---
title: "Art. 15 Data Act: Exceptional need to use data"
canonical: "https://dposchool.com/data-act/article/15"
source: "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32023R2854#art_15"
source_note: "Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, OJ L, 2023/2854, 22.12.2023, as corrected. Only the text published in the Official Journal is authentic. © European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu"
text_as_of: "2023-12-22"
language: "en"
publisher: "DPO School"
---

Art. 15 Data Act · Chapter V: MAKING DATA AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC SECTOR BODIES, THE COMMISSION, THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK AND UNION BODIES ON THE BASIS OF AN EXCEPTIONAL NEED

# Article 15 Data Act: Exceptional need to use data

Official Journal text of 22 December 2023, as corrected (OJ L, 2024/90790, 9.12.2024). Retrieved 30 October 2026.

## Official text

### Article 15(1)

**1.** An exceptional need to use certain data within the meaning of this Chapter shall be limited in time and scope and shall be considered to exist only in any of the following circumstances:

#### Article 15(1)(a)

**(a)** where the data requested is necessary to respond to a public emergency and the public sector body, the Commission, the European Central Bank or the Union body is unable to obtain such data by alternative means in a timely and effective manner under equivalent conditions;

#### Article 15(1)(b)

**(b)** in circumstances not covered by point (a) and only insofar as non-personal data is concerned, where:

##### Article 15(1)(b)(i)

**(i)** a public sector body, the Commission, the European Central Bank or a Union body is acting on the basis of Union or national law and has identified specific data, the lack of which prevents it from fulfilling a specific task carried out in the public interest, that has been explicitly provided for by law, such as the production of official statistics or the mitigation of or recovery from a public emergency; and

##### Article 15(1)(b)(ii)

**(ii)** the public sector body, the Commission, the European Central Bank or the Union body has exhausted all other means at its disposal to obtain such data, including purchase of non-personal data on the market by offering market rates, or by relying on existing obligations to make data available or the adoption of new legislative measures which could guarantee the timely availability of the data.

### Article 15(2)

**2.** Paragraph 1, point (b), shall not apply to microenterprises and small enterprises.

### Article 15(3)

**3.** The obligation to demonstrate that the public sector body was unable to obtain non-personal data by purchasing them on the market shall not apply where the specific task carried out in the public interest is the production of official statistics and where the purchase of such data is not allowed by national law.

## Source

Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, OJ L, 2023/2854, 22.12.2023, as corrected. Only the text published in the Official Journal is authentic. © European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu

[Article 15 on EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32023R2854#art_15)

Official Journal text of 22 December 2023, as corrected (OJ L, 2024/90790, 9.12.2024). Retrieved 30 October 2026.

This is reference material, not legal advice.

## Navigation

[Data Act Navigator](https://dposchool.com/data-act) / [Chapter V](https://dposchool.com/data-act/chapter/5) / Article 15

Previous: [Art. 14 Data Act: Obligation to make data available on the basis of an exceptional need](https://dposchool.com/data-act/article/14)

Next: [Art. 16 Data Act: Relationship with other obligations to make data available to public sector bodies, the Commission, the European Central Bank and Union bodies](https://dposchool.com/data-act/article/16)

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