An article on EUR-Lex explains the European Legislation Identifier (ELI). It is a system to make legislation available online in a standardised format, so that it can be accessed, exchanged and reused across borders. The advantages are described as follows:

Better-quality, more reliable legislation data
ELI helps improve the quality and reliability of legal information online through the use of persistent identifiers and structured metadata.

Greater interoperability
ELI encourages interoperability among information systems by structuring legislation in a standardised way, while taking account of the specific features of different legal systems.

Better access to legislation
Thanks to search engine optimisation, ELI makes it easier to locate legal data, which can thus be more widely used.

It promotes the development of new services
Making legislation available in a structured way helps develop value-added services.

Cost savings
ELI makes information flows more effective and shortens the time taken to publish legislation.

It promotes transparency
By improving access to legal information, ELI makes it easier to follow up work done by governments, and promotes greater accountability.