Public Sector Information :: Existing rules
Existing rules on re-use of public sector information
Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information
The Directive on the re-use of public sector information provides a common legislative framework to a previously unregulated European public sector information market, that is the market building on information held by public authorities. It is built around 2 key pillars of the internal market: transparency and fair competition.
It focuses on the economic aspects of information rather than the access of citizens to information. It encourages the Member States to make as much information available for re-use as possible.
Existing barriers include: attempts by public sector bodies to maximise cost recovery, as opposed to benefits for the wider economy, competition between the public and the private sector, practical issues hindering re-use, such as the lack of information on available PSI, and the mindset of public sector bodies failing to realise the economic potential.
The aim of the Directive is to:
- Facilitate the creation of Community-wide services based on or integrating public sector information.
- Enhance an effective cross-border re-use of information for added value products and services.
- Limit the distortions of competition on the Community information market.
For more details see here
Rules for the re-use of Commission information
The Commission is itself a producer and holder of public sector information, which could be re-used in added-value information products. In December 2011 the Commission adopted a revised Decision on the re-use of Commission documents.
What information is excluded from the Decision?
- Software or documents covered by industrial property rights (such as patents, trademarks etc)
- Documents for which the Commission is not in a position to allow re-use in view of intellectual property rights of third parties
- Documents made accessible to a party under specific rules governing privileged access to documents
Commission information resources accessible for re-use
- EU law - EurLex
- Information on EU tenders - Supplement of the Official Journal of the European Union - TED
- Statistical data - Eurostat
- Translation memories - DGT's Acquis Communautaire
- Audio-visual material of DG COMM
Environmental information - Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information
Environmental information constitutes an important part of public sector
information. This particular type of information is covered by specific rules
contributing to improve the quality of the environment.
The Directive of 28 January 2003
on public access to environmental information guarantees the right to
accesses to environmental information held by public authorities and sets out
the basic terms and conditions under which such information should be made
available. The Directive ensures that the environmental information is
progressively made available and disseminated in order to achieve the widest
possible availability and dissemination of environmental information.
INSPIRE Directive - spatial data
Spatial data is another important part of public sector information. It can notably be used for products and services to help improve the environment.
disseminated in order to achieve the widest possible availability and dissemination of environmental information.
INSPIRE Directive - spatial data
Spatial data is an important part of public sector information. It can notably be used for products and services to help improve the environment.
The Council and the European Parliament adopted a Directive on 14 March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community INSPIRE. It will focus on information needed to monitor and improve the state of the environment, in particular regarding air, water, soil and natural landscape. It will also be open for use by other sectors such as agriculture, transport and energy.