Fact Sheet

Version May 2011

Charging Boundaries for PSI Re-use

What is this fact sheet about? For re-users of PSI, charges imposed for re-use are of significant importance as they may constitute a substantial cost in their business process, possibly even preventing them from entering a market. The PSI Directive sets a maximum level of charging and tells PSBs to apply equal terms, guarded by transparency obligations re-users can invoke. No obligation to charge The provision in the Directive on charging for reuse of PSI does not prejudice the right of Member States or public sector bodies (PSBs) to apply lower charges or no charges at all. In fact the Directive encourages PSBs to make PSI available at charges that do not exceed the marginal costs for reproducing and disseminating the documents. PSI Directive sets the maximum level a PSB can earn on re-use Where charges are levied, the Directive provides for a maximum, cost-based level. Thus: 1. the total income from charges for re-use of PSI may not exceed: a. the cost of collection, production (including creation and collation), reproduction and dissemination (including user support), b. together with a reasonable return on investment; and 2. these charges should: a. have due regard to the self-financing requirements of the public sector body concerned, where applicable, and b. be cost-oriented over the appropriate accounting period and calculated in line with the accounting principles applicable to the public sector bodies involved. PSI Directive bans price discrimination The Directive also forbids PSBs from applying discriminatory terms in particular charges to comparable categories of re-use, explicitly distinguishing between commercial and noncommercial re-use. This also applies to the PSB that re-uses its own data: if the PSB holding the documents allows for public sector re-use either internally or through another (associate) PSB the Directive will have a levelling effect, since the same conditions for re-use have to be imposed as those governing agreements with other re-users. Of course the PSB can also decide to lower the charges towards these other reusers. Transparency obligations provide the teeth Obviously, these provisions only make sense if the re-user is able to establish whether the PSB is actually following these rules. Therefore, conditions and standard charges for re-use must be pre-established and published. Furthermore, on a request from any re-user, a PSB must indicate the calculation basis for charging. Case law building up Although slowly, there is a nucleus of case law building up on charging, quite often embedded in a larger context of conflict between a PSB and a re-user, such as the Landmark case and the Intelligent Addressing case. English summaries thereof are available on the ePSI Platform under the heading cases Review may lead to new rules on charges Under the 2010 public consultation building up to the 2012 Review of the Directive, the current charging regime was flagged as one of the main obstacles for further expansion of private sector re-use. In this context, the European Commission has initiated a study on the effects of charging for PSI re-use (expected to be published in the Fall of 2011). If a political decision is taken to amend the Directive, very likely the provision on charging is the first in line.

ePSI Platform Fact Sheets provide short introductions to key concepts and developments, allowing new comers to the PSI re-use arena to get up to speed swiftly. Find ePSI Platform Fact Sheets on other topics at epsiplatform.eu.