FantasticSearch

(32) In order to get access to the data opened for re-use by this Directive, it would be useful to ensure access to dynamic data through well-designed APIs. An API is a set of functions, procedures, definitions and protocols for machine-to-machine communication and the seamless exchange of data. APIs should be supported by clear technical documentation that is complete and available online. Where possible, open APIs should be used. Union or internationally recognised standard protocols should be applied and international standards for datasets should be used where applicable. APIs can have different levels of complexity and can mean a simple link to a database to retrieve specific datasets, a web interface, or more complex set-ups. There is general value in re-using and sharing data via a suitable use of APIs as this will help developers and start-ups to create new services and products. It is also a crucial ingredient of creating valuable ecosystems around data assets that are often unused. The set-up and use of API needs to be based on several principles: availability, stability, maintenance over lifecycle, uniformity of use and standards, user-friendliness as well as security. For dynamic data, meaning frequently updated data, often in real time, public sector bodies and public undertakings should make this available for re-use immediately after collection by ways of suitable APIs and, where relevant, as a bulk download, save for cases where this would impose a disproportionate effort. Assessment of the proportionality of the effort should take into account the size and operating budget of the public sector body or the public undertaking in question.

(33) The possibilities for re-use can be improved by limiting the need to digitise paper-based documents or to process digital files to make them mutually compatible. Therefore, public sector bodies should make documents available in any pre-existing format or language, through electronic means where possible and appropriate. Public sector bodies should view requests for extracts from existing documents favourably when to grant such a request would involve only a simple operation. Public sector bodies should not, however, be obliged to provide an extract from a document or to modify the format of the requested information where this involves a disproportionate effort. To facilitate re-use, public sector bodies should make their own documents available in a format which, as far as possible and appropriate, is not dependent on the use of specific software. Where possible and appropriate, public sector bodies should take into account the possibilities for the re-use of documents by and for persons with disabilities by providing the information in an accessible format in accordance with the requirements of Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council .

(34) To facilitate re-use, public sector bodies should, where possible and appropriate, make documents, including those published on websites, available through an open and machine-readable format and together with their metadata, at the best level of precision and granularity, in a format that ensures interoperability, for example by processing them in a way consistent with the principles governing the compatibility and usability requirements for spatial information under Directive 2007/2/EC.

(35) A document should be considered to be in a machine-readable format if it is in a file format that is structured in such a way that software applications can easily identify, recognise and extract specific data from it. Data encoded in files that are structured in a machine-readable format should be considered to be machine-readable data. A machine-readable format can be open or proprietary. They can be formal standards or not. Documents encoded in a file format that limits automatic processing, because the data cannot, or cannot easily, be extracted from them, should not be considered to be in a machine-readable format. Member States should, where possible and appropriate, encourage the use of a Union or internationally recognised open, machine-readable format. The European interoperability framework should be taken into account, where applicable, when designing technical solutions for the re-use of documents.

(50) Arrangements between data holders and data re-users which do not expressly grant exclusive rights but which can reasonably be expected to restrict the availability of documents for re-use should be subject to additional public scrutiny. The essential aspects of such arrangements should therefore be published online at least two months before coming into effect, namely two months before the agreed date on which the performance of the obligations of the parties is set to begin. The publication should give interested parties an opportunity to request the re-use of the documents covered by those arrangements and prevent the risk of restricting the range of potential re-users. In any event, the essential aspects of such arrangements in their final form agreed by the parties should also be made public online without undue delay following their conclusion.

(51) This Directive aims to minimise the risk of excessive first-mover advantage that could limit the number of potential re-users of the data. Where contractual arrangements are likely, in addition to a Member State's obligations under this Directive to grant documents, to entail a transfer of that Member State's resources within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU, this Directive should be without prejudice to the application of the competition and State aid rules laid down in Articles 101 to 109 TFEU. It follows from the State aid rules laid down in Articles 107, 108 and 109 TFEU that a Member State must check ex ante whether State aid may be involved in the relevant contractual arrangement and ensure that it complies with the State aid rules.

(52) This Directive does not affect the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data under Union and national law, particularly Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and including any supplementing provisions of national law. This means, inter alia, that the re-use of personal data is permissible only if the principle of purpose limitation as set out in point (b) of Article 5(1) and Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 is met. Anonymous information is information which does not relate to an identified or identifiable natural person or to personal data rendered anonymous in such a manner that the data subject is not or is no longer identifiable. Rendering information anonymous is a means of reconciling the interests in making public sector information as re-usable as possible with the obligations under data protection law, but it comes at a cost. It is appropriate to consider that cost to be one of the cost items to be considered to be part of the marginal cost of dissemination as referred to in this Directive.

(1) Directive 2003/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council has been substantially amended. Since further amendments are to be made, that Directive should be recast in the interests of clarity.

(2) Pursuant to Article 13 of Directive 2003/98/EC and five years after the adoption of Directive 2013/37/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council , which amended Directive 2003/98/EC, the Commission, after consulting the relevant stakeholders, evaluated and reviewed the functioning of Directive 2003/98/EC in the framework of a regulatory fitness and performance programme.

(3) Following the stakeholder consultation and in the light of the result of the impact assessment, the Commission considered that action at Union level was necessary in order to address the remaining and emerging barriers to a wide re-use of public sector and publicly funded information across the Union, in order to bring the legislative framework up to date with the advances in digital technologies and to further stimulate digital innovation, especially with regard to artificial intelligence.

(4) The substantive changes introduced to the legal text so as to fully exploit the potential of public sector information for the European economy and society should focus on the following areas: the provision of real-time access to dynamic data via adequate technical means, the increase of the supply of valuable public data for re-use, including from public undertakings, research performing organisations and research funding organisations, the tackling of the emergence of new forms of exclusive arrangements, the use of exceptions to the principle of charging the marginal cost and the relationship between this Directive and certain related legal instruments, including Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directives 96/9/EC , 2003/4/EC and 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

(5) Access to information is a fundamental right. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Charter) provides that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.

(6) Article 8 of the Charter guarantees the right to the protection of personal data and provides that such data must be processed fairly for specified purposes and on the basis of the consent of the person concerned or some other legitimate basis laid down by law, and subject to control by an independent authority.

(7) The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for the establishment of an internal market and of a system ensuring that competition in the internal market is not distorted. Harmonisation of the rules and practices in the Member States relating to the exploitation of public sector information contributes to the achievement of those objectives.