A pilot project has been launched to setup an e-Invoicing and e-Ordering system between the European Commission and a number of suppliers.

The IDABC e-Invoicing and e-Ordering project started in the summer of 2007 as a joint initiative from the Commission's DG MARKT and DIGIT. The overall project objective is to contribute to the use of electronic invoicing in the public sector in line with the objectives of the i2010 e-Government action plan and the e-Procurement action plan.

The solution developed within the European Commission is based on an Enterprise Service Bus. The name of this infrastructure is called e-PRIOR, an acronym for electronic PRocurement, Invoicing and Ordering.

This solution will allow suppliers using web services uploading and downloading XML messages

The standard for formats and business processes is currently based on NES/UBL, as it is one of the project principles to reuse as much as possible, and not reinventing wheels. I migration path towards UN/CEFACT is envisaged, once the new UN/CEFACT standard will be available.