The goal of the e-CODEX project is to improve the cross-border access of citizens and businesses to legal means in Europe as well as to improve the interoperability between legal authorities within the EU.Due to high mobility and European integration, procedures containing cross-border effects are increasing. These procedures require cooperation between different national judicial systems.Indeed, the use of ICT will make judicial procedures more transparent, efficient and economic. At the same time, it will help citizens, companies, administrations, and legal practitioners to get facilitated access to justice. This means not only smoother access to information but also the ability to process cross-border cases efficiently. To reach this ambitious goal, a fully technically interoperable European e-Justice system must be designed. The technical solutions envisaged within this context must respect both the principle of independence of the judiciary and of subsidiarity.The e-Services and infrastructure that Member States have already established cover specific requirements of national legal systems. Generally, these national solutions are considerable investments which cannot simply be replaced by new centralized approaches. The objective of the e-CODEX project is neither to re-invent the wheel nor to duplicate one national solution at the European level. Its ambition is to build on these national solutions in order to build a pan-European interoperability layer. Connecting the existing systems will allow communication and data exchange based on the development of common technical standards and foster cross-country cooperation in the area of European e-Justice as well.The following building blocks will be addressed by developing common approaches and standards:- e-Identity-management for natural and legal persons, roles, mandates and rights, user authentication and authorization- e-Signatures, verification and implementation- e-Payment- e-Filing, exchange of documents and data- document standards.Furthermore, intensive communication activities will be set up in order to keep all Member States, legal professions, industry and other stakeholders up to date with regard to the project's developments.Finally e-CODEX respects the Council Action Plan on European e-Justice and the communication published by the Commission "Towards a European e Justice Strategy" and will support the further development of the European e-Justice portal.The project strongly commits to adapt and/or adopt the solutions developed by sibling interoperability projects such as STORK, PEPPOL and SPOCS. The participants of this project are willing to commit to a truly collaborative approach towards achieving a sustainable e-Justice area with fewer practical and technical borders for Europe.