CROATIA AS A DIGITAL LEADER: Entry Among the Five Most Advanced EU Nations Confirmed at the OOTS Conference in Malta
The official handover of the host status from Zagreb to Valletta marked a new era of cross-border data exchange. Croatia is among the first to introduce SDG procedures into a real production environment.
VALLETTA, June 11, 2026 – Today, at the Grand Hotel Excelsior in Valletta (Malta), the prominent European conference Europe goes Once-Only – Malta edition officially commenced. This two-day summit, jointly organized by the European Commission and the Maltese Ministry for the Economy, Enterprise and Strategic Projects (METP), has gathered leading European experts, national coordinators, and representatives of competent authorities with the aim of accelerating integration into the "Once-Only" Technical System (OOTS).
The Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation is represented by officials Petar Rogina, the national SDG (Single Digital Gateway) coordinator, and Miljenko Hajnić, the Head of the Sector for Interoperability and Data Management.
For Croatia, this event began with historical recognition. At the very opening of the conference, as part of the official ceremony, Croatia solemnly handed over the hosting baton to Malta, following an exceptionally successful previous edition of the conference held at the end of 2025 in Croatia (Croatia edition).
On this occasion, it was officially confirmed that the Republic of Croatia has ranked among the TOP 5 Member States of the European Union that have functional SDG procedures in a full, live production environment.
Recognition for Reform Efforts and Technical Excellence
In the introductory part of the pan-European panel titled "Going-live: Success Stories from across Europe", the Croatian national SDG coordinator Petar Rogina (Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation) and Igor Drvodelić (Agency for Science and Higher Education) presented Croatia's experiences on its path toward the very top of Europe's digital maturity.
Croatia's entry into the elite top 5 EU countries testifies to the deep and operational integration of our national registers and developed electronic services available for cross-border use. While many member states are still merely testing architecture or developing regulatory frameworks, Croatian institutions are already enabling citizens and businesses to pull and send documents across borders in real time without unnecessary bureaucracy, strictly adhering to the European "Once-Only" principle.
What are OOTS and SDG?
The Once-Only Technical System (OOTS) is a key infrastructure of the Single Digital Gateway (SDG). It enables public authorities across the EU to achieve automated, direct, and secure exchange of official evidence and documents (such as diplomas, register extracts, or business certificates), eliminating the need for citizens to physically obtain and submit documents themselves in other member states when moving, studying, or doing business.
The Croatian Model as a Example for the Rest of the Union
The Croatian success resonates particularly loudly given the fact that a massive number of complex procedures are already in the production environment of our OOTS. This primarily includes the cross-border recognition of higher education qualifications, business registration within the single European market, and administrative steps for labor mobility. Our model was highlighted in Malta as a flagship example for numerous "newcomer" institutions from other member states that attended the conference to learn how to replicate Croatia's successful practices through practical workshops.
During the first day of the conference, it was emphasized that mid-2026 is a critical turning point for European administrative convergence. The Permanent Secretary of the Maltese Ministry, Godwin Mifsud, and Jakub Boratynski, Director at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW), praised countries like Croatia in their speeches for demonstrating exceptional proactivity in resolving legal and semantic barriers during data exchange.
Looking Toward the Future: AI and the European Digital Wallet
The conference in Malta does not only look back at past achievements but also charts the path for the upcoming period. A special focus has been placed on the synergy between the OOTS system and the arriving European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet), as well as the application of artificial intelligence in advanced data interoperability.
The Croatian delegation is also actively participating in closed strategic workshops for national coordinators, where the new value of OOTS for high-volume and high-value transactions is being defined. This position within the top 5 countries allows Croatia not only to implement European regulations in a timely manner but to directly co-create and dictate the trends of Europe's future digital and economic architecture.
With this achievement, Croatia sent a strong message from Malta: the digitalization of public administration at the highest level is no longer a theoretical project of the future, but a tangible reality in which our country proudly holds a leading position on the Old Continent.
