Council Decision (EU) 2017/1842 of 9 October 2017 on the open data policy of the Council and the reuse of Council documents
Subject matter and objective
1. This Decision establishes an open data policy of the Council (‘the open data policy’) by defining the principles, conditions and limits governing the reuse and the practical means of facilitating the reuse of documents held and produced by the Council, as defined in Article 2(1).
2. The open data policy shall have the following objectives:
(a)
to improve the flow of information between the Council and the general public; and
(b)
to facilitate the wide reuse of information.
Scope
1. This Decision applies to documents held and produced by the Council which have been made public by the Council.
2. This Decision shall not apply to documents held and produced by the Council for which the Council is not in a position to allow reuse in view of:
(a)
intellectual property rights of third parties; or
(b)
access rights regimes in Member States.
3. This Decision is without prejudice to and shall be implemented and applied in accordance with:
(a)
the rules on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data, and in particular Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 4 ) ;
(b)
the rules on public access to Council documents, and in particular Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001; and
(c)
the security rules for protecting EU classified information, and in particular Council Decision 2013/488/EU ( 5 ) .
Definitions
For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply:
(1)
‘document’ means:
(a)
any content whatever its medium (written on paper or stored in electronic form or as a sound, visual or audiovisual recording) concerning a matter relating to the policies, activities and decisions falling within the institutional sphere of responsibility of the Council;
(b)
any part of such content;
(2)
‘reuse’ means the use by persons or legal entities of documents for commercial or non-commercial purposes other than the initial purpose for which the document was produced;
(3)
‘personal data’ means data as defined in point (a) of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001;
(4)
‘open format’ means a file format that is platform-independent and made available to the public without any restriction that impedes the reuse of documents;
(5)
‘machine-readable format’ means a format structured for software applications to identify reliably individual statements of fact and their internal structure.
General principles
The General Secretariat of the Council (‘the GSC’) shall ensure that documents are made available for reuse:
(a)
by all;
(b)
without the need to make an individual application;
(c)
free of charge; and
(d)
for commercial and non-commercial purposes.
Non-discrimination and exclusive rights
1. Any applicable conditions for the reuse of documents shall be non-discriminatory for comparable categories of reuse.
2. The reuse of documents shall be open to all potential actors in the market. No exclusive rights shall be granted.
Conditions for reuse
1. Documents shall be made available for reuse under the following conditions:
(a)
the obligation for the reuser to acknowledge the source of the documents;
(b)
the obligation not to distort the original meaning or message of the documents;
(c)
the non-liability of the Council for any consequence stemming from the reuse.
2. If necessary, the GSC may apply other conditions to a particular type of document.
3. The GSC shall take appropriate measures to protect the rights, interests and public image of the Council in all appropriate fora.
Available formats
1. The GSC shall make documents available:
(a)
in any existing format or language version held by the Council;
(b)
on the internet; and
(c)
where possible and appropriate, in open and machine-readable formats.
2. The GSC shall not be obliged to:
(a)
create, adapt or update documents;
(b)
provide extracts, if doing so would involve a disproportionate effort, going beyond a simple operation;
(c)
translate documents into any official language versions other than those already available; or
(d)
continue to produce certain types of documents or to preserve the documents in a given format with a view to their reuse.
Report
By 10 October 2022, the GSC shall submit a report to the Council on the application of this Decision, including the implementing actions taken by the GSC in order to make documents available for reuse in open and machine readable formats.
Entry into force
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
