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Free of Charge Exemption

In terms of Article 15 (1) of the Re-use of Public Sector Information Act (https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/546/eng) which transposes Directive (EU) 2019/1024 EU, it is specified that “The re-use of documents shall be free of charge:” however, in terms of Article 15 (2) this does not apply to the following:

  1. public sector bodies that are required to generate revenue to cover a substantial part of their costs relating to the performance of their public tasks and a list of such bodies shall be published online;
  2. public undertakings;
  3. libraries, including university libraries, museums and archives.

This concept is extended also for high-value datasets, Item 3 of Schedule 1 of the Action specifies that: The requirement for high-value datasets to be available free of charge shall not apply to:

  1. libraries, including university libraries, museums and archives;
  2. public sector bodies that are required to generate revenue to cover a substantial part of their costs relating to the performance of their public tasks and complying with the requirement to make datasets free of charge would lead to a substantial impact on the budget of the bodies involved. Provided that this exemption shall be limited to a period of not more than two (2) years following the entry into force of the relevant implementing act adopted in terms of Directive (EU) 2019/1024 EU.

A non-exhaustive list of the exempt public sector bodies referred to above is being made available below: