---
type: Statutory Article
title: "Article 1 — Subject matter and scope"
description: "The perimeter: if you put connected hardware or its companion services on the EU market, this law reaches you, wherever you are based."
resource: "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/2854/oj/eng"
tags: ["eu-data-act", "chapter-i", "scope"]
instrument: eu-data-act
article: 1
chapter: "I"
binds: []
applies_from: 2025-09-12
cross_refs: [2, 50]
attaches_to: []
legal_review: none
generated: { by: claude-code/opus-5.5, at: "2026-10-09T00:00:00Z" }
status: draft
sources:
  - id: eli
    resource: "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/2854/oj/eng"
    title: "Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, Official Journal"
  - id: prototype
    resource: "https://github.com/DavidJCrawford/stewardship-explorer/blob/main/src/data/act.json"
    title: "stewardship-explorer act.json (author's summaries, July 2026)"
---

# Precise reading

Establishes harmonised rules on: making product/related-service data available to users and third parties; data-holder obligations under Union law; unfair terms; public-sector access on exceptional need; switching between data processing services; safeguards against unlawful third-country access; and interoperability. Applies to manufacturers/providers placing connected products or related services on the EU market regardless of establishment.[^eli]

*A faithful summary of the operative demand, not the statutory text.*

# Plain reading

The perimeter: if you put connected hardware or its companion services on the EU market, this law reaches you, wherever you are based.

*Paraphrase.*

# Facts

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Chapter | I — [General Provisions](/law/eu-data-act/chapters.md) |
| Binds | No party directly; structural. |
| Applies from | 2025-09-12 |
| Cross-references | [Article 2](/law/eu-data-act/articles/article-02.md), [Article 50](/law/eu-data-act/articles/article-50.md) |
| Where it attaches in the building | Nowhere in the building directly. |

# Rights that rest on it

- None of the seven rights rests on this article directly.

[^eli]: Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, Official Journal