# European Data Portal — Data Provider Manual

> **Source:** [dataeuropa.gitlab.io/data-provider-manual](https://dataeuropa.gitlab.io/data-provider-manual/) · Publications Office of the European Union  
> **Portal:** [data.europa.eu](https://data.europa.eu/)  
> **Summary:** Official documentation for data providers on the European Data Portal — covering the portal architecture, DCAT-AP metadata standard, FAIR principles, EU open data legal framework from 2003 to 2025, and the European Open Data Space.

---

## Overview

The European Data Portal (data.europa.eu) is the EU's central point of access to open data from international, EU, national, regional, local and geodata portals. Managed operationally by the Publications Office of the European Union and funded by the EU, it presents metadata using DCAT-AP (an RDF-based application profile) and provides translations in all 24 EU official languages via eTranslation.

In 2021, the portal consolidated the former European Data Portal (data from EU Member States and European countries) and the former EU Open Data Portal (data from EU institutions, agencies, and bodies) into a single access point.

---

## The Portal's Three Service Spheres

**Data Providers** — Official representatives from supranational, national, and local public administration who publish metadata autonomously. The portal is updated whenever new datasets and content are available from registered sources.

**Data Users** — Any person or entity who accesses and consumes data: NGOs, international organisations, private sector stakeholders, academics, students, and the general public.

**Data Literacy** — The ability to read, understand, create, and communicate data as information. Supported by the data.europa academy, training materials, and related resources.

---

## Mission, Vision and Values

**Mission:** Support EU policies and ensure that published information is available to the public as accessible and reusable data to facilitate transparency, economic activity, and the diffusion of knowledge.

**Vision:** A well-informed EU, empowered by timely and effective access to trustworthy information and knowledge and benefiting from all the opportunities this brings to society and the economy.

**Values:** Transparency, Trustworthiness, Accessibility, Service orientation.

---

## Legal Framework: 2003 – 2025

| Year | Instrument | Significance |
|------|-----------|-------------|
| 2003 | Directive 2003/98/EC (PSI Directive) | Original legal basis for re-use of public sector information |
| 2011 | Commission Decision 2011/833/EU | Established former EU Open Data Portal (operated 2012–2021) |
| 2013 | Directive 2013/37/EU | Amended the PSI Directive; expanded scope |
| 2015 | Launch of European Data Portal | Harvesting data from national/regional portals |
| 2019 | Directive 2019/1024 (Open Data Directive) | Recasts PSI; introduces high-value datasets; sets minimum requirements |
| 2020 | COM/2020/66 (European Data Strategy) | Aims at single market for data |
| 2021 | data.europa.eu consolidation | Merged EU Open Data Portal and European Data Portal |
| 2022 | Data Governance Act (EU) 2022/868 | Framework for voluntary data sharing beyond open data |
| 2023 | DGA entry into force | European Register for Protected Data implemented |
| 2024 | Regulation 2023/138 (HVD) | High-value dataset obligations enter into force |
| 2025 | First HVD reporting exercise | Member States report on high-value dataset publication |

---

## Metadata Standard: DCAT-AP

The portal uses **DCAT-AP** (Data Catalogue Vocabulary Application Profile) — an RDF-based metadata standard designed for cross-border comparability of datasets published across European portals. It is based on the W3C DCAT standard with EU-specific extensions.

Key properties modelled in DCAT-AP include dataset titles, descriptions, keywords, distributions, licences, publisher information, spatial and temporal coverage, and contact points.

---

## FAIR Principles

The **Metadata Quality Assessment Dashboard** evaluates datasets against four FAIR dimensions:

- **Findable** — Does the metadata have a persistent identifier? Are keywords and descriptions present?
- **Accessible** — Is the access URL resolvable? Is the licence clearly stated?
- **Interoperable** — Are controlled vocabularies used? Are formats machine-readable?
- **Reusable** — Is the licence open? Is provenance information available?

---

## Portal Services

| Service | Description |
|---------|------------|
| DCAT-AP Catalogue | RDF metadata standard ensuring cross-border comparability |
| eTranslation | Metadata in all 24 EU official languages |
| FAIR Quality Dashboard | Assessment of metadata against FAIR indicators |
| data.europa academy | Training and e-learning on open data |
| Licensing Assistant | Guides licence selection and compatibility checking |
| Open Data Maturity Report | Annual study on open data progress across Member States |
| Economic Impact Study | Research on the economic value of open data |
| GitLab source code | Full portal source available for free reuse |

---


---

## HVD SPARQL Query Service

The European Data Portal exposes its full metadata catalogue — including all harvested High-Value Datasets — via a **Virtuoso-powered SPARQL 1.1 endpoint** at [`data.europa.eu/sparql`](https://data.europa.eu/sparql). Because the portal actively harvests Member State endpoints, the query service always reflects the most recent state of affairs.

### Endpoint Characteristics

| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| Engine | OpenLink Virtuoso |
| Query languages | SPARQL 1.1 SELECT, CONSTRUCT |
| Max rows per request | 50,000 |
| Recommended page size | 10,000 |
| Pagination mechanism | LIMIT + OFFSET (increment until empty) |
| HVD IR filter URI | `http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2023/138/oj` |
| HVD IR RDF property | `r5r:applicableLegislation` |

All HVD queries filter using `r5r:applicableLegislation <http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2023/138/oj>` — the Implementing Regulation URI for the High-Value Dataset rules.

### The 9 Official HVD SPARQL Queries

**Query 1 — HVD Catalogue Snapshot (CONSTRUCT)**  
Builds a complete RDF snapshot of a Member State HVD catalogue. Replace `<?MScat?>` with the catalogue URI. Uses four UNION branches covering datasets, distributions, data services via distributions, and data services via `dcat:servesDataset`. Pagination required for large catalogues.

**Query 2 — HVD Catalogue URIs per Country (SELECT)**  
Looks up the Member State catalogue URI needed as the `<?MScat?>` parameter in all other queries. Returns all catalogues containing at least one resource with the HVD IR legislation marker.

**Query 3 — HVD Datasets per Catalogue with Original IDs (SELECT)**  
Returns EDP dataset identifiers paired with original source identifiers from `dct:identifier` on the `dcat:CatalogRecord`. The EDP harmonises identifiers during harvesting; this query enables internal cross-checking by Member States.

```sparql
prefix dct: <http://purl.org/dc/terms/>
prefix r5r: <http://data.europa.eu/r5r/>
prefix dcat: <http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#>
prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

select distinct ?s ?originalId where {
  <?MSCat?> ?cp ?s.
  ?s r5r:applicableLegislation <http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2023/138/oj>.
  ?s a dcat:Dataset.
  ?record foaf:primaryTopic ?s.
  ?record a dcat:CatalogRecord.
  ?record dct:identifier ?originalId.
}
```

**Query 4.2 — HVD Key Metadata (SELECT)**  
Returns title, description, and HVD category for each dataset. English language filter applied. Results may reflect eTranslation machine-translated content.

```sparql
select distinct ?d ?title ?desc ?Category where {
  <?MSCat?> ?cp ?d.
  ?d r5r:applicableLegislation <http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2023/138/oj>.
  ?d a dcat:Dataset.
  optional { ?d dct:title ?title. FILTER(langMatches(lang(?title),"en")) }
  optional { ?d dct:description ?desc. FILTER(langMatches(lang(?desc),"en")) }
  optional { ?d r5r:hvdCategory ?Category. }
}
```

**Query 5 — HVD Distributions / Bulk Downloads (SELECT)**  
Returns all distributions per HVD dataset including access URLs. One dataset may have multiple distributions. HVDs are subject to bulk download obligations under the HVD IR.

**Queries 6 & 7 — HVD APIs**  
APIs are a primary obligation under the HVD IR. DCAT-AP supports two association patterns — via `dcat:distribution / dcat:accessService` and directly via `dcat:servesDataset` — and both are captured using UNION. Query 7 adds title, description, HVD category, endpoint URL, and endpoint description.

**Query 8 — Legal Information (SELECT)**  
Returns access rights, licences, and rights for all HVD APIs. Covers all three DCAT-AP legal properties. HVDs must be published under a licence at least as permissive as CC-BY 4.0.

**Queries 9.1 / 9.2 / 9.3 — Licence Compliance**  
Assesses licence permissiveness using SKOS `exactMatch`, `narrowMatch`, and `broadMatch` against the EU Vocabularies name authority list — enabling automated CC-BY 4.0 compliance checks. Sub-queries cover API licences (9.1), distribution/bulk-download licences (9.2), and all licences per catalogue (9.3).

### HVD Reporting Tool

The **[High-Value Datasets Reporting Tool](https://data.europa.eu/en/hvd-reporting)** provides a higher-level interface built on top of the SPARQL endpoint. It is designed to simplify the Article 5 HVD IR reporting process for Member States, covering requirements (a) through (c) of Article 5: dataset lists, licence links, and API links.

### Article 5 HVD IR Reporting Requirements

Article 5 of the HVD Implementing Regulation requires Member States to report:

- **(a)** A list of specific datasets with online reference to metadata following existing standards
- **(b)** Persistent link to licensing conditions applicable to re-use, per dataset
- **(c)** Persistent link to APIs ensuring access to HVDs, per dataset
- **(d–f)** Guidance documents, data protection impact assessments, and exempted public bodies (beyond scope of the SPARQL-based reporting workflow)

## How to Publish Data on the Portal

1. **Prepare DCAT-AP-compliant metadata** — Structure your dataset metadata according to DCAT-AP. Ensure descriptions, keywords, licences, and contact information are complete in at least one EU language.
2. **Register your portal for harvesting** — Contact the EDP team to suggest your portal. Metadata will be collected automatically when new datasets are published or updated.
3. **Assign an open licence** — Apply a recognised open licence (e.g. Creative Commons, CC0). Use the Licensing Assistant for guidance on compatibility.
4. **Assess and improve metadata quality** — Use the FAIR Metadata Quality Dashboard to identify and address gaps in findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability.
5. **Maintain and update** — Keep metadata current. Monitor the quality dashboard regularly and stay aligned with evolving DCAT-AP requirements and high-value dataset obligations.

---

## Frequently Asked Questions

**What is the European Data Portal?**  
data.europa.eu is the EU's central access point for open data from international, EU, national, regional, local and geodata portals. Managed by the Publications Office of the EU, it presents metadata in DCAT-AP format and provides all 24 EU language translations.

**What is DCAT-AP?**  
DCAT-AP is the Application Profile for Data Portals in Europe — an RDF-based metadata standard ensuring cross-border comparability. It is the lingua franca of European open data metadata.

**Who can be a data provider?**  
Official representatives from supranational, national, and local public administration: EU institutions, EU agencies, European countries, and research projects. They publish metadata autonomously on the portal.

**What are FAIR principles in this context?**  
FAIR stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. The FAIR Quality Dashboard evaluates datasets against these indicators, helping data providers improve metadata quality.

**What are high-value datasets?**  
Defined under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/138 as datasets with high potential for economic and societal impact. Entry into force: 2024. First reporting exercise: 2025.

**What is the Data Governance Act?**  
EU Regulation 2022/868, in force from 2023, establishing a framework for voluntary data sharing beyond open data. It complements the Open Data Directive.

**How does eTranslation work?**  
The European Commission's machine translation service automatically translates metadata descriptions into all 24 EU official languages. In some situations, machine translation may not match human translation quality.

---

## Glossary

| Term | Definition |
|------|-----------|
| **DCAT-AP** | Data Catalogue Vocabulary Application Profile — RDF metadata standard for EU data portals |
| **FAIR** | Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable — quality principles for metadata |
| **PSI** | Public Sector Information — data produced by public bodies, subject to EU re-use legislation since 2003 |
| **High-Value Datasets** | Datasets mandated for open publication under EU 2023/138 |
| **Data Governance Act** | EU Regulation 2022/868 — framework for voluntary data sharing beyond open data |
| **eTranslation** | EC machine translation service providing metadata in 24 EU languages |
| **Harvesting** | Automated collection of metadata from connected national and regional portals |
| **Data Literacy** | Ability to read, understand, create, and communicate data as information |

---

## Knowledge Graph Entities

All entities resolve via [URIBurner](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23edp).

| Entity | Type | IRI |
|--------|------|-----|
| European Data Portal | Organization | [`#edp`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23edp) |
| Publications Office | Organization | [`#publicationsOffice`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23publicationsOffice) |
| European Commission | Organization | [`#europeanCommission`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23europeanCommission) |
| DG CONNECT | Organization | [`#dgCnect`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23dgCnect) |
| DCAT-AP | Service/Tool | [`#dcatAp`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23dcatAp) |
| eTranslation | Service/Tool | [`#eTranslation`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23eTranslation) |
| FAIR Dashboard | Service/Tool | [`#fairDashboard`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23fairDashboard) |
| data.europa academy | Service/Tool | [`#dataEuropaAcademy`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23dataEuropaAcademy) |
| Licensing Assistant | Service/Tool | [`#licensingAssistant`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23licensingAssistant) |
| Open Data | Concept | [`#openData`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23openData) |
| Data Literacy | Concept | [`#dataLiteracy`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23dataLiteracy) |
| FAIR Principles | Concept | [`#fairPrinciples`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23fairPrinciples) |
| EU Open Data Space | Concept | [`#euroOpenDataSpace`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23euroOpenDataSpace) |
| High-Value Datasets | Concept | [`#highValueDatasets`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23highValueDatasets) |
| PSI Directive 2003 | Legislation | [`#psiDirective2003`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23psiDirective2003) |
| Open Data Directive 2019 | Legislation | [`#openDataDirective2019`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23openDataDirective2019) |
| Data Governance Act | Legislation | [`#dataGovernanceAct`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23dataGovernanceAct) |
| EDP SPARQL Endpoint | Service/Tool | [`#edpSparqlEndpoint`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23edpSparqlEndpoint) |
| OpenLink Virtuoso | Service/Tool | [`#virtuoso`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23virtuoso) |
| HVD Reporting Tool | Service/Tool | [`#hvdReportingTool`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23hvdReportingTool) |
| SPARQL | Concept | [`#sparql`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23sparql) |
| European Union | Place | [`#europeanUnion`](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23europeanUnion) |

---

## Related Files

| File | Format | Description |
|------|--------|-------------|
| [`data-europa-provider-manual-claude-sonnet-1.html`](data-europa-provider-manual-claude-sonnet-1.html) | HTML | Interactive infographic with D3.js KG Explorer |
| [`../rdf/data-europa-provider-manual-claude-sonnet-1.ttl`](../rdf/data-europa-provider-manual-claude-sonnet-1.ttl) | RDF/Turtle | Full knowledge graph (Turtle serialisation) |
| [`../rdf/data-europa-provider-manual-claude-sonnet-1.jsonld`](../rdf/data-europa-provider-manual-claude-sonnet-1.jsonld) | JSON-LD | Full knowledge graph (JSON-LD serialisation) |

---

## Provenance

| Agent | Role |
|-------|------|
| [KG Generator Skill](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23kgGeneratorSkill) | RDF extraction and structuring |
| [RDF Infographic Skill v1.1](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23rdfInfographicSkill) | HTML infographic generation |
| [Claude Sonnet Interface](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23claudeSonnetInterface) | LLM reasoning and content synthesis |
| [Cowork Desktop Environment](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23coworkDesktopEnvironment) | Execution environment |
| [URIBurner Resolver](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23uriBurnerResolver) | Linked Data dereferencing |
| [Virtuoso Server](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23virtuosoServer) | RDF quad store |

---

*Generated by [RDF Infographic Skill v1.1](https://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataeuropa.gitlab.io%2Fdata-provider-manual%2F%23rdfInfographicSkill) · Source: [dataeuropa.gitlab.io/data-provider-manual](https://dataeuropa.gitlab.io/data-provider-manual/) · Base IRI: `https://dataeuropa.gitlab.io/data-provider-manual/#`*