The EU Data Act is changing the way companies must approach the data generated by connected products and related services. One of the most practical questions for businesses is also one of the most delicate. When a company is required to make data available to another company, can it charge for doing so? And how should that compensation be calculated?

The answer is found primarily in Article 9 of the Data Act, which regulates “reasonable compensation” for making data available in business-to-business (B2B) relationships.

A preliminary point: compensation does not concern the user. Users of connected products and related services can access the data generated through their use free of charge. Article 9 applies when the data holder is required to make data available to a third-party data recipient, for example at the user’s request or under another legal obligation.

The value of the data is not the same as the price of access

Reasonable compensation does not simply mean the commercial value of the data. The Data Act does not allow a data holder to set a price freely, based on how valuable its dataset may be to the recipient. Compensation must instead meet the following conditions:

it must be non-discriminatory and reasonable;
it may include a margin;
it must take into account the costs of making the data available;
where applicable, it must take into account the investments in collecting and producing the data, including whether other parties contributed to obtaining, generating or collecting them.

Compensation may also depend on the volume, format and nature of the data.

This distinction matters in practice. A dataset may have significant commercial value for the recipient, but that does not mean the data holder can charge a price corresponding to that value. The relevant question is therefore not “how much are these data worth?”, but “what costs and investments are actually associated with making these data available, and what margin is reasonable?”.

Which costs can be taken into account?

A data holder that receives a data-sharing request should identify and document the costs connected with making the data available. The Data Act refers in particular to costs for formatting, dissemination by electronic means and storage. Depending on the circumstances, they may include:

Data preparation costs: extracting, organising and formatting the relevant data for transmission.
Technical access and transfer costs: the technical infrastructure needed to provide access to the data or transfer them.
Storage costs: storing the data specifically for the purpose of making them available.
Costs directly attributable to the specific request: the additional work and resources that a particular request requires.

The assessment should focus on costs genuinely connected with making the requested data available, not on unrelated business or infrastructure costs.

Investments and the margin

Beyond costs, Article 9 allows the data holder to take into account investments in collecting and producing the data, and to include a margin. This recognises that generating data has a cost and that companies need incentives to keep investing. However, the margin must remain reasonable: compensation should not become so high that it discourages the recipient from exercising its right to the data.

Special rules for SMEs and research organisations

The Data Act sets a stricter limit where the data recipient is a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise, or a non-profit research organisation. In these cases, compensation may not exceed the costs of making the data available. No margin may be charged and no investments may be recovered. The rule does not apply where the SME has partner or linked enterprises that do not qualify as SMEs.

When assessing a compensation request, companies should therefore look at more than who the data holder is and which data must be provided. They should also check who is requesting the data and which rules apply to that recipient.

The obligation to explain the calculation

Documentation is not only good practice. The Data Act requires the data holder to give the recipient information setting out the basis for calculating the compensation. That information must be detailed enough for the recipient to assess whether the compensation meets the requirements of Article 9.

A generic or unexplained fee is therefore not enough. Companies should develop an internal methodology for identifying the costs, investments and margin associated with data sharing. A practical assessment can start with five questions:

What data must be made available, and in what volume and format?
What technical operations are necessary to provide access?
Which costs are directly attributable to the specific request?
Which investments in collecting and producing the data can be taken into account, and what margin is reasonable?
Is the recipient an SME or a non-profit research organisation, so that only costs can be charged?

Keeping a clear record of these elements is essential if the compensation is challenged. Disputes over compensation can also be brought before the certified dispute settlement bodies provided for in Article 10.

The Commission’s guidelines

Article 9 requires the Commission to adopt guidelines on calculating reasonable compensation. The draft guidelines, put out for consultation in early 2026, give practical indications:

only incremental costs actually incurred to make the data available should be counted;
general overheads and costs already amortised should be excluded;
investments in collecting and generating the data should be considered only within the margin, and within strict limits.

Companies should follow the final text closely, as it will shape how compensation is assessed in practice.

The risk of turning data access into a barrier

Reasonable compensation must be understood in light of the broader objectives of the Data Act. The Regulation seeks to facilitate access to and sharing of data and to reduce certain forms of dependence and concentration in the data economy. If the compensation demanded is excessive, the right of access could become difficult to exercise in practice.

At the same time, compensation that ignores the costs and investments involved could undermine incentives to invest in the infrastructure needed to collect, manage and share data. The challenge is to find a balance between effective data access and the protection of investment incentives.

From compliance to data governance

The debate on reasonable compensation shows that the Data Act is not only a matter of regulatory compliance. For many companies, it will also become a question of data governance and data economics. Businesses will increasingly need to know:

what data they hold;
which parties may request access;
when they are legally required to share data;
what technical infrastructure is involved;
which costs and investments can legitimately be taken into account when determining compensation.

For companies, this means that preparation should start now:

map the relevant data;
identify the costs and investments associated with making them available;
define transparent criteria for calculating compensation;
be ready to explain those criteria to the recipient.

The Data Act is changing the role of data within the business. Data are no longer only an internal corporate asset. In a growing number of situations, they may also be the object of a legal obligation to provide access and share them with other market participants.

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