Opinion 06/2013 on open data and public sector information ('PSI') reuse. Adopted on 5 June 2013 

THE WORKING PARTY ON THE PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUALS WITH REGARD TO THE PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA

set up by Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995, having regard to Articles 29 and 30 paragraphs 1(a) and 3 of that Directive, having regard to its Rules of Procedure,

HAS ADOPTED THE PRESENT OPINION:

I. Introduction


1.1. Revision of the PSI Directive

On 26 June 2013, the European Union adopted Directive 2013/37/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (the 'PSI Amendment') amending Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information (the 'PSI Directive'). 1

The PSI Directive aims at facilitating the re-use of public sector information by harmonizing the conditions for re-use across the European Union and removing unnecessary barriers to re-use in the internal market.

The initial 2003 text of the PSI Directive harmonized the conditions for re-use but did not require public sector bodies to make available data for re-use. The issue of whether to make data available for reuse was essentially optional: it was left to Member States and the public sector bodies concerned to decide. The result of this was that many public sector bodies across Europe simply chose not to allow their information to be re-used.

Against this background, one of the key policy objectives of the PSI Amendment is to introduce the principle that all public information (that is, all information held by the public sector, which is publicly accessible under national law) is reusable for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. Exceptions from the scope of the amended PSI Directive apply in certain cases, including on grounds of data protection.2

The amended PSI Directive thus now makes it mandatory for public sector bodies to allow reuse of all public information they hold. However, as will be shown below, it does not impose an obligation on public sector bodies to publicly disclose personal information. It only mandates reuse of information if it is already publicly accessible under national law, and even then only if reuse would not prejudice provisions of applicable data protection law.

Other relevant new provisions of the PSI Amendment expand the scope of the PSI Directive to include libraries (including university libraries), archives and museums.

In light of the foregoing, the amended PSI Directive has the potential to greatly increase accessibility of information held by public bodies.

El documento completo se adjunta en formato pdf.