European Commission Launches Digital Agenda: Consultation on PSI Policy and Directive

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Posted by Mary Gianoli on 08 Sep 2010

Luxembourg: 9 September 2010

This autumn brings the start of a series of actions related to the review of Europe’s PSI Re-use Directive 2003/98/EC.

The first stage is the Europe wide public consultation process on the policy and legislative framework for the re-use of public sector information and the opening up of government data for re-use with the European Commission announcing an online survey.

Do you have ideas, information, experience or views on Europe’s current Public Sector Information Re-use framework and Directive? The consultation is open to all and now is the time to express your views, if you think the current framework needs to be changed.

Access Online Survey on the PSI Directive

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The European Commission’s short announcement on their web portal alerting all stakeholders to the public consultation states:

“9 September 2010 - Today the Commission launched a public consultation on the PSI Directive. All interested parties – public sector bodies, re-users, developers, researchers and citizens – are invited to participate in the consultation which includes questions on the PSI re-use context and possible action to consider, substantive issues regulated by the PSI Directive, practical measures, changes that have taken place and barriers that still exist, and other issues. The consultation will feed into the debate on possible policy options that should be considered for the review, and will contribute to the impact assessment that will be carried out subsequently, associated with proposals for possible legislative or other measures. The consultation will close on 30 November 2010.”

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The EC Press Release (IP/10/1103) entitled: “Digital Agenda: Commission consults on re-use of public sector data” states:

“The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the EU Directive on the re-use of public sector information (PSI). PSI covers all sorts of data generated by public sector bodies - e.g. maps, meteorological, legal, traffic, financial and economic information - that can be re-used by anyone else in innovative products such as car navigation systems, weather forecasts, and travel information applications ("apps") that can be downloaded on smart phones. Public data that is reused (for free or for a fee) generates an estimated market turnover of at least € 27 billion in the EU every year, according to a 2006 study. Contributions to this consultation will feed into the review of the PSI Directive, part of the Digital Agenda for Europe that aims to contribute to the EU goals of increasing competitiveness, innovation and job creation. The consultation will run until 30 November 2010.

Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, said: "Better and more use of public sector information has great potential to generate new businesses and jobs and to provide consumers with more choice and more value for money. The mobile apps market, partly based on PSI-generated data, could grow to € 15 billion by 2013. However, much of Europe's PSI is insufficiently or even sometimes not exploited. We cannot lose out on this opportunity. We need to consider whether and how the EU rules on re-use of PSI should be amended to fully unlock PSI's economic potential."

All interested parties are invited to send their views on key issues of PSI re-use and, in particular, on possible amendments to the provisions of the current Directive. These relate to the scope, charging fees and licensing of data, the definition and digital format available to users; practical measures like the need for awareness-raising through national web portals; and the effects of changes that have taken place and/or barriers that still exist.

A revision of the PSI Directive is one of the key actions of the Digital Agenda for Europe Digital Agenda for Europe (see IP/10/581, MEMO/10/199 and MEMO/10/200). In its policy strategy, the Commission highlighted that governments can stimulate content markets by making public sector information available on transparent, effective and non-discriminatory terms. This is an important source of potential growth of innovative on-line services.

Background

The EU PSI Directive was adopted on 17 November 2003. It regulates the behaviour of public sector bodies participating in the market for re-use of public data and encourages EU countries to adopt proactive PSI re-use policies. The Directive has helped to remove some of the barriers to re-use, such as monopoly positions of public sector bodies or lack of transparency in the market for re-usable public data.

In 2009, the Commission reviewed the way in which EU PSI rules were being applied, which confirmed that PSI-re use has been on the rise and that Member States and public sector bodies have taken measures to facilitate this. The 2003 Directive had a positive impact in several fields such as geographical and meteorological sectors. However, the Commission also warned that to realise the full potential of PSI for the EU economy, EU Member States must remove remaining barriers to re-use. These include discrimination between potential users, excessive charges for public sector information re-use and complex licensing policies. It also pointed to practical problems such as lack of awareness of what public sector information is available, and public sector bodies failing to realise the economic potential of their data.

The Commission concluded that the 2003 Directive in its present form has not yet achieved its full impact and decided to run a further review at the latest in 2012, when more evidence on the impact, effects and application of EU rules on public sector information will be available. This review is one the Key Actions of the Digital Agenda for Europe. The results of the consultation will feed into the review.”

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The European Commission like a number of European Union Member States requires an impact assessment to be undertaken when making proposals to change legislation. Part of the process of preparing for an impact assessment is to undertake a public consultation with all stakeholders early in the review process.

The European Commission published in January 2009 the latest updated guidance document for European Commission staff when considering or completing an impact assessment. The guidance document titled: IMPACT ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES (SEC (2009) 92, 50 pages, dated 15 January 2009) reference pages 42 & 43.

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