There will be more open data, but obtaining information will be more difficult: what the new Ministry of Digital Transformation bill entails

The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine has published for public discussion the draft Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine 'On Access to Public Information' regarding access to public information and its reuse."

The document aims to significantly update approaches to regulating open data in Ukraine and harmonize national legislation with European Union law, in particular with the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/1024 on open data and the reuse of public sector information. The bill was developed as part of Ukraine's commitments under the Association Agreement with the EU and in accordance with the National Program for the Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation to EU Law (EU acquis).

The key goal is to update the rules for access to public information and introduce clear mechanisms for its reuse, including in the form of open data.

What is proposed to change

The bill provides for a comprehensive update of the Law of Ukraine "On Access to Public Information" and introduces new approaches to access, publication, and reuse of data.

For the first time at the legislative level, the definition of reuse of public information is introduced as any use of data held by information holders for other — commercial or non-commercial — purposes different from those for which such information was originally created. At the same time, it is established that the exercise of this right is possible only within the law, unless otherwise provided by special regulation.

The bill also prohibits granting exclusive rights to access or use public information to certain individuals or companies. In fact, this means that information held by holders must be accessible on equal terms and not transferred for exclusive use to individual entities.

The bill introduces the concept of high-value datasets — these are data containing socially important information that can impact the economy, innovation, digital services, the labor market, and the environment. The list of such data and their categories will be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, assessing their social, economic, and innovative effect.

The circle of information holders is also clarified. It includes enterprises with a dominant market position, natural monopolies, companies with special or exclusive rights, as well as those operating in adjacent markets. They provide information only about socially significant services, supply conditions, and prices.

In addition, the status of public sector business companies is defined — they must provide information created during the performance of their tasks or the provision of socially significant services.

Scientific institutions are also added to the list of holders, but only regarding research data that they hold and that is fully or partially funded from public funds.

At the same time, access to information held by libraries, museums, and archives is separately regulated. It is recognized as information that can be freely reused provided copyright is respected, and access to reuse is defined as free of charge. Only additional services related to digitization, storage, or access provision may be paid, with costs limited to the actual expenses of the institutions.

The bill changes the rules for publishing information, in particular, holders must publish all information available to them (except restricted information) within 20 working days after its receipt or creation.

Information requests cannot require the creation of new data — only existing information is provided. As a result of a request, the information holder may provide the information, postpone it, or refuse with an explanation and appeal procedure. There are also more cases when access to information may be denied. This is possible if its use violates copyright. In such cases, it is indicated who exactly owns the rights to this information (the rights holder or licensor, if known).

Possible risks

The bill aims to update the rules for access to public information and bring Ukrainian legislation closer to EU standards in the field of open data. It expands the list of data that must be published, introduces new categories of information, and clarifies the rules for its reuse.

At the same time, the document changes not only the format of open data but also the practical mechanism of access to information.

In particular, access through requests becomes more limited, since holders are not obliged to create new summaries or analytics. This may reduce access to aggregated and statistical data, which are often the most useful for society. It is also worth noting the expansion of grounds for refusal to provide information, including due to copyright. This may further limit access even to information of public importance.

In summary, the bill simultaneously makes some data more open but introduces more rules and restrictions on how to obtain and use it. This combination is the main source of discussions around the document.

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