Article 32la – Procedure for re-quests for re-use

Public sector bodies shall, through electronic means where possible and appropriate, process requests for re-use and shall make the data or document available for re-use to the applicant or, if a licence is needed, finalise the licence offer to the applicant within a reasonable time that is consistent with the time frames laid down for the processing of requests for access to data or documents.

Unless shorter time limits have been established in accordance with national law, public sector bodies and in the case of protected data public sector bodies or the competent bodies referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 32z shall process the request and, in case of a positive decision, shall deliver the data or documents for re-use to the applicant or, if a licence is needed, finalise the licence offer to the applicant as soon as possible and within 20 working days of receipt. In case of particularly complex requests, that period shall not exceed two months of receipt and in case of requests relating to protected data. The period for processing the request shall not exceed three months of receipt whereas this time limit may be extended within reasonable limits in order to deliver the protected data or to provide access for the re-use of the protected data within a secure processing environment.

In the event of a negative decision, the public sector bodies shall communicate the grounds for refusal to the applicant on the basis of the relevant provisions of the access regime in that Member State or the provisions of this Regulation. Where a negative decision is based on point (d) of paragraph 3 of Article 32i, the public sector body or competent body shall include a reference to the natural or legal person who is the rightsholder, where known, or alternatively to the licensor from which the public sector body has obtained the relevant material. Libraries, including university libraries, museums and archives, shall not be required to include such a reference.

Any natural or legal person directly affected by a decision as referred to in paragraph 2 shall have an effective right of redress in the Member State where the relevant body is located. Such a right of redress shall be laid down in national law and shall include the possibility of review by an impartial body with the appropriate expertise, such as the national competition authority, the relevant access-to-documents authority, the supervisory authority established in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 or a national judicial authority, whose decisions are binding upon the public sector body or the competent body concerned.

This Article shall not apply to the following entities:

public undertakings;

educational establishments, research performing organisations and research funding organisations.