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Is the European Union’s democratic deficit an openness-deficit?

Blog Editor|

The European Union’s institutions have been criticised from the early days for the “democratic deficit”, namely the lack of those mechanisms that give legitimacy to national governments. Increasingly though, the debate is shifting towards a different and yet related criticism – its lack of transparency and openness. This is especially the case for its executive arm, the European Commission, considered an impenetrable bureaucratic machine, which because of its hermetic nature cannot possibly be democratic. In order to address the two intertwined issues at the same time and get closer to its citizens, in the last couple of years the EU has developed a series of instruments and policies that are making it increasingly open, and as such, are worth the attention of the Open Government Community.

This post is the first of a two-part series on the EU. The next post will analyse Transparency and Civic Engagement in the EU.

OPEN DATA

In 2011, the Commission launched its revised Open Data Strategy which is expected to deliver a €40 billion boost to the EU’s economy each year. Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said:

Europe’s public administrations are sitting on a goldmine of unrealised economic potential: the large volumes of information collected by numerous public authorities and services.

The strategy is based on three elements:

  • The Commission will lead by example by opening its vaults of information to the public for free through a new data portal which is currently being developed;
  • A level playing field for open data across the EU will be established. This will include a general  rule that all documents made accessible by public sector bodies can be re-used for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, unless protected by third party copyright;
  • €100 million granted in 2011-2013 to fund research into improved data-handling technologies.

The logic behind such a move is that, as we argued in a previous blog, there are huge economic benefits linked to the use of open data for businesses that turn raw data into the material that hundreds of millions of ICT users depend on, such as smart phone apps.

Unlocking the Power of Public Sector Information

Other categories of citizens have also benefited from the EU open data policy. In particular, academics and students praised the recently published Open Access Policy, whose objective was for the research funded by the Commission through “Horizon 2020” to be publicly available. An accompanying Commission Recommendation sets out a complete policy framework for improving access to, and preservation of, scientific information.

These are just a few recent examples of Open Data policies at European level.  Can you think of any others?

Filed Under: Open Data Pledge Public Participation Right to Information
Open Government Partnership