L 345/90 Official Journal of the European Union 31.12.2003 DIRECTIVE 2003/98/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 17 November 2003 on the re-use of public sector information THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (), Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (°), Acting in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 251 of the Treaty (%), Whereas: (1) The Treaty provides for the establishment of an internal market and of a system ensuring that competition in the internal market is not distorted. Harmonisation of the rules and practices in the Member States relating to the exploitation of public sector information contributes to the achievement of these objectives. (2)  The evolution towards an information and knowledge society influences the life of every citizen in the Com- munity, inter alia, by enabling them to gain new ways of accessing and acquiring knowledge. (3)  Digital content plays an important role in this evolution. Content production has given rise to rapid job creation in recent years and continues to do so. Most of these jobs are created in small emerging companies. (4)  The public sector collects, produces, reproduces and disseminates a wide range of information in many areas of activity, such as social, economic, geographical, weather, tourist, business, patent and educational infor- mation. () O] C 227 E, 24.9.2002, p. 382. () O] C 85, 8.4.2003, p. 25. () O] C 73, 26.3.2003, p. 38. (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 12 February 2003 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of 26 May 2003 (O] C 159 E, 8.7.2003, p. 1) and Position of the Euro- pean Parliament of 25 September 2003 (not yet published in the Official Journal). Council Decision of 27 October 2003. () One of the principal aims of the establishment of an internal market is the creation of conditions conducive to the development of Community-wide services. Public sector information is an important primary material for digital content products and services and will become an even more important content resource with the develop- ment of wireless content services. Broad cross-border geographical coverage will also be essential in this context. Wider possibilities of re-using public sector information should inter alia allow European companies to exploit its potential and contribute to economic growth and job creation. There are considerable differences in the rules and prac- tices in the Member States relating to the exploitation of public sector information resources, which constitute barriers to bringing out the full economic potential of this key document resource. Traditional practice in public sector bodies in exploiting public sector informa- tion has developed in very disparate ways. That should be taken into account. Minimum harmonisation of national rules and practices on the re-use of public sector documents should therefore be undertaken, in cases where the differences in national regulations and practices or the absence of clarity hinder the smooth functioning of the internal market and the proper devel- opment of the information society in the Community. Moreover, without minimum harmonisation at Com- munity level, legislative activities at national level, which have already been initiated in a number of Member States in order to respond to the technological chal- lenges, might result in even more significant differences. The impact of such legislative differences and uncertain- ties will become more significant with the further devel- opment of the information society, which has already greatly increased cross-border exploitation of informa- tion. A general framework for the conditions governing re- use of public sector documents is needed in order to ensure fair, proportionate and non-discriminatory condi- tions for the re-use of such information. Public sector bodies collect, produce, reproduce and disseminate docu- ments to fulfil their public tasks. Use of such documents for other reasons constitutes a re-use. Member States' policies can go beyond the minimum standards estab- lished in this Directive, thus allowing for more extensive re-use.