Review of the directive on re-use of public sector information and open data

EDUC-V/023
Adopted

Review of the directive on re-use of public sector information and open data

Anne KARJALAINEN
Anne KARJALAINEN
Member Finland
Member of Kerava City Council
 anne.karjalainen@jhl.fi
 +358 9 2945663
 EN, FI
Commissions: SEDEC-VII , ENVE-VII
 Adoption: 10/10/2012
 Theme: Enterprise and Industry
support the proposed actions, focused on the protection of personal data and cyber security in an ever- developing technological environment; complement the key proposals of the European Commission (especially related to the inclusion of cultural institutions in the Directive, to charging based on marginal costs and to the shift of burden of proof of compliance with the charging rules to the public sector body); • highlight the role of LRAs in these domains and develop their involvement in devising and implementing the measures at EU level
• 06/6/2012: a meeting with the EP rapporteur took place • The EP draft legislative resolution from 7/12/2012 makes reference to the need for cross-border exchange of best practices and knowledge between stakeholders, public bodies and regulators should be promoted by the Commission and the Member States. • The EP shares the concerns of the CoR about data protection and intellectual property rights when reusing public data; • The EP also shares the CoR's view that in the case of large-scale digitalisation projects, the conclusion of agreements granting exclusive rights for a limited period of time should not be precluded; • The EP, like the CoR, argues that setting charges over and above the marginal costs should be subject to transparent criteria and allowed in certain cases, including libraries, museums and archives; • The EP expresses doubts as to the added value/pertinence of the establishment of an independent authority vested with specific regulatory powers regarding the re-use of public sector information. The idea about charging marginal costs was tackled by Amendment 2 of EP report 18/07/2012 "Excessive charging hampers the re-use of public sector information and impedes the transparency and the involvement of SMEs in the improvement of the services, based on public information. Public bodies should be encouraged to guarantee, where possible, that the information charges do not exceed their marginal cost. The public sector information is an information, collected, ordered or generated for the internal purpose of the public body, and not for the reuse. Therefore, charging should apply only for the costs incurred for the reproduction and dissemination. In case of negatively affecting the financial revenues of the public entities as a result from a lower income from selling the information, these should be compensated by the central budget, which is supposed to benefit from the reduced administration and the stimulation of the business activities."
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS - welcomes the Commission’s initiative to review the Re-use of public sector information (PSI) Directive and the accompanying Communication on Open Data, as they have the potential to become valuable assets for citizens, businesses and public authorities and could help to create jobs and improve the quality of public services; - has emphasised the importance of having common rules and practices governing the re-use and exploitation of public sector information to ensure that the same basic conditions are applied to all players in the European information market, that conditions for re-using such information are more transparent, and that distortions of the internal market are eliminated; - notes that local and regional authorities are among the main target groups for measures under the Digital Agenda, which include the revision of the PSI directive and the Communication on Open Data, and that they play a particularly important role in driving its implementation; - considers it important that the re-use of public sector data fully respect EU and national privacy legislation. The use of open data must also respect the intellectual property rights of third parties, at the same time as ensuring that the same data protection and privacy standards apply to a situation in which public sector data is used for commercial purposes as when such data remains within the public sector.
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