The Open Data Directive: Unlocking the value of public sector
information in Europe
The Directive on open data and the re-use of public sector
information, in short, the Open Data Directive
[http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/1024/oj], was adopted in 2019. It
establishes a common legal framework across the European Union to
promote the reuse of public sector data. Replacing the earlier Public
Sector Information (PSI) Directive, it aims to remove barriers and
unlock the value of data held by governments, public institutions and
publicly funded bodies. 

The directive harmonises rules across EU Member States, ensuring that
public sector information can be reused for both commercial and
non-commercial purposes under transparent and fair conditions. It
expands the scope of reusable data to include public undertakings and
research data funded by public money. It also introduces key
improvements, such as encouraging real-time access to dynamic data via
application programming interfaces (APIs) and limiting charges to
marginal costs in most cases. 

At its core, the directive reinforces the principle that public data
should be open by default. This means that government-held data, such
as statistics, geospatial data or research results, should be
accessible in machine-readable formats and ready for reuse. By
promoting transparency, innovation and fair competition, the directive
supports the development of new digital services, strengthens
evidence-based policymaking and enables citizens and businesses to
benefit from data-driven solutions. 

To learn more, explore the full legal text of the directive on EUR-Lex
[https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/1024/oj/eng] and discover how
open data is implemented across Europe. You can also browse datasets
and practical examples on the European Data Portal and see how open
data can be reused to create innovative services and insights. 

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Publication Date/Time
2026-06-26T08:00:00+00:00
A common framework to make public data reusable, accessible, and
impactful