Warsaw: 23 February 2010

DIP (Pozarządowe Centrum Dostępu do Informacji Publicznej) Non-governmental Centre for Access to Public Information has published an announcement titled: ‘Ankieta dotycząca umów na wyłączność w obszarze informacji sektora publicznego’ (A Survey of exclusive agreements in the area of public sector information).

The news explains about the study on Exclusive Arrangements underway in Poland which is being conducted by the Cities on the Internet Association (COI). COI is Polish country representative in the European Public Sector Information Platform.

The news item references the link to the online survey which is a part of the study.

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The DIP announcement states (approximate English translation) (Polish text online)

"Team Innovation and Development, "Cities on Internet" Association invites you to complete the survey in conjunction with the survey being conducted on behalf of the European Commission in order to determine the degree of adaptation of public sector entities in Poland to the pan-European regulations concerning equal opportunities for re-use of public information by private sector entities.

The study is about examining the situation in Poland related to exclusive agreements in the area of the re-use of public sector information. The goal is to identify any possible exclusive agreements between public sector bodies and private sector entities, within the context of the Directive 2003/98/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 17 November 2003 on the re-use of PSI.

According to the European Commission's interpretation, an exclusive contract is to be interpreted broadly - wider than just the contract, which appears directly related to the provision of public information re-use, excluding access to the other market players. Specific exclusivity agreements may also be a situation in which one party (the private sector entity) obtains the right to re-use PSI, which limits the access to the information by others or discriminates against the use of comparable categories. Every situation favoring one entity over the other players on the market in the context of the re-use of PSI should be understood as standing in contradiction with the Directive. Exclusive right of a private sector entity to re-use of public information can not be justified by the fact the conclusion of the contract as a result of lawful procedure. This is because such an arrangement is exclusive (contrary to the Directive), even where the grant of exclusive rights to one or group of entities is the result of compliance the public procurement law. Detailed interpretation of the European Commission’s explanations is available at the following . The online survey is available on this link."

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A news announcement by the Cities on the Internet Association (COI) titled: ‘Badanie informacji publicznych’ (13 November 2009) states (approximate English translation) (Polish Text online).

Cities on the Internet is conducting a market survey on the public sector information re-use in Poland, which is commissioned by the European Commission. The study is focused on identifying potential exclusive agreements related to the re-use of PSI.

The research study by experts of the Association shall examine at least 75 public-sector entities and at least 150 entities that use (or could potentially make use of) public sector information. Responding to the expectations of the European Commission, the study will be covered primarily by public sector entities, central and regional levels.

The issue of re-use of public sector information is currently of great importance, not least because of the value of this market. The Communication Commission of the European Communities to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee of the Regions of 7 May 2009 highlighted the potential of re-use of public sector information in the age of digitization. The EU market for IMS is estimated at 27 billion, or four times the value of EU roaming market in mobile telephones.

Determinants of EU law make exclusive contracts not generally permitted, although an exception can be used in specific situations where the service is in the public interest. But even in such cases, an exclusive contract should be subject to periodic analysis. Reviews of such agreements must be made not less frequently than every three years. Details in this regard are in the Directive 2003/98/EC of 17 November 2003 to re-use of public sector information.

- The study will begin with the identification and analysis of areas in which they arise and are held by public sector entities information that can be re-used. Based on this, a detailed analysis of areas identified by experts of the Association shall prepare a list of areas of priority - says Anna Siemek - Filus, director of innovation and development of COI.

Analysis of existing exclusive agreements and cases where the existence of such agreements is suspected will be an important part of the final report (one of three reports) from the study. The information contained in this report will form the basis for the Commission to request additional explanations from the entities for which it is found or suspected the existence of agreements which are inconsistent with the provisions of the Directive.

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• This Polish exclusive agreements study is part of the European Commission’s launching of a first round studies assessing the existence of exclusive agreements in nine countries France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Belgium and the Czech Republic. The second round of studies is forthcoming and will include other Member States and will build upon the methodology and experience of the first round. The first report on these studies – the Belgian Report – was published on the 5 March 2010.

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