“The European Data Portal harvests the metadata of Public Sector Information available on public data portals across European countries. Information regarding the provision of data and the benefits of re-using data is also included.

What is Open Data? Open (Government) Data refers to the information collected, produced or paid for by the public bodies (also referred to as Public Sector Information) and made freely available for re-use for any purpose. The licence will specify the terms of use. These principles for Open Data are described in detail in the Open Definition.

Public sector information is information held by the public sector. The Directive on the re-use of public sector information provides a common legal framework for a European market for government-held data. It is built around the key pillars of the internal market: free flow of data, transparency and fair competition. It is important to note that not all of the public sector information is Open Data.

Find out more about the PSI Directive and other non-legislative activities of DG CONNECT in this area.”