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

• Published in: European law journal : review of European law in context 2012-11, Vol.18 (6), p.770-792
• Main Author: Cerrillo‐i‐Martínez, Agustí
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1351-5993; 1468-0386
• DOI: 10.1111/eulj.12003

The dissemination of public sector information is not carried out exclusively by public administration. A significant proportion of public sector information constitutes the raw material used by the content industry to offer goods and services and by citizens to provide richer information. In the E uropean U nion, D irective 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 transparency, the re‐use of public sector information could have this effect. This article sets out the E uropean policy on public sector information reuse and it looks in depth at the content of S panish A ct 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 S pain as well as in other M ember S tates to promote the reuse of public sector information.