The EU4Digital Facility took part in the Eastern Partnership Trade Panel on 22 September 2020, held virtually for the first time, highlighting the progress of pilot projects implemented by the project in the area of eTrade.

The EaP trade panel covered three main areas:

1. presenting the current status of the EaP Trade Helpdesk, which is intended to facilitate trade flows with the EU and among the EaP countries.
2. raising awareness on the Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) programme in the EU, including its benefits and criteria.
3. informing about preparations for the 2021 EaP Summit and expectations for Eastern Partnership deliverables in the area of trade post-2020.

During the session on “IT solutions in support of increased trade”, EU4Digital Facility Team Leader Artūras Piliponis presented the state of play of technical pilot projects being implemented as part of the eTrade thematic stream:

• eDelivery: the testing phase has already begun, while the piloting of cross-border invoice data exchange via eDelivery channel between Ukraine and Poland is expected to be launched on 9 October 2020.
• eCustoms: preparatory activities for the piloting are ongoing and the launch of the pilot between the Republic of Belarus and Lithuania is planned for the beginning of November 2020.

In addition, the roadmap for the establishment of a Digital Transport Corridor establishment was introduced.

The materials presented during the event can be found here.