Public sector bodies generate vast repositories of data, known as public sector information or government data. This data represents a valuable resource for different stakeholders, such as researchers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers, but in order for it to realise its economic and societal benefits, it is crucial to guarantee an open access.
For instance, datasets such as meteorological observation data and air quality and soil contamination data can support research and digital innovation as well as help better-informed policymaking in the fight against climate change.
However, datasets must be accompanied by clear licensing frameworks that allow access, utilisation, and dissemination for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.
Despite empirical evidence and research consistently demonstrating a positive correlation between the accessibility of public sector information and economic growth, and nearly two decades of EU policy efforts and significant national investments, Europe continued to be confronted by technical, legal, and financial barriers that were obstructing the utilisation of this valuable data.
The Open Data Directive and its accompanying European Commission Implementing Regulation were therefore established to address these very challenges. By mandating open access for specific high-value datasets (HVDs), these regulations represent a critical step towards unlocking the potential of public sector data, facilitating innovation, and enabling data-driven policy decisions.
The Open Data Directive
The Open Data Directive sets a framework governing the re-use of public sector information, defining HVDs as “documents held by a public sector body, the re-use of which is associated with important benefits for society, the environment and the economy”.
This legislative instrument is based on two core principles of the European internal market: transparency and fair competition.
Its goals are mainly:
- To stimulate the publishing of dynamic data resources and drive adoption of Application Programme Interfaces (APIs) as a means of facilitating access.
- To limit the exemptions currently enabling public bodies to levy charges exceeding the marginal cost of dissemination for re-use of their data holdings.
- To broaden the Directive's scope in order to:
- encompass data held by public undertakings, subject to specific rules limiting its application largely to data voluntarily released for re-use, while permitting cost recovery beyond marginal dissemination costs.
- extend to research data emanating from publicly-funded programs, with Member States obligated to develop open access policies for such outputs. Provisions further enhance the re-usability of research data already contained in open repositories.
- Transparency requirements governing public-private arrangements involving public sector information, precluding exclusive dealings.
Complementing its provisions, the Open Data Directive commissioned the European Commission to adopt an Implementing Regulation specifying a list of high-value datasets that public sector bodies must make available free of charge, in machine-readable formats and accessible via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), with bulk download capabilities where relevant.
EU Member States were mandated to transpose this Directive into national law by 16 July 2021.
Commission Implementing Regulation
The Implementing Act was adopted on 21 December 2022.
Through a combination of stakeholders interviews and the Impact Assessment Support Study, a list of concrete high-value datasets, within the limits of 6 categories, were defined in the Directive:
- geospatial,
- earth observation and environment,
- meteorological
- statistics,
- companies and company ownership,
- mobility.
In principle, these categories do not refer to personal data. However, in the case where certain datasets were to be considered personal data, it is important to ensure compliance with the GDPR.
Burden for public authorities
The Open Data Directive only mandates public authorities to make existing data available; they don’t have any obligation to produce new data. The public sector will have the financial burden of the necessary technical upgrades of data publication via APIs and will have to stop charging fees for the re-use of HVDs.
However, this financial impact is mitigated by the benefits derived from data availability and usability within public sector operations as well as with the lower administrative burden associated with the handling of re-use requests, licensing negotiations and the processing of charges. In addition, the Commission provides support to public sector bodies through concrete actions under the auspices of the Digital Europe Programme.
How to access open data and high-value datasets?
The European data portal is the central repository for public sector information within the EU, with over 1.6 million datasets. It includes data from both EU institutions and member states, offering a one-stop shop for researchers, policymakers, and the general public.
The portal prioritises user experience by featuring a user-friendly Quick search function that help identify datasets. The results are then readily downloadable in various formats, ensuring accessibility for users with diverse technical backgrounds. For those seeking to delve deeper, the portal offers a way of conducting advanced searches through the SPARQL query language.
The portal also houses an Academy section, which offers many training materials specifically designed to equip users with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively reuse open data, as well as various research papers and reports and use cases from both data providers and data users from across the world.
It is important to note that the comprehensiveness of the portal relies on the active participation of public authorities as well as the quality of the metadata associated with each datasets. Therefore, it may not be possible to access all open data via the portal.
Where data can’t be found on the official European portal, there are also national cross-sectoral or sector-specific portals that make data available from public authorities across countries.
Additionally, when public sector data were not to be openly available, the official portal for European data also host the European Register for Protected Data held by the Public Sector (ERPD), that contains Member States’ ‘protected data’, i.e. that held by public authorities that can’t be made available. The conditions to reuse this data are presented in the Data Governance Act.
Users’ rights
The Open Data Directive guarantees access to public sector information, even if not openly published. Upon request, authorities must provide electronic copies within reason. Extracts or format changes requiring significant effort aren't mandatory, but rejections need justification based on laws. Users can challenge these decisions.
Documents are typically free, with exceptions for extensive searches or format changes. Public authorities heavily reliant on data revenue might charge full costs. Reuse conditions must be fair within similar categories (e.g. commercial vs. non-commercial use).
High-Value Datasets (HVDs) have additional rules. Starting June 9, 2024, they must be:
- Free
- Reusable under a specific licence
- Offered in open formats
- Accessible via user-friendly tools
- Provided in the latest versions