REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant to Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council on open data and the re-use of public sector information (‘Open Data Directive’)
Date: 2023-11-14
Institutions: Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, access to information, delegated legislation, dissemination of information, information, open data, powers of the institutions (EU), public institution, public sector, right to reuse information

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 14.11.2023  COM(2023) 703 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant to Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council on open data and the re-use of public sector information (‘Open Data Directive’)  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission 
pursuant to Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council on 
open data and the re-use of public sector information (‘Open Data Directive’) 

1.  INTRODUCTION 

Directive  (EU)  2019/1024  on  open  data  and  the  re-use  of  public  sector  information1  was 
adopted on 20 June 2019 and entered into force on 16 July 2019. 

Directive  (EU)  2019/1024  lays  down  the  legal  framework  for  the  reuse  of  public  sector 
information,  such  as  geographical,  land  registry,  statistical  or  legal  information,  held  by 
public sector bodies or by certain public undertakings, and of publicly funded research data. It 
aims  to  boost  the  socio-economic  potential  of  public  sector  information,  for  example,  by 
making  it  more  easily  available  to  start-ups  and  small  and  medium-sized  enterprises,  by 
increasing the supply of dynamic data and datasets with a particularly high economic impact, 
and  by  promoting  competition  and  transparency  in  the  information  market.  It  is  one  of 
measures designed to boost the EU’s data economy, as well as the development of artificial 
intelligence. 

Directive (EU) 2019/1024 introduced the concept of high-value datasets. They are defined as 
documents  whose  reuse  is  associated  with  important  benefits  for  society  and  the  economy. 
They are therefore subject to a separate set of rules ensuring they are available free of charge 
and  in  machine-readable  formats.  Member  States  must  make  them  available  via  application 
programming interfaces (APIs) and, where relevant, as a bulk download. The thematic scope 
of high-value datasets is provided in Annex I to the Directive that lists six thematic categories 
(geospatial,  Earth  observation  and  environment,  meteorological,  statistics,  companies  and 
company ownership, mobility). 

Directive (EU) 2019/1024 sets out one empowerment for the Commission to adopt delegated 
acts. 

2.  LEGAL BASIS 

Article 13(2)  of  Directive  (EU)  2019/1024  confers  on  the  Commission  the  power  to  adopt 
delegated acts to amend Annex I by adding new thematic categories of high-value datasets to 
reflect  technological  and  market  developments.  Pursuant  to  Article 15(2)  of  Directive  (EU) 
2019/1024, the delegation of power is conferred on the Commission for 5 years from 16 July 
2019. The Commission must draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power no later 
than  9  months  before  the  end  of  the  5-year  period.  The  delegation  of  power  is  to  be  tacitly 
extended  for  periods  of  the  same  duration  unless  the  European  Parliament  or  the  Council 
opposes such an extension not later than 3 months before the end of each period. 

1 Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on open data and the 

re-use of public sector information (recast) (OJ L 172, 26.6.2019, p. 56–-83). 

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3.  EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION 

Under  Article 13(2)  of  Directive  (EU)  2019/1024,  the  Commission  is  empowered  to  adopt 
delegated acts in accordance with Article 15 of the Directive to amend its Annex I by adding 
new  thematic  categories  of  high-value  datasets  to  reflect  technological  and  market 
developments. 

3.1.  EMPOWERMENTS USED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD 

The Commission has so far not used the empowerment conferred on it under Article 13(2) of 
Directive (EU) 2019/1024. 

The  six  initial  categories  provided  for  by  Annex  I  to  Directive  (EU)  2019/1024  provided 
sufficient thematic scope for drawing up the first list of high-value datasets. The Commission 
has therefore not yet exercised its delegated power to amend Annex I and add new thematic 
categories  of  high-value  datasets.  The  Commission  will  decide  on  the  use  of  the  delegated 
power  once  it  collects  evidence  on  Member  States’  implementation  of  the  first  list  of  high-
value  datasets.  In  preparation,  the  Commission  already  procured  a  study2  to  help  identify 
possible new thematic categories. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission sees the need for a tacit extension of the delegation of power provided for in 
Article 13(2) of Directive (EU) 2019/1024 for 5 years, in accordance with Article 15(2) of the 
Directive. This is because there could be a need to include new thematic categories of high-
value  datasets  based  on  the  empowerment  granted  under  Article 13(2)  of  Directive  (EU) 
2019/1024  in  the  coming  years.  It  remains  particularly  important  to  provide  the  necessary 
flexibility  in  the  legal  framework  to  adjust  it  to  the  latest  technological  and  market 
developments  and  enable  the  Commission  to  cover  new  thematic  areas  of  public  sector 
information in the future. 

With  this  report,  the  Commission  complies  with  the  reporting  requirements  set  out  in 
Article 15(2) of Directive (EU) 2019/1024. 

The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to take note of this report. 

2 European Commission, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, 
Identification of data themes for the extensions of public sector High-Value Datasets – Final study, Publications 
Office of the European Union, 2023, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2759/739414. 

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