EESPA establishes Nordic chapter

The international association of e-invoice operators, EESPA, wants to form a dedicated Nordic chapter. The organization is holding an online kick-off meeting on 7 September, open to all service providers operating in the Nordic region.
- The establishment feels positive. It gives us Nordic operators greater weight, says Niklas Andersson, Product Manager at Inexchange.

Here in Sweden, we have the member-driven interest organization NEA (Nätverket för Elektroniska Affärer). Within that body, operators and system providers air important ideas and thoughts that are then taken to EESPA (European E-invoicing Service Providers Association), or rather GENA (Global Exchange Network Association) as the association will be renamed.
But the industry in question organizing itself in a Nordic constellation is completely new. The Danish TrueCommerce Nordic took an initiative in this direction last year, and had a meeting in Copenhagen in March last year, but the plans were much looser then.
Now it's happening. For real.

Creates better weight

Niklas Andersson, Product Manager at Inexchange and our voice when NEA or EESPA meets, thinks it's a good thing.
"Yes, it feels positive that EESPA wants to form a Nordic chapter. Thanks to EESPA's involvement, it will be centrally controlled. This gives it greater weight than is the case with NEA. The work in NEA is more local in nature. We do not reach out in Europe in the same way as will now be the case when EESPA establishes a Nordic chapter, says Niklas.

What is the benefit?

- There will be clearer cooperation in a European perspective, I would say. If there is a Nordic chapter, there is certainly room for continental chapters as well. There was one started in Germany last year and now we will have a Nordic equivalent. It should be able to contribute to greater coherence in general, that we stick more clearly to a common line and work in the same way on issues that require consensus. It would provide greater rigor.
Niklas ponders for a second and then elaborates further:
- I'm thinking more specifically about the global collaborations that are underway. The ViDA initiative, for example. It's good that we have this type of grouping that can show how it works regionally. It will be an important counterweight to countries, such as France, Italy and Romania, which seem to be going their own way. We do not want to do that. On the contrary, we want to follow the global thinking.

EESPA sees many benefits

In its invitation to the meeting on 7 September, EESPA emphasizes that it wants to bring together as many Nordic industry players as possible, that the Swedish NEA supports the initiative and that it wants to make the Nordics Chapter a successful concept through close cooperation.
The same mailing lists a number of suggestions for improvements that EESPA believes it could achieve with a Nordic chapter:
- Better understanding of regional requirements.
- Stronger promotion of e-invoicing and documents for different types of supply chains.
- Promote optimal solutions for national authorities regarding compliance.
- Strengthen local and international interconnectivity.
- Create a voice for national or regional service providers within EESPA globally and Peppol locally.
-  Involve also smaller local service providers.

Promoting Nordic cooperation

Although there is a great deal of agreement in the Nordic region regarding the management and exchange of digital business documents, there are also national solutions that separate us. The EESPA Nordics Chapter can thus be a valuable interface between neighboring countries.
"I absolutely believe that this can lead to better cooperation in the Nordic region," agrees Niklas Andersson, adding:
"There are divisions in our latitudes as well. Finland has its own process, Denmark is doing its own thing (the Accounting Act for digital accounting systems) and Norway is concentrating on Peppol. We should be able to get closer to each other by now having our own common channel and thus be able to cooperate a little more closely.
The meeting on September 7 will be held via Teams and it will start with a presentation in which Marcus Laube, who holds one of two chairmanships in EESPA, will start from the questions: Why local chapters? Why a Nordics Chapter? How should it be set up?