Scope

Evaluation and review of Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information (PSI Directive)

Evaluation findings

The overall evaluation of the PSI Directive, including the changes introduced in 2013, has shown that the Directive continued to be an effective, efficient and relevant instrument that successfully contributed to the achievement of its main objectives. Although the PSI Directive created some obligations for public sector bodies, it did not impose a disproportionate burden on them. Re-users, on the other hand, have benefited from the substantial simplification of the procedures for obtaining PSI access, which helped them save time and money.

However, the evaluation has also revealed that there were challenges that would need to be addressed in order to better exploit the potential of PSI for the EU economy and society. They included the following:

- Data generated by the utilities and transport sectors has tremendous re-use potential. Yet, entities active in these sectors are not covered by the PSI Directive, although many of them are fully or partly funded by public money. The same is true for research data resulting from public funding;

- Dynamic data is one of the most commercially valuable types of data, as it can be used for products and services that provide information in real time, such as travel or transport apps. However, the provision of real-time access to dynamic data held by public sector bodies, for example using application programming interfaces (APIs), is rare;

- Several public sector bodies continue to charge well above what is needed to cover reproduction and dissemination costs for the re-use of public sector data. Such charges constitute a market barrier for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Getting rid of charges typically results in a surge in demand for public sector data, which translates into more innovation, more business growth and, ultimately, higher budget revenues (via taxes) for the public sector;

- Public data holders sometimes enter into arrangements with the private sector to derive extra value from their data. This creates the risk of lock-in of public sector data, benefiting large companies and thereby limiting the number of potential re-users of the data in question.

Estimated savings and benefits

The study supporting the impact assessment for the review of the directive found that the Directive contributed to improving the supply market side of public sector information in Europe and to making Europe one of the most advanced open data economies in the world. According to the study, the total economic value of public sector information increased from EUR30 billion in 2010 to around EUR52 billion in 2018.

The study also showed that whereas in 2010 around 41 000 persons were directly employed in the area of public sector information re-use, by 2017 this number increased to around 49 000.

The efficiency savings from data re-use benefitting the public sector itself were estimated to around EUR20 billion in 2017, with a notable increase since 2015.

Which objective(s) does the Commission pursue?

The review aimed to tackle the remaining barriers to the re-use of public sector information and address the new needs created by technical change. The proposal included the following main changes to the legal framework:

- Enhancing access to and re-use of real-time data ("dynamic data") (for example from transponders on vessels, sensors on satellites) by requiring public bodies to disseminate such data via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs);

- Extending the scope of the Public Sector Information Directive (PSI Directive) to data held by public undertakings in the utilities sector and to research data;

- Limiting the current exceptions to the principle of marginal cost charging;

- Putting in place measures that will avoid de facto exclusive agreements, and thus data lock-in situations, between the public sector and large companies;

- Establishing a list of high value datasets (via a separate delegated act) to be available free of charge. The delegated act will be based on a separate impact assessment and include consultation with Member States experts and the general public.

The changes proposed would make a real difference by making more data available for re-use by businesses (especially small and medium sized companies), governments, researchers and individuals. Re-use of public sector data would be cheaper, and some data that is already available (research data) would be easier to re-use. It would also ensure that a competitive market for public data was maintained by reducing the risk of data lock-in by one or a reduced number of re-users.

In addition, the review of the directive could address the trend of some Member States embarking on legislative initiatives addressing the re-use of new categories of datasets, while other Member States are not.

Estimated savings and benefits

In general, the proposed measures would lead to significantly higher economic value from new services and products based on public data, efficiency savings and job creation compared to the baseline scenario of the impact assessment: 30 % more direct economic value and 40 % more jobs than in the baseline scenario.

The expected costs induced by the revised directive were mainly related to the necessary update to the digital infrastructure of the public sector. The revised directive would reduce the cost of making public sector information available for re-use to EUR 3 billion across the EU under the preferred option. This was 21% lower than the estimated cost if no intervention will be carried out.

The costs would be offset by the benefits that would affect the whole economy, including the public sector bodies themselves, thanks to increased efficiency and extra budget revenue generated by taxation. The direct economic value of government data was expected to reach EUR 194 billion by 2030. This represents 185% increase from EUR 52 billion in 2018. Open data has the potential to increase the efficiency of government through better policy making, including EUR 1.7 billion cost savings for the EU public administrations.

The indirect benefits expected from this review were difficult to quantify. It was estimated that open data has the potential to save 7 000 lives yearly thanks to quicker response in case of cardiac arrest and 1 425 lives from traffic losses (i.e. 5.5% of the European road fatalities).

In addition, the measures proposed were expected to improve government transparency and accountability. They should lead to increased social inclusion and empowerment as well as higher civic participation.

Outcome of Legislative Procedure

As a result of the legislative procedure, the PSI Directive became the Directive on ‘Open Data and the re-use of public sector information’ (the ‘Open Data Directive’). The delegated act originally proposed by the Commission in order to lay down the list of concrete high-value datasets was replaced by an implementing act. Finally, the legislators introduced an annex defining the broad categories of high-value datasets (e.g. geospatial data, statistics, etc.), which can be extended in the future via delegated acts.

Estimated savings and benefits

The findings on the estimated savings and benefits of the Commission’s proposal apply also to the adopted legal act, given the minimal differences between the two.

Implementation reported by Member States

Member States had to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Open Data Directive by 17 July 2021 and communicate these to the Commission. In September 2021, the Commission launched infringement procedures against 19 EU Member States that have either not notified any measures at all or declared only partial transposition. Since then, Member States are continuously submitting notifications of their new implementing measures. The Commission is monitoring the completeness of the notified national transposition measures, and subsequently their conformity with the requirements of EU law.

Implementation by Commission

The Open Data Directive requires the adoption by the Commission (via a future implementing act) of a list of high-value datasets to be provided free of charge. This implementing act has been adopted on 21.12.2022¹.

Estimated savings and benefits

No specific research has been performed on savings and benefits of the Open Data Directive after its adoption, since it is only being transposed by the Member States in the course of 2021 and 2022.

The Impact Assessment for the implementing act on high-value datasets (HVD) estimated that for the preferred policy option, the value of the PSI/HVD economy is estimated to grow to EUR 276 billion in 2028. The ratio to GDP in 2028 is expected to increase to 2.00% compared to 1.85% if no action is taken (the baseline). This means the preferred option has an incremental impact of EUR 21 billion in comparison to the baseline. It is also EUR 8 billion more than the value of implementing the lower intensity option (EUR 268 billion).

The total impact has direct and indirect effects. In 2028, the indirect forward effect of implementing the preferred option would be EUR 201 billion. This is EUR 16 billion more than the baseline (EUR 185 billion). The direct effect of the preferred option is EUR 75 billion, representing an incremental impact of EUR 6 billion compared to the baseline in 2028.

¹ Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/138 of 21 December 2022 laying down a list of specific high-value datasets and the arrangements for their publication and re-use (Text with EEA relevance)