The Reuse of Public Sector Information in Europe and Its Impact on Transparency

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/eulj.12003
• Published date: 01 November 2012
• Date: 01 November 2012
• Author: Agustí Cerrillo‐i‐Martínez

The Reuse of Public Sector Information in

Europe and Its Impact on Transparency

Agustí Cerrillo-i-Martínez*

Abstract: The dissemination of public sector information is not carried out exclusively

by public administration. A significant proportion of public sector information consti-

tutes the raw material used by the content industry to offer goods and services and by

citizens to provide richer information. In the European Union, Directive 2003/98/EC on

the reuse of public sector information establishes a set of rules governing the reuse of

public sector information. Although this rule is not intended to provide greater trans-

parency, the re-use of public sector information could have this effect.

This article sets out the European policy on public sector information reuse and it

looks in depth at the content of Spanish Act 37/2007, of 16 November, about the reuse

of public sector information, as a case study, outlining some of the instruments that have

been used in Spain as well as in other Member States to promote the reuse of public

sector information.

I Public Sector Information: The Evolution of Regulations Concerning

Public Sector Information in Europe**

The spread of the use of electronic means among public administrations and the

general public has led to an exponential increase in the use of public sector informa-

tion.1The provision of public sector information is of unquestionable value in terms

of improving transparency. Over recent years, the literature has provided as many

definitions of transparency, as there have been attempts to define it.2In general terms,

transparency is the awareness by citizens of what happens within the government

* PhD in Law, Assistant Professor in Administrative Law, Dean of the Law and Political Science

Department, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Spain). E-mail: acerrillo@uoc.edu.

** After this paper was accepted, the European Commission proposed an amendment of Directive 2003/

98/EC. In Spain, the Royal Decree 1495/2011, of 24 October 2011, whereby the Law 37/2007, of

November 16, on the reuse of public sector information, is developed for the General Spanish State

Administration was passed. In the proof review process we have only included those changes considered

relevant for the content of this article.

1It is widely reported in the literature that transparency is currently characterised by usually being

conducted through electronic means, S. Grimmelikhuijsen, ‘Do Transparent Government Agencies

Strengthen Trust?’, (2009) 14 Information Polity 175; A. Meijer, ‘Understanding Modern Transparency,’

(2009) 75 International Review of Administrative Sciences 258.

2A. Meijer op cit n 1; P. Birkinshaw, ‘Freedom of Information and Openness: Fundamental Human

Rights?’, (2006) 58 Administrative Law Review 189–199; A. Florini, ‘The Batlle over Transparency,’ in

A. Florini (ed), The Right to Know. Transparency for an Open World (Columbia University Press, 2007),

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European Law Journal, Vol. 18, No. 6, November 2012, pp. 770–792.

© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK

and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA

through the provision of public sector information to achieve different purposes,

such as increasing democratic legitimacy and the accountability of government, reduc-

ing abuse and corruption,3contributing to good governance,4which can improve the

government decision-making process, informing citizens about public affairs that can

contribute to their participation in public affairs,5and facilitating greater economic

and social development.

Moreover, citizens need public sector information to be able to exercise their rights

and to comply with their obligations, as well as being able to carry out their personal

and professional activities.6In the same way, public sector information also has a

value in itself as the basis for products and services that can be offered by the private

sector.7

To provide a response to all public sector information functions, the legal system

has been regulating several instruments, such as the right of access, dissemination

services and the reuse and commercial exploitation of public sector information.

Nevertheless, there are notable differences between the different functions of

public information and the three mechanisms that have so far been regulated. In fact,

not all the information to which citizens have access when they exercise their rights of

access is disseminated by public administrations.8Neither is all the information that

may be accessed or disseminated by public administrations of value in terms of reuse

or commercial exploitation. Moreover, when a company exploits public sector infor-

mation for commercial purposes (eg creating a map based on cartographic informa-

tion or preparing economic reports on statistical information), it cannot be concluded

that it always provides access to public sector information or that it disseminates

public sector information, although in some cases, this may significantly contribute to

transparency.

This diversity of mechanisms does not occur in all countries. For example, in the

United States, access to public sector information empowers its reuse. In fact, in the

United States, the large volume of reused public sector information has been justified

at 5; S. J. Piotrowski and G. G. Van Ryzin, ‘Citizen Attitudes toward Transparency in Local Govern-

ment,’ (2007) 37 The American Review of Public Administration 306; J. Chevallier, Science Administrative

(Presses Universitaires de France, 2007).

3G. Arena, ‘Le diverse finalità della trasparenza amministrativa,’ in F. Merloni (ed), La trasparenza

amministrativa (Giuffrè, 2008), at 33; J. E. Stiglitz, ‘Foreword,’ in A. Florini (ed), The Right to Know.

Transparency for an Open World (Columbia University Press, 2007), at VII.

4S. Grimmelikhuijsen, op cit n 1173; A. Frost, ‘Restoring Faith in Government: Transparency Reform

in the United States and the European Union,’ (2003) 9 European Public Law 89; J. M. Ackerman and

I. E. Sandoval-Ballesteros, ‘The Global Explosion of Freedom of Information Acts,’ (2006) 58 Admin-

istrative Law Review; European Commission, ‘White Paper on European Governance,’ COM (2001) 428

final.

5C. Coglianese, ‘The Transparency President? The Obama Administration and Open Government,’

(2009) 22 Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions 535–536;

M. Gentot, ‘La transparence de l’administration publique,’ (1995) 1 Revue des Sciences Administratives

5–10.

6Transparency has also been linked to human rights P. Birkinshaw op cit n2.

7European eGovernment Conference 2003. Ministerial Declaration. Como, 7–8 July 2003. (http://www.

europa.eu.int/information_society/policy/psi/docs/pdfs/ministerialmeclaration_cernobbio.pdf).

8The US Freedom of Information Act puts anything of sufficient general interest that has been asked

for by three people online. See M. Herz, ‘Law Lags Behind: FOIA and Affirmative Disclosure of

Information,’ (2009) Summer Cardozo Public Law, Policy and Ethics Journal 587. Along the same lines,

in France M. Puybasset, ‘Le droit à l’information administrative,’ (2003) 25 Actualité Juridique Droit

Administrative 1307.

November 2012 Reuse of Public Sector Information in Europe

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