DA Article 15. Exceptional need to use data

In situations of exceptional need, it may be necessary for public sector bodies, the Commission, the European Central Bank or Union bodies to use in the performance of their statutory duties in the public interest existing data, including, where relevant, accompanying metadata, to respond to public emergencies or in other exceptional cases. Exceptional needs are circumstances which are unforeseeable and limited in time, in contrast to other circumstances which might be planned, scheduled, periodic or frequent. While the notion of ‘data holder’ does not, generally, include public sector bodies, it may include public undertakings. Research-performing organisations and research-funding organisations could also be organised as public sector bodies or bodies governed by public law. To limit the burden on businesses, microenterprises and small enterprises should only be under the obligation to provide data to public sector bodies, the Commission, the European Central Bank or Union bodies in situations of exceptional need where such data is required to respond to a public emergency and the public sector body, the Commission, the European Central Bank or the Union body is unable to obtain such data by alternative means in a timely and effective manner under equivalent conditions.

In the case of public emergencies, such as public health emergencies, emergencies resulting from natural disasters including those aggravated by climate change and environmental degradation, as well as human-induced major disasters, such as major cybersecurity incidents, the public interest resulting from the use of the data will outweigh the interests of the data holders to dispose freely of the data they hold. In such a case, data holders should be placed under an obligation to make the data available to public sector bodies, the Commission, the European Central Bank or Union bodies upon their request. The existence of a public emergency should be determined or declared in accordance with Union or national law and based on the relevant procedures, including those of the relevant international organisations. In such cases, the public sector body should demonstrate that the data in scope of the request could not otherwise be obtained in a timely and effective manner and under equivalent conditions, for instance by way of the voluntary provision of data by another enterprise or the consultation of a public database.

An exceptional need may also arise from non-emergency situations. In such cases, a public sector body, the Commission, the European Central Bank or a Union body should be allowed to request only non-personal data. The public sector body should demonstrate that the data are necessary for the fulfilment of a specific task carried out in the public interest that has been explicitly provided for by law, such as the production of official statistics or the mitigation of or recovery from a public emergency. In addition, such a request can be made only when the public sector body, the Commission, the European Central Bank or a Union body has identified specific data that could not otherwise be obtained in a timely and effective manner and under equivalent conditions and only if it has exhausted all other means at its disposal to obtain such data, such as obtaining the data through voluntary agreements, including purchasing of non-personal data on the market by offering market rates, or by relying on existing obligations to make data available or the adoption of new legislative measures which could guarantee the timely availability of data. The conditions and principles governing requests, such as those related to purpose limitation, proportionality, transparency and time limitation, should also apply. In cases of requests for data necessary for the production of official statistics, the requesting public sector body should also demonstrate whether the national law allows it to purchase non-personal data on the market.