Draft opinion re-use public sector information
DRAFT OPINION on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2003/98/EC on re-use of public sector information (COM(2011)0877 – C7-0502/2011 – 2011/0430(COD)).
The proposal for a directive is part of the Digital Agenda for Europe. Public sector information can be used in the development of new digital products and services and is a vast source of growth potential that has not been sufficiently exploited by Member States. The rapporteur welcomes the timeliness of the Commission proposal, given that the Internet is no longer seen as a source of information and knowledge, but by many as a source of data.
As regards the content of the proposal, the rapporteur wishes to draw attention to the following points:
1. Scope of the directive
2. Definitions
3. Charges
4. Independent authority responsible for supervising the re-use of public sector information.
1. Scope of the directive
Documents which are not accessible due to personal data protection reasons should be excluded from the scope of the directive.2. Definitions
In order to facilitate its re-use, public sector information should be made available in technology-neutral and machine-readable formats. Efforts should be made to ensure that, as far as possible, specific technology is not needed to process the documents.3. Charges
The issue of charges is key to the success of the re-use of public sector information. If the charges are set too high, the development of new digital products and services will be costprohibitive for businesses, particularly start-ups and SMEs. However, some public sector bodies derive part of their revenue from the exploitation of their intellectual property rights.The rapporteur is aware that a balance needs to be struck between these two objectives - increasing the re-use of public information, on the one hand, and financing the public service tasks of certain bodies, on the other hand. The rapporteur proposes maintaining the possibility for certain public bodies and libraries, museums and archives to charge amounts that exceed the marginal costs involved in reproducing information and making it available, on the basis of objective, transparent and verifiable criteria and subject to the approval of the national authority competent to supervise the re-use of public sector information.
4. Independent authority responsible for supervising the re-use of public sector information.
Lastly, the rapporteur takes the view that a new administrative authority does not need to be created to supervise the re-use of public sector information. Member States can designate an existing authority to successfully carry out this role
