13.06.2013
Commission welcomes Parliament adoption of new EU Open Data rules
Today the European Parliament
formally adopted the updated EU rules on the re-use of public sector
information, thereby completing the formal EU approval process.
The EU Committee of Member States'
Permanent Representatives (COREPER) already endorsed the new rules on
10 April and they will be formally approved at the Employment Council on
20t June. The agreement on the new text has
been reached in only 16 months, showing how all EU institutions are
committed to unlock the full potential of the open data goldmine.
European Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes said: "Today
we can celebrate our efforts to bring government data closer to
citizens and businesses in Europe. We are finally getting the much
needed legal framework to boost the economy and create new jobs.
After this final endorsement, the
Commission will start developing a series of guidelines on the most
relevant elements addressed in the Directive, such as licensing,
datasets and charging arrangements
Member States will have 24 months
from the date of entry into force of the revised Directive to transpose
it into national laws Once fully implemented the Directive will boost
the data market in Europe by making all the generally accessible public
sector information available for re-use. Developers, programmers,
creative citizens and businesses will be able to get and re-use public
sector data at zero or very low cost in most cases. They will also have
access to more exciting and inspirational content since materials in
national museums, libraries and archives now fall under the scope of the
Directive.
Background
Public Sector Information refers
to data produced, stored or collected by public sector bodies. Even
though public sector information represents an enormous economic
potential, reaching tens of billions of euros per year across the EU,
studies conducted on behalf of the European Commission showed that
industry and citizens still faced difficulties in finding and re-using
such data.
When fully implemented, new EU rules will:
- Create a genuine right to re-use public information, not present in the original Directive; All public data not covered by one of the exceptions will become re-usable;
- Massively expand the reach of the Directive to include libraries, museums and archives for the first time;
- Establish that public sector bodies can charge at maximum the marginal cost for reproduction, provision and dissemination of the information. In exceptional cases, full cost recovery (plus a reasonable return on investment) will remain possible;
- Oblige public sector bodies to be more transparent about the charging rules and conditions they apply;
- Encourage the availability of Governmental data in machine-readable and open formats;
- Introduce new rules on digitisation agreements, which will support public private partnerships while protecting the cultural sector institutions and the interests of the general public.
Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information
introduced a first set of measures to make it easier for businesses to
obtain access and permission to re-use government-held information. It
also brought about a process whereby governmental agencies lowered the
fees charged for obtaining the information.
Useful links
Hash Tags: @EC_opendata #opendata
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