Public Sector Information Homepage :: Barriers to the Re-use of PSI

Barriers to the Re-use of PSI

In spite of its potential, much of Europe's PSI is still not extensively re-used. Why?

Lack of information on available PSI and conditions on re-use and lack of culture of re-use in Member States.
Exclusive rights. Public sector bodies often are the only ones to produce a certain type of information and therefore have a natural monopoly in relation to this information. This led in the past to high charges, or to exclusive licenses granted to one single, or a very limited number of market players. It seems natural that PSI is made available to all potential re-users under similar conditions as laid down in the PSI Directive.
Competition issues. Another issue arises when public sector bodies develop commercial activities in parallel with the fulfilment of their public tasks. There is a risk that these commercial activities are in fact sponsored by public funding.
Different administrative traditions, different rules in Member States.
The language factor. The linguistic diversity within the EU constitutes one of the riches, but at a practical level it also presents a number of challenges. This obviously has an impact on cross-border re-use.
Quality of PSI, lack of common standards and metadata. Absence of common principles for storing and describing information is also a barrier to re-use. This issue is particularly relevant for cross-border information services but also plays a role within the Member Sates.

To overcome the barriers that limit the re-use of PSI, the Commission has defined a coherent set of actions, ranging from legislative actions. The PSI Directive to project financing.

Actions at European Level

Actions in Member Sates

Maintained by Information Society and Media DG, Unit E4 - Access to Information

Contact: infso-psihelp@ec.europa.eu

Barriers to the Re-use of PSI

Lack of information on available PSI and conditions on re-use and lack of culture of re-use in Member States.

Competition issues. Another issue arises when public sector bodies develop commercial activities in parallel with the fulfilment of their public tasks. There is a risk that these commercial activities are in fact sponsored by public funding.

Different administrative traditions, different rules in Member States.

The language factor. The linguistic diversity within the EU constitutes one of the riches, but at a practical level it also presents a number of challenges. This obviously has an impact on cross-border re-use.

Quality of PSI, lack of common standards and metadata. Absence of common principles for storing and describing information is also a barrier to re-use. This issue is particularly relevant for cross-border information services but also plays a role within the Member Sates.