European Union (European Data Governance Act) Regulations 2024

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Year: 2024
• Citation: IR SI 272/2024

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

S.I. No.272of2024

European Union (European Data Governance Act) Regulations 2024

I, EAMON RYAN, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Regulation (EU) 2022/868 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2022 1, hereby make the following regulations:

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Data Governance Act) Regulations 2024.

Definitions

2. (1) In these Regulations –

“Reviews Commissioner” means the person who, for the time being, holds the office of Information Commissioner under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (No. 30 of 2014),

“body governed by public law” means a body, having a legal personality, established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character, that –

(a) is financed, for the most part, by one or more of the following:

(i) the State;

(ii) a regional assembly;

(iii) a local authority;

(iv) any other body governed by public law,

(b) is subject to management supervision by one or more of the bodies referred to in paragraph (a), or

(c) has an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by one or more of the bodies referred to in subparagraph (a),

“categories of protected data” means data held by a public sector body which is protected on the grounds of:

(a) commercial confidentiality, including business, professional and company secrets,

(b) statistical confidentiality,

(c) the protection of intellectual property rights of third parties, or

(d) the protection of personal data, insofar as such data fall outside the scope of Directive (EU) 2019/1024,

“competent body” means the body referred to in Regulation 6,

“enactment” has the same meaning as it has in the Interpretation Act 2005 (No. 23 of 2005),

“exclusive arrangement” means an agreement or other practice pertaining to the re-use of categories of protected data which grants exclusive rights or which has as its objective or effect to grant such exclusive rights or to restrict the availability of data for re-use by entities other than the parties to such agreement or practice,

“EU Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2022/868 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2022 1on European data governance and amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 (Data Governance Act),

“local authority” means a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act 2001 (No. 37 of 2011),

“Minister” means the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications,

“public sector body” means –

(a) the State,

(b) a regional assembly,

(c) a local authority,

(d) a body governed by public law, or

(f) an association formed by one or more than one body referred to in (a) to (e),

“regional assembly” means a body established in accordance with section 43 of the Local Government Act 1991 (No. 11 of 1991),

“re-use” means the use by natural or legal persons of data held by public sector bodies, for commercial or non-commercial purposes other than the initial purpose within the public task for which the data were produced, except for the exchange of data between public sector bodies purely in pursuit of their public tasks, and

“single information point” has the meaning it has in Regulation 7.

(2) A word or expression used in these Regulations and which is also used in the EU Regulation has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the EU Regulation.

Application

3. (1) These Regulations apply to categories of protected data held by public sector bodies.

(2) These Regulations do not apply to data referred to in Article 3(2) of the EU Regulation and are without prejudice to –

(a) European Union, national law and international agreements on categories of protected data to which the European Union or Member States are party,

(b) European Union and national law on access to documents,

(c) the matters provided for in paragraph (a) and (b) of Article 1(2) of the EU Regulation, and

(d) the EU instruments listed in Article 1(3) of the EU Regulation.

Exclusive arrangements

4. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), exclusive arrangements pertaining to the re-use of categories of protected data are prohibited.

(2) An exclusive arrangement pertaining to the re-use of categories of protected data may be permitted where it is in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4) of Article 4 of the EU Regulation.

(3) Public sector bodies shall publish on the single information point details of categories of protected data shared for re-use under exclusive agreements.

(4) Where, prior to the coming into operation of these Regulations, there is in place an exclusive arrangement concluded prior to 23 June 2022 that does not meet the conditions laid down in paragraphs (2) and (3) of Article 4 of the EU Regulation, such arrangement shall be terminated at the end of the applicable contract and in any event by 24 December 2024.

Re-use of categories of protected data

5. (1) A public sector body which holds categories of protected data and decides to make the data available for re-use shall set conditions for the grant or refusal of access for the re-use of the data in accordance with Article 5 of the EU Regulation.

(2) Conditions...