This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Unlocking the economic potential of government-owned data
Unlocking the economic potential of government-owned data
Unlocking the economic potential of government-owned data
This summary has been archived and will not be updated. See
'Open data and the reuse of public-sector information'
for an updated information about the subject.
- Date of last review:
- 06/03/2015
- Author:
- Publications Office of the European Union
- Archived:
-
true
- Summarised document(s):
- Summary code:
-
- 31.99.00.00 Archived summaries
- EUROVOC descriptor:
- Directory code:
Unlocking the economic potential of government-owned data
The re-use of data produced by the public sector has vast economic potential. Meanwhile, the amount of such data is growing. Therefore improving the rules on when and how such data can be used and re-used will benefit the EU economy greatly. This directive, part of Europe’s digital agenda and its Europe 2020 economic growth strategy, seeks to unlock that potential.
ACT
Directive 2013/37/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 amending Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information.
SUMMARY
The re-use of data produced by the public sector has vast economic potential. Meanwhile, the amount of such data is growing. Therefore improving the rules on when and how such data can be used and re-used will benefit the EU economy greatly. This directive, part of Europe’s digital agenda and its Europe 2020 economic growth strategy, seeks to unlock that potential.
WHAT DOES THIS DIRECTIVE DO?
This directive updates and amends parts of Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of data produced and stored by public bodies in the EU (i.e. state, regional or local authorities). It aims to create an up-to-date common basis throughout the EU for the use of public sector data, encouraging public bodies to make data available electronically for free or, if they choose not to, for a charge no greater than the combined cost of collecting, storing, processing and making the data available.
KEY POINTS
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Not covered under the 2003 directive, data owned by libraries, university libraries, museums and archives now come within the scope of this directive.
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This directive amends the principle of charging for re-using data. While the 2003 directive required that data from public bodies should come at a price no greater than the cost of collecting and disseminating the data, the 2013 directive clearly limits this rule to libraries and public bodies that need the revenue to perform their jobs. All other bodies are required to provide the data for free or for no more than the cost of making the data available to interested users and re-users, which in the age of electronic downloads may be close to zero.
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Whereas the 2003 directive did not oblige EU countries to allow the re-use of public body data, this directive introduces a right to reuse by making all content that can be accessed under national laws on access to information reusable.
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BACKGROUND
Public sector data, such as legal, traffic, meteorological, economic and financial data, constitutes the largest information source in the EU. Allowing this data to be re-used for other purposes (i.e. insurance services, GPS navigation and weather forecasting) has an enormous ability to stimulate economic growth and innovation.
KEY TERMS
The 2003 directive defines ‘re-use’ as the use of public information for a purpose other than the purpose it was collected for.
REFERENCES
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Act |
Entry into force |
Deadline for transposition in the Member States |
Official Journal |
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Directive 2013/37/EU |
17.7.2013 |
18.7.2015 |
RELATED ACT
Directive 2003/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 November 2003 on the re-use of public sector information (OJ L 345 of 31.12.2003, pp. 90-96).
Last updated: 06.03.2015
