France - Reference Data Provision (2017-331)

Overview

Decree No. 2017-331 of 14 March 2017 establishes the French public service mission for the provision of reference data, implementing provisions of the Law for a Digital Republic and adding regulatory detail to the Code of Relations between the Public and the Administration. Its principal objective is to ensure that datasets of national reference value are made available electronically with minimum quality, availability and interoperability standards to facilitate reuse by public and private actors. The decree lists core datasets included in the service of reference data and assigns responsibilities for publishing and coordinating access. For the official consolidated text see Legifrance (JORFTEXT000034194946) and the related implementing arrêté of 14 June 2017.

Definitions

The decree defines "reference data" (données de référence) as datasets that serve as authoritative references across administrations and external users; they are characterized by frequent reuse and the need for a high level of quality (precision, frequency of updates, availability and format). The text distinguishes producing administrations (those that produce or maintain a dataset), designated publishers (an administration designated to publish on behalf of another), and the central interministerial service charged with coordination and referencing. The decree also references the Code of Relations between the Public and the Administration (CRPA) articles L.321-4 and following that frame the mission.

Governance and Institutional Framework

The decree establishes an institutional architecture in which: (1) each producing administration remains responsible for the production and quality of its dataset; (2) producing administrations must publish their reference data electronically or designate another administration to do so under defined conditions; (3) a central interministerial service (the service public of reference data) coordinates publication, indexes datasets and provides a unique portal point of reference. The central service also ensures operational availability, security and performance of publication services, proposes shared tools for error reporting and correction, and promotes reusability and innovation. Governance responsibilities are further specified and operationalized by a Prime Ministerial arrêté of 14 June 2017 that sets technical and organizational rules, and the decree links to other instruments (e.g., decree concerning open reuse licences) that influence governance of licensing and distribution. The decree was adopted by the Prime Minister (report of the Secretary of State for State Reform and Simplification) and consulted the Conseil d'Etat.

Key Focus Areas

The decree concentrates on a set of interrelated priorities: (a) identification and listing of national reference datasets (it enumerates nine initial datasets including the SIRENE business register, the national register of associations (RNA), the cadastral plan, the large-scale reference (RGE) from IGN, the national address base (BAN), the operational repertoire of jobs and occupations (ROME), and the official geographical code); (b) minimum quality criteria (precision, frequency of update, degree of detail, accessibility and standard formats); (c) publication modalities — datasets must be made available electronically and, where possible, via APIs and open formats; (d) operational continuity — defined responsibilities to ensure availability, maintainability and security of publication services; (e) interoperability — measures to favour reuse including metadata standards, shared identifiers and technical prescriptions in the implementing arrêté; and (f) protection of secrets and personal data — publication must comply with applicable secrecy, confidentiality and data protection rules (in coordination with the CNIL). The decree also delineates coordination mechanisms for administrations that do not have publishing capacity, allowing the central service to host or deliver the dataset on their behalf in accordance with the technical arrangements set by the arrêté.

Implementation Framework

Implementation is executed through a combination of producing administrations, designated publishers and the central service. Producing administrations must: prepare datasets to the specified quality criteria; produce metadata and documentation; ensure anonymization or restriction when personal data or trade secrets are implicated; and provide continuous updates. The central service is mandated to index datasets and provide a single portal and may host or proxy datasets if an administration cannot meet the technical rules published in the Prime Ministerial arrêté. The arrêté of 14 June 2017 (implementing rules) contains the technical specifications (formats, API expectations, metadata schemas, security and performance requirements) and organizational rules (roles, fallback arrangements and error correction workflows). For reference and practical access to published datasets the national open data portal data.gouv.fr serves as the public facing catalogue and host for the service public of the data.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The decree provides for monitoring of availability, quality and security through the central service which must track performance and coordinate corrective actions. Monitoring includes reference indexing, uptime/performance measurements, quality indicators (update frequency, completeness, precision) and a mechanism to report and correct errors in datasets in coordination with producing administrations. Performance and compliance are assessed against technical prescriptions in the arrêté and by periodic reporting to relevant ministries. The statute also enables administrative scrutiny and follow-up through ministerial and interministerial committees and permits recourse to administrative litigation where necessary.

Penalties, Liability, and Appeals

The decree itself focuses on obligations and organization rather than prescribing specific monetary fines; however, it operates within the broader administrative law framework whereby failures to fulfill statutory administrative obligations can lead to corrective administrative measures, injunctions, reputational sanctions and, where applicable, judicial review before administrative courts. Publication must respect secrecy and data-protection obligations; breaches of secrecy or data-protection rules may trigger independent administrative sanctions (including those enforceable by the CNIL) or criminal proceedings under existing law. Affected parties may seek judicial remedies in the administrative courts for non-compliance.

Relationship to Other Instruments

Decree 2017-331 implements provisions of the Law for a Digital Republic (Loi n°2016-1321 of 7 October 2016) and amends/creates regulatory articles (notably articles R.321-5 to R.321-8 of the Code of Relations between the Public and the Administration). It works alongside the Prime Ministerial arrêté of 14 June 2017 (technical rules) and other 2017 decrees such as those governing conventions of subsidies and statistical transmissions. It also interacts with rules on open re-use licensing (decrees on free re-use licences) and EU open data/interoperability initiatives (e.g., the 2019 EU Open Data Directive implementation). The decree does not supersede data-protection law or secrecy provisions and requires conformity with those instruments.

International Alignment

The decree aligns with EU-level objectives for open data and interoperability by promoting standard formats, metadata, APIs and public access to authoritative datasets. France referenced these rules in EU-level implementation analyses (see the EU open-data directive materials that cite R.321-5 to R.321-8 created by this decree). The structure — centralized coordination plus distributed production — mirrors approaches in other EU member states for authoritative datasets and supports cross-border interoperability initiatives by specifying quality and format criteria in the implementing arrêté. See the EU Commission and EUR-Lex references noting French regulatory steps in connection with the EU Directive on open data and public sector information.

Implementation Timeline

Sources and References