Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Re-use of Public Sector Information : review of Directive 2003/98/EC – [SEC(2009) 597]
Date: 2009-05-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: access to information, data collection, dissemination of information, information, public sector

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 7.5.2009 
COM(2009) 212 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Re-use of Public Sector Information  
– Review of Directive 2003/98/EC – 

[SEC(2009) 597] 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Re-use of Public Sector Information  
– Review of Directive 2003/98/EC – 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The aim of this Communication is to review the application of the Public Sector Information 
(PSI) Directive,1 and to highlight the potential for re-use of PSI in the digital age. PSI is the 
single largest source of information in Europe. Examples include maps and satellite images, 
legislation and case-law, statistics and company, population and patent registers. PSI is used 
as raw material for a variety of products and services offered to Europe’s citizens every day, 
such as car navigation systems, weather forecasts, financial and insurance services. 

The  value  of  the  EU  PSI  market  is  estimated  at  €27  billion, 2  which  is  four  times  the  EU 
market for mobile roaming services.3 This shows the central role of public sector content in 
the digital age as a driver of economic activity. A further increase in the use of this resource 
will therefore directly contribute to the EU’s goals of increasing competitiveness and creating 
more jobs. 

The  PSI  Directive  removes  major  barriers  in  the  internal  market  to  re-use,  such  as 
discriminatory  practices,  monopoly  markets  and  a  lack  of  transparency.  Progress  has  been 
made since its adoption, but Member States (MS) need to take further steps to unlock the full 
potential of PSI for the EU economy. 

A  staff  working  document  accompanying  this  Communication  supports  the  analysis  and 
conclusions. 

2. 

RE-USE OF PSI FOR INNOVATION AND GROWTH  

The  internet  has  drastically  changed  the  way  companies  and  citizens  can  access  and  re-use 
PSI. The availability of content in digital format makes it possible to re-use it in new ways, 
combining information from different sources and adding value to it. Examples are navigation 
services,  real-time  traffic  information,  weather  forecasts  sent  directly  to  our  mobile  phones 
and credit rating services. Such products and services based wholly or partly on PSI generate 
new businesses and jobs and give consumers more choice and more value for money. They 
often concern more than one MS, as the need for information does not stop at the border. 

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Directive 2003/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 November 2003 on the re-
use of public sector information, OJ L 345/90, 31.12.2003. 
Study on Measuring European Public Sector Information Resources (MEPSIR), Helm et al., 6/2006. 
Estimated at €6.5 billion in 2007; Commission Communication 23.9.2008 on the review of Regulation 
(EC) No 717/2007, COM(2008) 579 final. 

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Some services using PSI, such as personal navigation devices, are in such demand that sales 
tripled from 2006 to 2007 (31 million devices sold) and are expected to more than double to 
68 million units in 2012.4 They are among the fastest growing areas in consumer electronics. 
Nokia,  the  world’s  largest  mobile  phone  manufacturer,  paid  almost  €6  billion  to  acquire 
Navteq, the world’s leading digital map maker. 

The  market  is  still  evolving  and  added  value  will  be  increased  to  basic  navigation  by 
integrating further layers of information, e.g. traffic information allowing drivers to anticipate 
traffic  jams,  weather  forecasts  at  the  destination  and  information  on  parking  space  or  on 
public transport alternatives. 

Although re-use of PSI is growing, much of its potential is still not being tapped because of 
the way public sector bodies handle their information resources. One of the reasons for this is 
the  focus  on  short-term  cost  recovery,  as  opposed  to  benefits  in  the  wider  economy.  This 
focus is often triggered by pressure on public sector bodies to finance part of their activities. It 
can result in competition between the public and the private sector, restrictive licensing and 
charging conditions, and the granting of exclusive rights. 

In addition, there are practical issues hindering the re-use of PSI, e.g. lack of information on 
available  PSI.  In  other  cases,  public  sector  bodies  are  lukewarm  to  the  basic  idea  of 
commercial re-use of their information or fail to realise its economic potential. 

A study by the Office of Fair Trading5 suggests that the way PSI is supplied by public sector 
bodies costs the UK economy £500 million every year in lost opportunities.  

The situation in the EU is in clear contrast with the US, where re-use is strongly encouraged. 
Citizens and businesses enjoy broad rights to electronically accessible PSI and have extensive 
scope for commercial re-use. There is no copyright on federal PSI and there are no restrictions 
to re-use. Furthermore, fees for re-use are limited to, at most, marginal costs for reproduction 
and dissemination. 

3. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PSI DIRECTIVE  

The PSI Directive was adopted in November 2003. It harmonises basic conditions for making 
PSI available to re-users, in a bid to foster Community-wide products and services based on 
PSI  and  to  avoid  distortions  of  competition.  It  regulates  non-discrimination,  charging, 
exclusive arrangements, transparency, licensing and practical tools to make it easy to find and 
re-use public documents. There was a transitional period for existing exclusive arrangements 
that  expired  on  31.12.2008.  MS  are  free  to  go  beyond  the  minimum  standards  set  by  the 
Directive.  

All  MS  have  implemented  the  Directive,  although  only  four  of  them  met  the  deadline  of 
1.7.2005. The Commission has opened 18 infringement cases against MS6 and the European 

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http://www.instat.com/press.asp?ID=2343&sku=IN0804074ID, 25.6.2008. 
The commercial use of public information (CUPI), OFT, 12/2006. 

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Court of Justice (ECJ) has delivered 4 judgments for failure to implement the Directive.7 MS 
have implemented the Directive in different ways: 

1) 11 MS have adopted specific PSI re-use measures (BE, DE, GR, ES, IE, IT, CY, LU, MT, 
RO, the UK). 

2)  4  MS  have  used  a  combination  of  new  measures  specifically  addressing  re-use  and 
legislation predating the Directive (DK, AT, SI, SE) and 8 MS have adapted their legislative 
framework for access to documents to include re-use of PSI (BG, CZ, FI, FR, LV, LT, NL, 
PT). 

3) 4 MS have  notified  the Commission only of  measures with no specific  re-use provisions 
(EE, HU, PL, SK). 

The  Commission  monitors  the  implementation  and  application  of  the  Directive  through 
comprehensive conformity analysis. It also pursues intensive administrative cooperation. This 
has led to swift legislative changes in several MS, e.g. DK, EL, IE, MT and SE, which had 
originally notified insufficient implementation measures. 

The  Commission  applies  the  principles  of  the  PSI  Directive  also  to  its  own  documents 
through  a  Commission  re-use  policy.  Commission  Decision  2006/291/EC,  Euratom8  goes 
beyond the Directive by applying charges based on (at most) marginal costs and by making all 
documents  re-usable.  Examples  are  EUROSTAT’s  statistical  data,  Commission  translation 
memories,  the  EC  law  database  EUR-Lex  and  studies.  Commission  information  is  often 
available in 22 or even 23 languages which gives it a unique value e.g. for machine translation 
tools. 

4. 

IMPACT AND SCOPE OF THE PSI DIRECTIVE  

4.1. 

Changes brought about by the Directive 

The  Directive  clarifies  the  legal  framework  for  re-using  PSI  in  the  internal  market,  where 
markedly  different  rules  and  practices  in  the  MS  used  to  apply.  The  following  examples 
illustrate the effects of the Directive. 

1)  New  re-use  friendly  legislation:  In  BE,  the  Directive  has  changed  the  fundamental 
approach  towards  the  commercial  re-use  of  public  sector  information,  which  used  to  be 
forbidden and is now encouraged. 

2) Exclusive arrangements concluded by public sector bodies have been terminated in some 
MS (e.g. NL, SE; in the latter case, the change was triggered by Commission action after a 
complaint). The NL and UK have made extensive surveys to identify exclusive arrangements 
concluded by central government and local authorities. LV has set up a procedure to ensure 

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Non-communication of implementation initially regarded BE, CZ, DE, GR, ES, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, 
MT, NL, AT, PT and HU, and non-conformity of national implementing measures with the Directive 
currently concerns IT, PL and SE. 
Regarding AT, BE, ES and LU. 
OJ L 107, 20.4.2006, p. 38. 

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that any exclusive rights granted are in line with the Directive, and subject to prior opinion of 
the competition authorities. 

3)  Charging:  The  NL  has  announced  it  is  moving  towards  charging  only  marginal  costs  or 
less,  in  line  with  the  Preamble  to  the  Directive,  which  recommends  this  approach.  In  other 
MS,  individual  public  sector  bodies  have  moved  towards  a  marginal  cost  regime,  e.g.  the 
Spanish Cadastre, or drastically reduced their prices, such as the Austrian Mapping Agency. 
These policies have led to a significant increase in both the number and variety of re-users. 

The  Austrian  Mapping  Agency  (BEV)  has  reduced  its  prices  by  up  to  97%  for  certain 
datasets.  As  a  result,  use  of  the  information  has  exploded,  in  some  cases  by  7 000%.  New 
users  have  emerged  from  small  and  medium-sized  enterprises  and  new  re-use  sectors  (e.g. 
health  and  agriculture).  The  decrease  in  prices  has  been  offset  by  the  enormous  increase  in 
demand and BEV’s total turnover has remained stable. 
4) Conflict resolution mechanisms for PSI re-use have been put in place, e.g., in FR, SI and 
UK and the use of these mechanisms demonstrates the need for quick and inexpensive dispute 
settlement  and  mediation.  The  French  CADA,  Commission  d’accès  aux  documents 
administratifs, had 53 PSI re-use cases in 2007. 
5) Web portals on available PSI as a tool for finding, using and trading information have been 
created, e.g., in SI and the UK. 

In the UK, the Office of Public Sector Information has facilitated re-use over the years. It has 
launched the Government’s click-use licences, with currently 15 000 licensees, and runs the 
Information Fair Trader Scheme to ensure that public sector bodies meet the requirements of 
fairness and transparency. Its website, which gives extensive information on available PSI and 
provides an “unlocking service” to help resolve problems with re-use, is the 9th most visited 
Government site. 

4.2. 

Studies and consultations confirm the impact of the Directive 

In the study evaluating the impact of the Directive in three main PSI sectors – geographical, 
meteorological  and  legal/administrative  –  the  different  indicators  monitored  to  measure  PSI 
re-use  highlight  market  growth  and  an  increase  in  re-use  in  all  of  these  sectors  in  recent 
years.9 

In  the  geographical  sector,  download  volumes  of  PSI  in  2007  had  grown  by  approximately 
350% since 2002, and in Germany alone the market was estimated to be €1.5 billion, a 50% 
increase since 2000.10  

National  Meteorological  Offices  have  reported  increases  in  download  volumes  of  70% 
between 2002 and 2007, and the EU meteorological market was estimated in 2006 to be worth 
€530 million, a 60% increase since 1998. 

Re-users’  main  complaints  in  the  geographical  and  meteorological  sectors  concern  high 
prices,  restrictive  licensing  conditions  and  discrimination.  In  the  meteorological  sector  in 
particular,  re-users  having  problems  obtaining  European  PSI  have  gathered  data  from 

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Assessment  of  the  Re-use  of  Public  Sector  Information  (PSI)  in  the  Geographical  Information, 
Meteorological Information and Legal Information sectors, MICUS, 12/2008. 
Idem. 

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elsewhere  (US  or  private  data  sources)  or  abandoned  the  development  of  specific  services 
altogether. 

In the legal and administrative sector, the majority of content holders have made significant 
changes to their data policies in the last few years and offer the information now for free on 
the  internet.  This  change  is  contributing  to  strong  market  growth.  Content  holders  have 
reported a 40% increase in the market since 2002 and re-users also confirm a steady increase 
in income. The main concern of re-users in this sector is the lack of information on what PSI 
is available and where to find it. 

In France, the legal information sector is one of the most dynamic sectors in the professional 
digital  information  market,  with  strong  market  growth,  17%  in  2007,  resulting  from  high 
value-adding.11  

The  Commission  consulted  the  MS  and  stakeholders12  for  this  review.  The  respondents 
consider  that  the  PSI  Directive  has  had  positive  effects  on  PSI  re-use.  However,  both 
stakeholders  and  MS  indicate  that  the  full  potential  of  PSI  re-use  has not  yet  been  realised. 
Public  sector  bodies  lack  awareness  of  their  responsibilities  and  opportunities,  and  private 
companies have limited knowledge of their rights and the availability of PSI. 

Re-users propose amendments to the Directive to make its provisions more stringent. These 
suggestions include extending the scope of the Directive, obliging public bodies to allow re-
use,  imposing  marginal  cost  charging,  requiring  independent  regulators  and/or  conflict 
resolution mechanisms, clarifying the public tasks, establishing national asset lists/repositories 
and  imposing  obligatory  annual  reporting  by  MS  to  the  Commission.  Finally,  they  seek 
guidance  on  certain  terms  of  the  Directive  that  they  consider  to  be  ambiguous,  such  as  the 
definitions  of  documents,  public  tasks,  marginal  cost  charging  and  reasonable  return  on 
investment. 

The majority of the MS responding to the consultation believe that it is premature to amend 
the Directive, preferring to allow further time for its full implementation. Public sector bodies 
consider that the current framework provided by the Directive works well. 

4.3. 

Scope of the Directive 

Article 13 of the PSI Directive requires the Commission to review the scope of the Directive. 
In practice this means examining whether cultural, educational and research organisations and 
public broadcasters, which are currently excluded from the scope, should be covered. 

The respondents to the consultations underline the potential for re-use of the information held 
by  cultural,  research  and  public  broadcasting  institutions.  Some  stakeholders  express  their 
support  for  extending  the  scope,  indicating  that  it  would  have  a  positive  impact  on  the 
development of the content market in Europe.  

The  MS  (except  LV  and  LT)  and  stakeholders  representing  the  excluded  sectors  consider, 
however, that at this stage the scope should not be widened, since the administrative burden 
and associated costs would not be outweighed by the potential benefits. They point out that a 

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Serda GFII press release, 27.1.2009. 
Results 
consultations 
the 
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/psi/index_en.htm. 

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contributions 

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large part of the material held by these institutions is also covered by third party intellectual 
property  rights,  and  would  therefore  not  in  any  case  fall  within  the  scope  of  the  Directive. 
This  latter  argument  is  backed  by  the  results  of  a  recent  study,13  which  concluded  that  at 
present the scope of the Directive should not be extended to the cultural sector. 

The Commission encourages the excluded sectors to apply the principles of the PSI Directive, 
particularly  as  regards  transparency,  non-discrimination  and  the  absence  of  exclusive 
arrangements, when allowing re-use of their information resources. 

One  area  of  particular  interest  is  the  availability  of  scientific  information  paid  for  by  the 
public  purse.  This  information  should  be  widely  available  and  useable  to  all  in  order  to 
maximise  its  usefulness  for  research  and  innovation,  in  line  with  the  Commission 
Communication on scientific information in the digital age.14 

Another  area  of  concern  relates  to  content  belonging  to  the  public  domain.  In  a  recent 
Communication  on  Europe’s  cultural  heritage  at  the  click  of  a  mouse,15  the  Commission 
stressed  the  importance  of  “keeping  public  domain  works  accessible  after  a  format  shift.  In 
other  words,  works  in  the  public  domain  should  stay  there  once  digitised  and  be  made 
accessible through the internet”. There is, however, a tendency among cultural institutions to 
charge  for  accessing  or  re-using  digitised  public  domain  material.  This  may  lead  to  the 
privatisation  of  public  domain  material  in  the  digital  age,  instead  of  allowing  the  widest 
possible accessibility and use for the benefit of citizens and companies. The Commission will 
closely follow developments in this area. 

5. 

WHAT ACTION NEXT? 

The PSI Directive was implemented by many MS with considerable delay. The prohibition of 
exclusive  arrangements  only  became  fully  applicable  as  from  1.1.2009.  Therefore,  the 
Directive in its present form has not yet had its full impact.  

For this reason the Commission does not intend to propose amendments to the Directive 
at this point. The Commission will carry out a further review at the latest in 2012 when 
more evidence on the impact, effects and application of the Directive should be available and 
will  communicate  the  results  to  the  European  Parliament  and  to  the  Council.  Legislative 
amendments  will  be  considered  at  that  stage  if  the  potential  of  re-use  is  still  being 
hampered. 

In  the  meantime,  there  is  much  room  for  improvement  in  the  way  MS  deal  with  their  PSI 
resources in the market. The Commission draws attention to the following areas in particular. 

1) Full implementation and application of the PSI Directive  

This  is  the  first  essential  step  towards  lifting  barriers  that  hinder  the  re-use  of  PSI,  such  as 
monopoly markets and discriminatory treatment. The Commission will continue to monitor 

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Assessment  of  the  Economic  and  Social  Impact  of  the  Public  Domain  in  the  Information  Society, 
Rightscom, 4/2009. 
COM(2007) 56 final. 
COM(2008) 513 final. 

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whether  MS  meet  their  obligations  and  act  against  those  who  are  in  breach  of  the 
Directive. 

2) Terminating exclusive arrangements 

All  existing  exclusive  arrangements  had  to  be  terminated  by  31.12.2008,  unless  it  can  be 
demonstrated that, by way of exception, they are necessary for the provision of a service in 
the public interest.16 There is however evidence of exclusive arrangements still in force in the 
MS. The Commission will closely scrutinise observance of this obligation. It will launch 
an exercise investigating the extent of such arrangements in summer 2009. 

3) Charging 

Public  sector  bodies  should  be  transparent  on  the  calculation  basis  they  apply  in  terms  of 
abiding by the upper limit for charges set by the Directive. Calculations should not be based 
on  the  total  turnover  of  the  public  sector  body,  but  on  the  individual  databases  or  items 
concerned. 

A recent study by Cambridge University is one of several to suggest that charging no or only 
marginal costs (costs of reproducing and disseminating documents) maximises PSI re-use and 
that  the  social  and  economic  benefits  far  outweigh  the  immediate  financial  benefits  of  cost 
recovery.17  The  PSI  Directive  recommends  this  approach  in  its  Preamble.  Marginal  cost 
charging is also one of the key principles of the recently adopted OECD recommendation for 
Enhanced Access and More Effective Use of Public Information.18  

Further,  continuous  analysis  of  the  economic  case  for  marginal  costs  is  a  Commission 
priority for the future, to be carried out in cooperation with MS and stakeholders. 

4) Facilitating re-use 

In line with Article 3 of the Directive, public sector bodies should ensure that documents that 
are re-usable (i.e. accessible for any use beyond the initial public tasks for which they were 
originally  produced)  can  be  re-used  for  commercial  or  non-commercial  purposes.  While 
facilitating re-use, public sector bodies should fully comply with European and national rules 
on data protection. 

Public sector bodies are encouraged to identify and make their information resources readily 
and promptly available, in stable formats. Information asset registries and national PSI portals 
are  important  tools  in  this  respect.  Cooperation  between  the  public  and  the  private  sector  is 
essential and partnership and innovation should be stimulated. 

The Commission will promote the exchange of good practices in measures facilitating re-
use  between  MS,  in  particular  through  the  PSI  expert  group.  It  will  contribute  to 
awareness-raising  and  the  deployment  of  re-use  policies  through  projects  such  as  the 
PSI platform. 

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Article 11(2) and (3) of the Directive. 
Models of Public Sector Information Provision via Trading Funds, Newbery et al., 2/2008. 
C(2008)36, 6/2008. 

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5) Ensuring fair competition between public sector bodies and re-users 

Public  sector  bodies  should  ensure  fair  licensing  conditions  for  private  re-users  –  avoiding 
discrimination,  cross-subsidies  and  exclusive  rights  –  even  if  they  compete  with  re-users  in 
the market. 

The Directive leaves it to the MS to define the public tasks of public sector bodies. However, 
in some cases the line between the public tasks and market activities of public sector bodies is 
not clearly demarcated. There are also cases where public tasks are defined in such a way that 
they cover a very wide range of activities and occupy almost the whole market of added-value 
PSI services. These situations can easily lead to cross-subsidies, where a public sector body 
uses its “raw” information for further value-added services under more favourable conditions 
than  those  offered  to  competitors.  It  is  very  difficult  for  private  re-users  to  compete  with 
public sector bodies in such circumstances. 

In order to ensure fair competition and non-discrimination, as prescribed by Article 10(2) of 
the Directive, if public bodies re-use their own documents to produce added-value services in 
competition with other re-users, equal charges and other conditions must apply to all of them. 
Separation of accounts for the public tasks and market activities of public sector bodies helps 
to  achieve  this  objective.  Also,  while  the  MS  can  define  the  public  tasks  of  public  sector 
bodies, they have to take account of certain limits and criteria set by EC law as interpreted by 
the ECJ.19 The Commission encourages MS to define public tasks in such a way that they 
allow maximum PSI re-use, and will promote good practices and monitor developments 
in this area. 

Competition  rules,  where  applicable, can  also  play  an  important  and  complementary  role  in 
contributing to unlock the PSI re-use potential, by ensuring that re-use of information be open 
to  all  potential  actors  in  the  market  on  a  non-discriminatory  basis,  consistent  with  the 
provisions of the Directive. 

6) Conflict resolution 

Re-users  are  often  dependent  on  their  sources  and  are  unwilling  to  complain  about  public 
sector bodies, which may be their sole suppliers of PSI. Formal court procedures can be long 
and expensive. Efficient, inexpensive and independent conflict resolution mechanisms should 
therefore be available. A few MS (e.g. FR, SI and UK) have put such mechanisms in place, 
which  has  increased  the  number  of  complaints.  The  Directive  requires  the  availability  of 
means  of  redress  but  leaves  it  to  the  MS  to  decide  on  the  actual  practicalities.  The 
Commission  encourages  MS  to  set  up  PSI  complaint  mechanisms  and  will  monitor 
developments in this area. 

19 

The term public task is closely related to public services or services in the general economic interest, 
and  is  in  some  languages  interchangeable  (e.g.  mission  de  service  public  in  French).  The  ECJ  has 
examined  on  a  case  by  case  basis  whether  certain  activities  in  the  MS  can  be  considered  to  be  such 
services  and  set  certain  criteria,  such  as  the  universality  and  continuity  of  the  service,  uniform  tariff 
rates and equal terms. 

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Summary of key points for action 

Member States:  

- Ensure full and correct implementation and application of the Directive 
- Terminate exclusive arrangements as prescribed by the Directive 
- Apply licensing and charging models that facilitate the re-use of PSI 
- Ensure fair competition between public sector bodies and re-users 
In addition, Member States are encouraged to promote the identification and ready availability 
of  information  resources  and  to  set  up  quick  and  inexpensive  conflict  resolution 
mechanisms. 

Commission: 

- Closely monitor implementation and application of the Directive 
- Scrutinise exclusive arrangements (2009-10) in particular 
- Analyse the economic case for marginal costs 
-  Encourage  exchange  of  good  practices  (proactive  re-use  policies,  public  tasks,  conflict 
resolution)  
- Further review by 2012, accompanied where appropriate by a proposal for amendments to 
the Directive 

6. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  PSI  Directive  has  introduced  the  basic  conditions  to  facilitate  the  re-use  of  PSI 
throughout the EU. Progress has been made since its adoption. Commercial re-use of PSI has 
been  allowed,  monopolies  have  been  broken,  fair  trading  conditions  have  been  introduced, 
prices  have  decreased  and  there  is  more  transparency.  Progress  and  implementation  of  the 
Directive in the MS is however uneven. 

Big  barriers  still  exist.  These  include  attempts  by  public  sector  bodies  to  maximise  cost 
recovery, as opposed to benefits for the wider economy, competition between the public and 
the  private  sector,  practical  issues  hindering  re-use,  such  as  the  lack  of  information  on 
available  PSI,  and  the  mindset  of  public  sector  bodies  failing  to  realise  the  economic 
potential. 

These  problems  and  progress  by  MS  to  redress  them  need  to  be  monitored  and  assessed 
before the Commission can consider legislative amendments to the PSI Directive. 

MS need to focus their efforts now on full and correct implementation and application of the 
Directive,  terminating  exclusive  arrangements,  applying  licensing  and  charging  models  that 
facilitate  the  availability  and  re-use  of  PSI,  ensuring  equal  conditions  for  public  bodies  re-
using their own documents and other re-users, and promoting quick and inexpensive conflict 
resolution mechanisms.  

The Commission will carry out a further review by 2012 when more evidence on the impact, 
effects  and  application  of  the  Directive  should  be  available  and  will  consider  legislative 
amendments at that stage, taking into consideration the progress made in the meantime in the 
Member States. 

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