Policy Briefing — EU Data Act application activates access, fairness, and switching enforcement
Article 50 of the EU Data Act makes most obligations applicable on 12 September 2025, requiring organisations to run access portals, fair compensation models, and cloud switching support with evidence ready for national authorities.
Executive briefing: The 20-month transition period for Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act) ends on 12 September 2025. From that date, data holders must fulfil Article 4 user and third-party access rights, apply cost-based compensation under Articles 14–16, comply with Chapter IV fairness rules for SME counterparties, and deliver Chapter VI switching assistance for data processing services. Member State competent authorities will begin enforcement sweeps immediately, prioritising sectors with large volumes of connected products and cloud dependencies.
Immediate compliance checkpoints
- Access workflows. Operationalise authentication, authorisation, and secure delivery processes that meet Article 5 timelines for making data available without undue delay.
- Compensation evidence. Maintain documentation that charges levied on third-party requesters reflect reasonable and objective cost calculations, with dispute procedures logged for audit.
- Switching support. Provide 30-day switching assistance, remove exit fees prohibited by Articles 23–24, and publish interoperability documentation for workloads covered by Chapter VI.
Program actions
- Assurance testing. Conduct dry runs covering user access requests, emergency public-sector requests under Chapter V, and cloud exit rehearsals to produce regulator-ready artefacts.
- Governance reporting. Update board and audit committee dashboards with Data Act key risk indicators, remediation backlogs, and incident statistics.
- Regulator engagement. Prepare response packs outlining compliance programmes, data protection overlays, and trade secret masking techniques to support supervisory inquiries.