The Data Act is officially published

• The Data Act, a new EU regulation on fair access to and use of industrial data, has been published in the Official Journal of the EU as Regulation (EU) 2023/2854.

• The regulation mandates horizontal obligations for manufacturers of connected products and service providers, covering B2B, B2C, and B2G data sharing, and will allow users to access data generated by their use of connected products, including construction machinery, free of charge.

• Data holders will be required to share data with third parties upon user request, with a focus on 'product data' and 'related service data', and only data that is readily available to data holders will be subject to sharing obligations.

• The Data Act will come into force on January 12, 2024, with a 20-month transition period before the new data sharing framework becomes mandatory on September 12, 2025.

• Design and manufacturing requirements for simplified data access will apply to new connected products and services entering the market 32 months after the regulation's entry into force, starting from September 12, 2026.

• The Committee for European Construction Equipment (CECE) has been involved in shaping the legislation to lessen the impact on construction equipment manufacturers and will continue to support its members during the implementation phase.

• The Data Act represents a significant shift from the current principle of contractual freedom in B2B data sharing, requiring businesses to adapt their products, services, and business models to comply with the new obligations within a limited timeframe.

Today, a major piece of EU legislation that lays down harmonised rules on fair access to and use of industrial data – also known as Data Act – has been published in the Official Journal of the EU (Reg (EU) 2023/2854). 

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The new regulation establishes horizontal obligations for manufacturers of connected products and providers of related services on access to and use of data in business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumers (B2C) and business-to-government (B2G) data sharing contexts. Once in application, the new regulation will allow users of connected products, including construction machinery, to access, by default and free of charge, the data generated by their use. In addition, upon user’s request, the data holders will be obliged to share the same data with third parties. As regards the data in scope, the new law focuses on the functionalities of the data collected, introducing a distinction between 'product data' and 'related service data', from which only readily available data to data holders is subject to data sharing obligations. 

The Data Act will enter into force on the twentieth day after its publication, thus on 12 January 2024. This important step marks the starting date for the 20-month transition period before the new regulatory framework on industrial data sharing applies and becomes mandatory in all its parts. The application date is indeed set for 12 September 2025. However, the design and manufacturing requirements established for simplified data access under Article 3(1) will be applicable for new connected products and related services placed on the market after 32 months from the date of entry into force of the regulation. These obligations will therefore start applying a year later, from 12 September 2026. Manufacturers of connected products will have time until then to make the necessary adaptations to make products compliant with the new set of data sharing requirements.  

The Committee for European Construction Equipment (CECE) has actively contributed to mitigating the impact of the new data sharing obligations on construction equipment manufacturers at all stages of the legislative process. The industry acknowledges the deep changes the Data Act will bring to consolidated data sharing models and practices, since, until now, B2B data sharing have been exclusively informed by the principle of contractual freedom. Many businesses will be soon required to adapt their products, services, voluntary contractual agreements and business models to the new obligations and requirements within a short period of time. CECE will therefore continue supporting its members in the implementation phase of the Data Act provisions by providing guidance and support on the next steps and challenges.