Data Act Timeline: Every Application Date and Deadline from 2024 to 2028

Every one of these dates is fixed in Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, the EU Data Act, a regulation that applies directly in every Member State.

As of 5 November 2026 the Regulation is in force, applies and has not been amended. The Digital Omnibus proposal COM(2025) 837, which would amend it, is still pending.

The last fixed date is 12 September 2028, when the evaluation reports fall due. The sections follow the dates oldest first.

Every Data Act Date from 2024 to 2028 at a Glance

The Data Act dates run from publication on 22 December 2023 to the evaluation reports due by 12 September 2028, and each one rests on a paragraph of Article 50, Article 29, Article 40, Article 41, Article 44, Article 45 or Article 49. The table marks each date as past or upcoming on 5 November 2026.

The Publications Office records 11 January 2024, 12 September 2025, 12 September 2026 and 12 September 2027 as dates of effect. Upcoming dates are fixed in the Regulation.

11 January 2024: Entry into Force without Application

On 11 January 2024 the Data Act entered into force under Article 50, first paragraph, Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, but none of its rights and obligations applied yet: application followed on 12 September 2025.

Publication on 22 December 2023 and the Twenty-Day Rule

Article 50, first paragraph, sets entry into force on the twentieth day following publication in the Official Journal, which took place on 22 December 2023. The Commission proposed the act as COM(2022) 68 on 23 February 2022, the European Parliament adopted its first-reading position on 9 November 2023 and the Council decided on 27 November 2023, according to the Parliament's procedure file 2022/0047(COD). It was signed in Strasbourg on 13 December 2023; the structure is set out with the official text of Regulation (EU) 2023/2854.

What Started Running on 11 January 2024

Three rules took effect with entry into force itself. Article 29(2) opened a window from 11 January 2024 to 12 January 2027 in which providers of data processing services may impose only reduced switching charges, and Article 29(3) caps those charges at the costs directly linked to the switching process. The Commission reads this as a duty to reduce switching charges, egress charges included, from 11 January 2024 (Commission frequently asked questions (FAQ) version 1.4, Q54).

The second rule is a cut-off: specific data-sharing obligations in Union acts that entered into force on or before 11 January 2024 remain unaffected (Art. 44(1)). The third is the delegation: the Commission's power to adopt delegated acts under Article 29(7) and Article 33(2) has run for an indeterminate period from 11 January 2024 (Art. 45(2)).

12 September 2025: The General Application Date

Since 12 September 2025 the Data Act has applied in all Member States under Article 50, second paragraph, Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, which reads: "It shall apply from 12 September 2025." Recital 117 explains the gap: it gave the actors concerned time to adapt and make technical arrangements. The Regulation is "binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States" (Art. 50, last paragraph), so no national act transposes it.

Rights That Reached Products Already on the Market

The pre-contractual information duties of Article 3(2) and 3(3), the user's access right under Article 4, sharing with third parties under Article 5 and the Article 6 duties of third parties have applied since 12 September 2025, also to connected products placed on the market before that date (Art. 50, second paragraph). The Commission FAQ (Q22) reads it the same way. The Commission also reads Chapter II as covering only data generated or collected after the date of application (FAQ v1.4, Q4). Only the Article 3(1) design duty waits until 2026, so older units rely on the user's right to access data under Article 4.

Chapters III and IV: New Obligations and New Contracts Only

Chapter III applies only to obligations to make data available under Union law or national legislation adopted in accordance with Union law that enters into force after 12 September 2025 (Art. 50, fourth paragraph), together with obligations under Article 5 (Art. 12(1)).

Chapter IV applies to contracts concluded after 12 September 2025 (Art. 50, fifth paragraph). Older contracts follow on 12 September 2027 under the ten-year test. The Commission FAQ version 1.4 (Q42b) reads the two steps as giving the parties time to renegotiate.

Chapters V, VI and VIII: Applied without a Transition

Chapter V on public-sector requests, Chapter VI on switching and Articles 33 to 36 on interoperability have applied since 12 September 2025 with no transitional rule, so the switching rules cover cloud contracts concluded before that date as well (Art. 50). Article 43 took effect on the same date: the sui generis database right of Article 7 of Directive 96/9/EC does not apply to data obtained from or generated by an in-scope connected product or related service. The customer side of these rules is set out under cloud switching under the Data Act.

Two Deadlines for the Member States and the Commission

Member States had to notify their penalty rules and measures to the Commission by 12 September 2025 (Art. 40(2)), while Article 37 sets no date for designating competent authorities. National implementing acts designate the authorities and set the penalties.

Article 41 required the Commission to develop and recommend non-binding model contractual terms and standard contractual clauses "before 12 September 2025". As of 5 November 2026 the Commission's library page still lists them as a Draft Recommendation, approved by C(2025) 7750 on 19 November 2025.

12 September 2026: The Cut-Off for Newly Placed Products

The Article 3(1) duty to design connected products and related services so that their data are accessible to the user by default and, where relevant and technically feasible, directly applies to products and services placed on the market after 12 September 2026 (Article 50, third paragraph, Regulation (EU) 2023/2854). The word "after" leaves products placed on the market on 12 September 2026 itself outside the wording. "Placing on the market" means the first making available of a connected product on the Union market (Art. 2(22)), and the Commission FAQ (Q8) reads it as referring to each individual product, not to a product type, with a product placed on the market only once. The duty itself is explained under data access by design.

Products placed on the market on or before 12 September 2026 carry no Article 3(1) design duty. They remain subject to Articles 4 and 5, which have applied to them since 12 September 2025.

12 January 2027: The End of the Reduced-Charge Window for Switching

From 12 January 2027 providers of data processing services may not impose any switching charges on the customer for the switching process (Article 29(1) Regulation (EU) 2023/2854). Until that day only reduced charges are allowed, capped at the costs directly linked to the switching process (Art. 29(2), (3)), in the window that opened on 11 January 2024.

Charges for in-parallel use follow a separate rule. Providers may still pass on data egress costs incurred for in-parallel use after 12 January 2027, without exceeding those costs (Art. 34(2); FAQ v1.4, Q54). Both rules are compared under switching charges and egress fees.

12 September 2027: Older Contracts and the Ten-Year Test

From 12 September 2027 Chapter IV also applies to contracts concluded on or before 12 September 2025, but only if they are of indefinite duration or due to expire at least 10 years from 11 January 2024 (Article 50, sixth paragraph, Regulation (EU) 2023/2854).

Which Contracts Concluded by 12 September 2025 Are Caught

Ten years from 11 January 2024 is 11 January 2034, so a fixed-term contract concluded on or before 12 September 2025 is caught only if it expires on or after that day. A fixed-term contract that expires earlier stays outside Article 50, sixth paragraph.

The 12 September 2027 date concerns Chapter IV only, never the switching rules, which have applied to existing cloud contracts since 12 September 2025. Chapter IV is the Article 13 test for terms on access to and use of data, or on liability and remedies for breach or termination of data-related obligations, that one enterprise unilaterally imposes on another, explained on the page on unfair contractual terms under Article 13.

Working the Ten-Year Test with Expiry Dates

Four illustrative contract profiles show how the two dates in Article 50 sort a contract.

Record each contract's conclusion date, term and expiry date.

12 September 2028: The Evaluation Date

By 12 September 2028 the Commission must evaluate the Data Act and report to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee (Article 49(1) Regulation (EU) 2023/2854), with a separate evaluation of Articles 23 to 31, 34 and 35 by the same date (Art. 49(2)). The general evaluation covers the exclusion of certain enterprises as beneficiaries under Article 5 (point (d)), trade secrets and the Article 4(8) and 5(11) refusals (point (f)), whether the Article 13 list is up to date (point (g)) and the efficacy of the Article 37 enforcement regime (point (l)). The cloud evaluation looks at pricing and the diversity of data processing services, with a special focus on small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) providers. The pending proposal would limit Article 49(1) to Chapters II to VIII and add a new Article 49(2a); see Data Act amendments.

What Is Pending as of 5 November 2026?

As of 5 November 2026 one amending proposal and two Commission drafts are still open: the Digital Omnibus proposal COM(2025) 837, the draft model contractual terms and standard contractual clauses, and the draft guidelines on reasonable compensation, while the non-binding Commission FAQ stands at version 1.4. The table gives each item's status and effect.

The Proposed Amendments Leave Article 50 and Article 29 Untouched

The Digital Omnibus proposal COM(2025) 837 of 19 November 2025 is pending. Coreper agreed the Council mandate on 21 October 2026 (ST 14756/26 of 22 October 2026), and as of 5 November 2026 the European Parliament is at committee stage with no committee vote (procedure 2025/0360(COD)).

None of the 27 amending points in Article 1 of the proposal touches Article 50 or Article 29, so every date on this page would stand. If adopted, the amending regulation would enter into force on the third day after its publication, with no separate application date for the Data Act amendments (Art. 11 of the proposal).

Guidance Still Published as Drafts

The Commission's model contractual terms and standard contractual clauses remain a Draft Recommendation as of 5 November 2026, although Article 41 set a deadline before 12 September 2025. The Commission published draft guidelines on reasonable compensation under Article 9(5) on 2 February 2026, with a consultation from 30 January to 20 February 2026, and has not adopted them as of 5 November 2026. FAQ version 1.4 of 22 January 2026 is the only version the Commission lists, and it is not binding. Each document is described under official Data Act guidance.

How to Plan Compliance Work around the Application Dates

Planning against the Data Act dates means sorting each product, contract and cloud service by the date that reaches it, in six steps:

1. Confirm which roles your organisation holds, using who the Data Act applies to: manufacturer, data holder, user, data recipient or provider of data processing services.
2. List connected products by placing-on-the-market date, before or after 12 September 2026, unit by unit.
3. Map the Article 3(2) and 3(3) information and the Article 4 and 5 request handling for every unit in use.
4. Review cloud contracts for switching terms and remove switching charges before 12 January 2027.
5. Sort B2B data contracts by conclusion date and apply the ten-year test before 12 September 2027.
6. Check the national authority and penalty rules in each Member State of activity through Data Act implementation by country.

The dates in steps 2 to 5 are fixed in the Regulation; the pending proposal would not move them.

The full programme by role is in the Data Act compliance checklist.

Date Errors That Recur in Published Summaries

Six date errors recur in published Data Act summaries, and each conflicts with the text of Article 50 or Article 29:

• "Came into force on 12 September 2025": the Regulation entered into force on 11 January 2024 and has applied since 12 September 2025.
• "14 September 2025": the application date is 12 September 2025.
• Article 3(1) "entered into force on 12 September 2026": it covers products placed on the market after that date.
• "Switching charges end in September 2027": they end on 12 January 2027.
• "Nine chapters": the Regulation has 11 chapters, 50 articles and 119 recitals, and no annex.
• "Regulation (EU) 2023/2584": the number is 2023/2854.

The EU Data Act is also not the US DATA Act of 2014.

Questions about the Data Act Timeline

Five questions recur about the Data Act dates.

When did the Data Act enter into force?

On 11 January 2024, the twentieth day after publication in the Official Journal on 22 December 2023 (Art. 50, first paragraph). Application followed on 12 September 2025.

Did the Data Act come into force on 12 September 2025?

No: 12 September 2025 is the date of application (Art. 50, second paragraph), while entry into force was 11 January 2024.

Does the 12 September 2026 date apply to products already sold?

No: the Article 3(1) design duty covers only connected products and related services placed on the market after 12 September 2026, while Articles 4 and 5 have applied to earlier units since 12 September 2025.

When does Chapter IV reach contracts signed before September 2025?

From 12 September 2027, and only for contracts concluded on or before 12 September 2025 that are of indefinite duration or expire on or after 11 January 2034 (Art. 50, sixth paragraph).

Does the pending Omnibus proposal move any application date?

No: as of 5 November 2026 the pending proposal COM(2025) 837 would amend neither Article 50 nor Article 29, and it is not law.