UPDATE: Project details updated during the EPSA 2025-26 edition. Awarded Special Recognition for continuous improvement and long-term sustainability.
Promoting changes in the relationship between businesses and government that facilitate economic activity has been a priority for the Government of Catalonia. This new relationship model is based on confidence in entrepreneurs and is focused on reducing administrative burdens and bureaucracy. It is a change of direction in which the company should be placed in the spotlight of public policy and not vice versa. This new approach has necessarily involved a transformation of the legal framework and a wide technological change, because the instruments for the production of the services are not what were already in place. However, above all it is an internal organisational change that causes a real cultural change of the administration compared to how it is traditionally understood. The government has achieved this change of direction through two plans for the implementation of the One-Stop Shop, with the following methodology:
- The first step is the rationalisation and simplification of government procedures to eliminate unnecessary administrative burdens. The project team has eliminated 80 procedures and simplified the 68% of those remaining.
- The second step is the implementation of the one-stop shop (OSS) as a reference point for entrepreneurs and corporations when dealing with government bodies, with the following characteristics:
- There is an integration of services and unified processing of all procedures required by companies throughout their life cycle, regardless of the government authority responsible: state, regional or local.
- It is multichannel: the online channel is prioritised, but entrepreneurs can choose other channels.
· Management is subject to standardisation and homogenisation throughout the region: the same processing for the same activity in all 947 municipal councils in Catalonia. - Speed and efficiency will lower administrative costs for businesses as it is not necessary to wait for an answer, and they can begin their business as soon as the communication is made.
- Networking is introduced, through the collaborative service provision model.
Catalonia has now a fully operational OSS with 524 procedures included in its catalogue, which provides entrepreneurs and companies with comprehensive multichannel services for all levels of government. This means that processing takes place at a single point, and ensures that procedures are swift and proficient. To implement the OSS, it has been necessary to create several technological resources. In particular, the OSS website (www.gencat.cat/canalempresa) is designed to help entrepreneurs with their administrative procedures, regardless of the government body responsible. The website includes an innovative online tool based on a series of questions that help to define and inform about the necessary procedures. It includes the order in which they have to be carried out, requirements, documents needed, forms and fees. The scope of the project is huge. It affects all responsible authorities on the legalisation of activities as well as authorities with transversal responsibilities on IT issues or technical regulations of the different levels of government. This has been made possible thanks to the approval by the Parliament of Catalonia of Law 16/2015 on Administrative Simplification. The law covers three issues:
- minimal administrative involvement in business start-ups;
- the OSS model to be implemented in Catalonia;
- the information system to remove obstacles to access to business.
These procedures apply to a set of activities with no or low risk that account for 75% of all economic activity and benefit 435 000 companies or corporations, and almost 1.5 million workers.
Developments
The One-Stop Shop (OSS) is the administrative system of the Government of Catalonia that integrates information, processing, and management through a single point of entry for the procedures required to start, modify, and develop an economic activity.
Since the initial presentation of the project in 2017, substantial developments have taken place as a result of the systematic incorporation of lessons learned, adaptation to regulatory reforms and strategic investments, and the progressive strengthening of the Administration’s organisational and operational capacity. Within this framework, the project has integrated the lessons learned from the initial phases through a review of the governance model and the allocation of roles and responsibilities, driven by the Business Management Office (BMO) through the definition of a legal framework that has made it possible to formalise and structure the functioning of the OSS ecosystem. This process has consolidated the role of the BMO as the leading unit, strengthening interdepartmental and cross-administrative coordination, and establishing stable mechanisms for governing processes, data, and technological solutions, fostering a more efficient allocation of resources and reducing dependence on bespoke ICT developments.
In parallel, a continuous review of the needs of the target groups – companies, professionals, and intermediaries – has been carried out based on the analysis of actual service usage, volumes of procedures, and the evolution of the economic and regulatory context. This analysis has shown that digital transformation is the key element that makes it possible to continue placing businesses at the centre of administrative action and to ensure service continuity, even in contexts of high operational pressure such as the pandemic.
Within this framework, the model is evolving towards more proactive and personalised, data-driven services, with particular attention to the reduction of administrative burdens, the Once-Only Principle, and a 360° view of economic activity information.
In line with these changes, the BMO has promoted the consolidation of the model through regulatory and strategic instruments, in particular Law 18/2020 on the facilitation of economic activity, its regulatory development, and the OSS Plan 2024–2028. This framework has formalised a new model of relationship between businesses and the administration based on trust, a digital-by-default approach, and the intensive use of data.
In this context, the OSS Plan 2024–2028 progressively incorporates the Building Information Modelling methodology into complex administrative procedures. This methodology makes it possible to carry out data-driven projects from the outset to structure information, automate validations, and improve interoperability and efficiency.
This process has also involved redesigning the project’s activities, milestones and objectives, incorporating key performance indicators focused both on operational efficiency – automation, procedure volumes, and processing times – and on the real impact on users.
Finally, the continuous review of administrative tasks, together with the strengthening of teams, the deployment of intermediate infrastructures, and the optimisation of resources through the reuse of common components, has made it possible to automate and optimise processes, ensuring sustainability, efficiency, and the project’s capacity to evolve in the medium and long term.
Long-term impact
Since its last presentation in 2017, the OSS has achieved a sustained, structural impact on the simplification and digitalisation of economic activity. The project has full adoption by all 947 Catalan municipalities, ensuring fully homogeneous territorial coverage.
Regarding planned objectives, the main indicators show substantial improvement. Procedures in the catalogue increased from 524 in 2017 to 772 in 2024, while eliminated procedures rose from 80 to 148 and improved procedures from 379 to 500, reflecting clear progress in administrative simplification. In terms of use and adoption, visits to administrative procedures have grown to 2 422 889 and pages consulted exceed 13 million annually, compared to 9.4 million in 2017. The increase in registered users is significant, from 39 782 to 1 078 481, and in electronic procedures, this almost tripled from 650 000 to 1 969 752.
This growth results from dialogue with stakeholders – local administrations, sectoral departments, and the business community – enabling the project to deliver positive outcomes, such as the integration of 967 222 companies, 285 414 establishments, and 330 092 company registrations, as well as the annual management of 640 000 cases with 99% digitalisation, while maintaining in-person channels when needed. The OSS also promotes public–private collaboration through the Chambers of Commerce, which contribute EUR 1.1 million, up from EUR 400 000 in 2017.
Evaluation of results is based on monitoring operational, usage, and economic impact KPIs. This approach confirms not only the model’s efficiency – with 2800 cases processed daily – but also its return, with estimated savings of EUR 340 million. The optimisation of human resources has been supported by an increase in the dedicated budget from EUR 548 368 in 2017 to EUR 2.2 million in the last exercise, while the technological budget has grown from EUR 977 793.47 in 2017 to EUR 3 527 421.39, reflecting the investment required to sustain scalable, data-driven, interoperable digital infrastructure. Overall, the OSS demonstrates clear long-term impact aligned with the project’s initial objectives.
Adjustment in the objectives
The initial objectives have been progressively adjusted to respond to the evolution of the regulatory, technological, and operational environment. Within this framework, the BMO has supported the adoption of Law 18/2020 on the facilitation of economic activity, with the aim of providing the project with a stable legal framework to simplify procedures, streamline workflows, and enable data as the basis of the new relationship model between businesses and the administration.
At the organisational level, the structure has been strengthened through the creation of the Outreach and Business Relations Area, conceived as a key function to reinforce dialogue with the business community, coordinate communication actions, and facilitate relations with the OSS ecosystem.
At the technological level, the project has evolved through the incorporation of key solutions, such as the Business Directory as a reference database, the expansion of guided search for funding, the Intermediaries Module, and the deployment of automated Proactive Services. Data pre-filling and unified processing mechanisms have been implemented, allowing information to be provided only once and reused, thereby implementing the Once-Only Principle.
Finally, the continuity of the project is ensured by sustained institutional and political support, through its integration into the OSS Plan 2024–2028.