Article 15a

1. Where a public sector body, the Commission, the European Central Bank or a Union body demonstrates an exceptional need to use certain data to carry out its statutory duties in the public interest when responding to, mitigating, or supporting the recovery from a public emergency, it may request from data holders that are legal persons, other than public sectors bodies, to make available those data, including the metadata necessary to interpret and use those data. Upon such duly reasoned request, data holders shall make the data and metadata available to the requesting public sector body, the Commission, the European Central Bank or Union body. Such requests may also be made where the production of official statistics is required in relation to a public emergency.

Justification

This amendment clarifies and narrows the scope of emergency-related data access by removing the broad and potentially ambiguous concept of ‘mitigation’. This helps improve legal certainty and ensures that access to data remains more closely linked to concrete emergency response and recovery activities.

2. Where the data requested are necessary to respond to a public emergency, and the requesting body pursuant to paragraph 1 is unable to obtain such data by other means in a timely and effective manner under equivalent conditions, the request shall concern non-personal data. Where the provision of non-personal data is insufficient to addressrespond to the public emergency, personal data may also be requested and, where possible, made available in pseudonymizedpseudonymised form, subject to appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure their protection.

Justification

This amendment clarifies that the use of data under this provision should remain linked to concrete emergency response activities. The term ‘respond to’ provides a narrower and more operationally precise standard than the broader concept of ‘addressing’ a public emergency.