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Exclusive Agreements

The PSI Directive forbids, as a general rule, the existence of exclusive arrangements. Exclusive arrangements refer to a situation where the right of reuse of public sector information is exclusively given to one commercial operator, e.g. a publisher. Exceptionally, such arrangements are allowed if they are necessary for the provision of a service of general economic interest.

The PSI Directive forbids, as a general rule, the existence of exclusive arrangements. Exclusive arrangements refer to a situation where the right of reuse of public sector information is exclusively given to one commercial operator, e.g. a publisher. Exceptionally, such arrangements are allowed if they are necessary for the provision of a service of general economic interest.

Examples of exclusive arrangements that have been terminated as a result of the Directive include the Dutch car register and the Swedish population registers.

In accordance with the Communication (COM/2009/0212 final) on the application on Re-use of Public Sector Information – Review of Directive 2003/98/EC – the Commission launched an exercise for assessing the existence of possible exclusive arrangements concluded by Public Sector Bodies within certain Member States.

The final reports per Member State analysed can be found here: