Deadline
12 September 2026: what actually changes
A design obligation comes into application. It is far narrower than what is commonly written — and confusing it with the rights already in force leads people to wait for nothing.
In one sentence
From 12 September 2026, connected products placed on the market after that date must be designed to make their data accessible easily and by default. Your installed fleet is not covered by that obligation — but your rights over its data have existed since 12 September 2025.
The most widespread mistake
It is frequently written that “from 12 September 2026, connected products will have to give access to their data”. Put that way, the sentence suggests that a fleet of machines bought in 2023 will suddenly become accessible. That is not what the text says.
Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 lays down an obligation of design, which applies to products at the moment they are placed on the market. A product placed on the market before that date is not subject to it. In practice, accessibility “by design” will arrive at the pace of hardware renewal, and therefore over several years.
This is not a legal nicety: it determines what it is reasonable to expect from a manufacturer, and what you must ask for yourself.
What, on the other hand, already applies to your whole fleet
Since 12 septembre 2025, and regardless of the date the products were placed on the market:
- the user may request access to the data generated by the use of their product, without undue delay and free of charge (article 4);
- they may require that data to be transmitted to a third party of their choosing (article 5);
- the data holder must respond — a refusal must give reasons.
In other words: nothing requires waiting until September 2026 to exercise your rights over machines already in service. Quite the opposite — the coming year is the one in which requests still meet unprepared organisations, and in which refusal or silence is worth documenting.
The full timetable
| Date | What applies | To which products |
|---|---|---|
| 12/09/2025 | Access and transmission rights (arts. 4 and 5) | Tous, whatever the date they were placed on the market |
| 12/09/2026 | Design obligation for data access (art. 3) | Uniquement ceux placed on the market from that date |
| 12/01/2027 | Progressive removal of switching charges for data processing service providers (art. 29) | Cloud computing services |
What is worth doing before then
- Inventory the connected products in service and identify, for each one, the data holder — which is not always the manufacturer.
- Gather the evidence of use (invoice, lease, linked account): that is the first thing a holder disputes.
- Exercise the rights that already exist over the fleet in service, and keep a record of every request, response, refusal or silence.
- Write the accessibility requirement into future purchases — for products acquired after September 2026, article 3 becomes a criterion enforceable against the supplier.
This page sets out a reading of Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, in particular its articles 3, 4, 5 and 29. It does not constitute legal advice: for any binding decision, check it against the text and against qualified counsel.