Brussels, 10/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 10 April, the European Commission welcomed endorsement by the EU Council's “Coreper” (EU committee of member states' permanent representatives) of the Commission's effort to open up public sector data for re-use across Europe, as presented on 12 December 2011 (see EUROPE 10514).
Neelie Kroes, Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, said: “Opening up public data means opening up business opportunities, creating jobs and building communities. I welcome the Council's agreement to this culture change”.
Irish Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte was also delighted with the agreement reached, saying: “We set out to deliver an amended directive that would remove barriers to a potentially important growth area, to encourage a re-use environment that stimulates economic activity and job creation”. Once fully transposed into national law, the newly cast public sector information directive would make all generally accessible (i.e. not personal) public sector information available for re-use. Developers, programmers, businesses and citizens will be able to get and re-use public sector data at zero or very low cost in most cases. They will also have access to more exciting and inspirational content, such as works and documents found in libraries, archives and national museums. The new rules proposed now need to be formally approved by the European Parliament. (IL/transl.jl)