out of 100) attained for mobile friendliness, indicating that most government websites are responsive to mobile devices – up from 96.1% in the previous year. At the same time, service gaps, notably in cross border services, along with concerns about the maturity of AI-powered chatbots and digital sovereignty must be addressed by Europe’s governments going forward.

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Key findings: 2026 eGovernment Benchmark

Closing the gap between businesses and citizens

All 27 EU Member States participated in the latest eGovernment Benchmark monitoring exercise. This saw an EU-wide network of Mystery Shoppers visiting over 14,000 government websites in November 2025. They evaluated 96 key public services relevant to nine common life events – key moments in individuals’ lives – that require contact with the government.

As in previous eGovernment Benchmark studies, services for businesses are more available online than those for citizens. Relating specifically to the two Digital Decade Key Performance Indicators for digital public services across the EU:

  • Digital public services for citizens stands at 84.6 (out of 100).
  • Digital public services for businesses stands at 88.6 (out of 100).  

While the gap between both target groups is reducing, citizen services still tend to be less digitally available in the areas of healthcare and justice. Overall, to reach the 100%-mark, the EU Member States still need to improve 270 services for citizens and businesses.

This is just one example of how the eGovernment Benchmark provides valuable insight into where governments and online public service providers need to turn their attention in order to hit the EU’s Digital Decade target by 2030.

Interoperability, AI maturity, and a question of sovereignty

There is even more room for improvement in cross-border services. Some 610 of these services need to be improved to reach the 100% figure. However, closing this gap is complex. It will take interoperable digital ID and document validation, and provision in multiple languages, but also much stronger collaboration between institutions.

The latest eGovernment Benchmark study also explored the use of artificial intelligence in live support functionalities and the sovereignty of networks that carry government web and email traffic.

While many governments have introduced AI-powered chatbots to provide user support on their websites and apps, the overall number of chatbots has plateaued. Further, the maturity of these chatbots is often low and without more focus on quality, AI chatbots risk adding another layer of difficulty for people when interacting with government.

Turning the spotlight on digital sovereignty, the report notes that while this has become a priority at EU level, EU Member States’ governments have a notable dependence on foreign owned operators. In fact, more than a third of government websites are run on servers that are controlled by operators whose ultimate beneficial ownership lies outside the EU.

The report recommends that EU Member States should explore investments for hosting on servers from EU providers. For example, this could be via potential European Digital Infrastructure Consortia (EDICs).

Additional EU-wide policy recommendations, possible actions and investment priorities bring this year’s eGovernment Benchmark report to a close. Ultimately, it is clear that while there is progress, EU Member States need to accelerate in order to meet the Digital Decade target – to make key public services 100% online by 2030.

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