Description A European project to ease the administrative burden of businessesSimple Procedures Online for Cross-border Services (SPOCS) is a pilot project launched by the European Commission which aims to remove the administrative barriers European businesses face in offering their services abroad. SPOCS is expected to further enhance the quality of electronic procedures completion and has been designed for businesses that have an interest in cross-border activities. It will allow them to meet all the administrative obligations through a single contact point that will be available online.For example, a company based in Belgium and willing to provide catering services in Italy will be able to ensure that all the administrative procedures are filled in online through the Italian single contact point. SPOCS is expected to……improve the efficiency of cross-border cooperation by making the different approaches that are currently used in the EU countries compatible;…support service innovations for businesses by reducing time and energy loss, and by enabling them to provide services anywhere in the EU, which is particularly useful for SMEs;…increase cross border activities – the access to new markets and generate benefits for the overall economic growth and job creation;…reinforce competitiveness and contribute to the development of trade, which benefits already from electronic services, such as electronic procurement and online company registration;…accelerate the development of common technology requirements that will foster interoperability, efficiency and the quality of services; and,…foster innovative technical solutions, enhanced cooperation and system interoperability that will be useful to modernise the services offered by the public administrations.