Introduction

12 September 2025, Version 1.3

The Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2584) establishes harmonised, horizontal rules to ensure fairness in the allocation of value generated from data across market actors, while safeguarding the interests of those who invest in data-generation technologies. For an introduction to the Data Act, we invite you to consult the “Data Act Explained” fact page. This set of more technical Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), published approximately a year before the entry into application of the Data Act, is designed to assist stakeholders in the implementation of the legal provisions. The FAQs are the product of extensive stakeholder interactions, and this is intended to be a ‘living document’ that will be updated as and when necessary. This document should not be considered as representative of the European Commission’s official position. The replies to the FAQs do not extend in any way the rights and obligations deriving from applicable legislation nor introduce any additional requirement. The expressed views are not authoritative and cannot prejudge any future actions the European Commission may take, including potential positions before the Court of Justice of the European Union. Please contact us if you have a question that is not covered here and we will try to get back to you as quickly as possible. For any complaints related to the Data Act’s implementation, please consider contacting the data coordinator in your Member State.

The reuse policy of European Commission documents is implemented by Commission Decision 2011/833/EU of 12 December 2011 on the reuse of Commission documents (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39). Unless otherwise noted, the reuse of this document is authorised under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This means that reuse is allowed provided appropriate credit is given and any changes are indicated.