Get EU Document
eurlex_get_documentRead-onlyIdempotent
Fetch the metadata and full text of an EU act or case-law record by CELEX number, ELI URI, or work URI. Returns structured metadata (title, date, type, ELI, Official Journal reference, typed dates of effect, transposition deadlines, author institution, Advocates General, legal basis, EuroVoc subjects, in-force status and, for an act not in force, its repealing acts, end of validity, or pending entry into force; for case law, the ECLI and the formation, referring court, subject matter, and case reference parsed from the title) plus the body as HTML, Markdown, or Formex4 XML, defaulting to English with automatic fallback. Every body returned in one call is capped at 100,000 characters — paged and full windows page onward with offset/limit; use outline: true for a heading map and select to pull specific articles, chapters, recitals, or annexes of an act, or the headed sections and operative part of a judgment or order, reading a selected section on its own from the offset and chars in selected_sections.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| limit | No | Maximum characters to return in this window ("paged" mode only; select ignores it). Default 25000; a window holds at most 100000 characters, so a larger value is served at 100000 and reported in limit_clamp. Follow has_more and the returned offsets until false to reconstruct the complete body. | |
| format | No | Content format: "html" for the act text as served by EUR-Lex (default), "markdown" for that HTML converted to clean Markdown server-side, or "xml" for Formex4 structured XML. | html |
| offset | No | Character offset into the body where the returned window starts ("paged" mode only). Page forward by setting offset = content_offset + content_chars_returned from the previous call. Offsets are format-specific: an offset is only valid against the same format it was measured in — keep format constant when paging. | |
| select | No | Return only the text of specific sections by type and number, instead of a raw character window (Roman and Arabic numbers are equivalent; a number may carry an English kind word or one in the language served, e.g. "Article 5", "Artikel 5", "5. cikk"). For case law, select headed sections by position or the operative part. An act's section runs to its next heading, and its last article, section, and chapter stop where the enacting terms end: the closing formula, signatures, and footnotes after them (and in xml the annexes) belong to no section, nor do the notes closing a consolidated text — read those by paging on from the section's end. Sections are located in the body of the requested format, so pair select with the same format used for any outline. A section inside another selected section (an article in a selected chapter) is returned once, within the enclosing one. A section that cannot be located — including a number that appears only in text an amending act inserts into another act — is reported in selection.missed with no wrong text returned. offset and limit do not apply: the joined sections are capped at 100000 characters with no continuation, and each section stays readable on its own from its offset and chars in selected_sections. Ignored when outline is true or in content_mode "metadata_only". | |
| eli_uri | No | Work-level ELI URI of the act to fetch (e.g. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679, with or without the /oj suffix). Provide exactly one of celex_number, eli_uri, or work_uri. | |
| outline | No | Return a structural outline of the act — chapters, sections, articles, annexes, and the preamble's recitals as a heading list, each with its character offset — instead of body text. The recitals appear as one entry spanning the run (e.g. "Recitals 1–173") at the first recital's offset unless include_recitals is true. Headings of text an amending act inserts into another act are not listed. For case law, the outline lists each top-level section heading ("Legal context", "Costs") and, for a judgment or order, the operative part (the ruling). Read a section by paging with its offset, keeping the same format: outline offsets are measured in the requested format's body and land in the wrong place under any other format. Ignores offset/limit and select; no detectable structure returns an empty outline. Not applied in content_mode "metadata_only". | |
| resolve | No | Which version to serve. "as_requested" (default) returns the exact CELEX requested; "current_consolidated" serves the newest consolidated version in effect of the requested act — or, for a consolidated CELEX, of its base act — echoing the request in requested_celex, and is a no-op when none exists (with a notice when the act's only consolidated versions are dated in the future). Either way, is_superseded / current_consolidated_celex / consolidated_as_of describe the text served. | as_requested |
| language | No | One of the 24 supported two-letter EUR-Lex language codes (e.g. EN, FR, DE), accepted case-insensitively and normalized to uppercase. Defaults to EN, and falls back to EN if the requested language is unavailable. | EN |
| work_uri | No | CELLAR work resource URI to fetch (e.g. http://publications.europa.eu/resource/cellar/3e485e15-11bd-11e6-ba9a-01aa75ed71a1) — the form returned by eurlex_lookup_celex, eurlex_get_relations, and eurlex_search_documents. A work carrying several CELEX numbers (a national implementing measure, one per directive it was notified against) is served under its lowest, with a notice giving the count; each names the same document, so pass celex_number to serve a specific one. An expression or manifestation URI (…/cellar/{id}.0006, ….0006.03) is served as the work it belongs to, with a notice. Provide exactly one of celex_number, eli_uri, or work_uri. | |
| celex_number | No | CELEX number of the act to fetch (e.g. 32016R0679 for GDPR). Provide exactly one of celex_number, eli_uri, or work_uri. | |
| content_mode | No | How much of the body to return. "paged" (default) returns an offset/limit window; "full" requests from the start and returns at most 100000 characters with continuation metadata when more exists; "metadata_only" skips the content fetch. offset and limit apply only to "paged". | paged |
| include_recitals | No | List every recital as its own outline entry, with its own offset, instead of one entry for the run. Applies only when outline is true; select reaches a single recital either way. |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| cap | No | Maximum body characters allowed in the window. | |
| eli | No | European Legislation Identifier of the work served (e.g. "http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj"); a consolidated text carries its own point-in-time ELI (e.g. "http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/2016-05-04"), a corrigendum its own. Absent when CELLAR records none, as for case law, proposals, and national measures. | |
| date | No | Document date in ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD). | |
| ecli | No | European Case Law Identifier of a case-law record (e.g. "ECLI:EU:C:2014:317"), as eurlex_lookup_celex reports it: the work's own, or the lowest another work holding the same CELEX records. Absent for legislation. | |
| error | No | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. | |
| shown | No | Number of body characters returned. | |
| title | No | Document title in the language the body is served in (see language), or in English when CELLAR records no title in that language. Case law is titled in English whatever the language, parsed from its English CELLAR title: the parties (e.g. "Google Spain SL and Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD) and Mario Costeja González."), or the court/AG descriptor when the case names none, with the rest in formation, referring_court, subject_matter, and case_reference, when the parser places the title whole; otherwise the raw "#"-delimited English title, or the served language's raw title when there is no English one. Absent for some older works and judgments. | |
| notice | No | How to retrieve the remaining document content; when select.annexes asked for "ANNEX" on an act whose annexes are numbered, which numbers select one; when work_uri names an expression or manifestation, the work served in its place; when a work_uri carries several CELEX numbers, how many it carries and which one was served; and, when no consolidated version is in effect yet, that the consolidated text served does not apply yet, or that resolve "current_consolidated" served the base act. | |
| content | No | Body content of the act in the requested format and language. In "paged" mode this is the requested window; in "full" mode it starts at zero; under select it is the matched sections joined in document order, each source character once — a section inside another selected section (an article in a selected chapter) is carried inside the enclosing one. Every one is capped at 100000 characters. Omitted in "metadata_only" mode, when the window is empty, or when content is unavailable. | |
| outline | No | Structural outline of the act. Present only when outline is true; an empty array means no structure was detected. | |
| has_more | No | True when body content exists beyond the returned contiguous window. Continue in "paged" mode with offset = content_offset + content_chars_returned until false. Always false in "metadata_only" mode, and always false for outline and select responses, where that recipe cannot resume across disjoint slices — a cut selection is disclosed through the truncated enrichment instead. | |
| in_force | No | Whether the act is currently in force — for a consolidated text, whether its base act is. When false, repealed_by, entry_into_force, and end_of_validity give the reason where CELLAR records one: an explicit repeal, an entry into force still ahead, or an end of validity — past for an expired act, possibly still ahead for one not yet in force. Some acts not in force carry none of them. | |
| language | No | Language code of the returned content. | |
| work_uri | No | CELLAR work URI. | |
| formation | No | Case law: the formation that decided, from the title's leading segment, verbatim (e.g. "Grand Chamber"), or "President", "Vice-President", or "President of the Second Chamber" for an order issued by that office. Absent when the title names none. | |
| selection | No | Outcome of a structural selection. Present only when select was used; content holds the matched sections joined in document order, a nested section's text once inside its enclosing section, capped at 100000 characters. When the cap cuts the join, a trailing matched section may be partly or wholly absent from content — read selected_sections for each one's own address. | |
| truncated | No | True when the returned body window was capped. | |
| legal_basis | No | Legal basis acts for this work — for a consolidated text, its base act's. Absent when none are recorded. | |
| limit_clamp | No | Present only when limit exceeded the per-call maximum: the value asked for and the value served. The response follows the applied value. | |
| repealed_by | No | CELEX numbers of the acts that explicitly repeal this one, the relation eurlex_get_relations names repealed_by (implicit repeals are listed there as implicitly_repealed_by). Present only when in_force is false; for a consolidated text, its base act's. | |
| celex_number | No | Confirmed CELEX number for the retrieved work. | |
| content_mode | No | Content mode applied to this response: "metadata_only", "paged", or "full". | |
| oj_reference | No | Official Journal reference the act was published under, e.g. "OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1–88", "OJ 13, 21.2.1962, p. 204–211" (before 1968, no series letter), "OJ L 42I, …" (an issue class other than R), or for act-by-act publication "OJ L, 2024/1689, 12.7.2024" and "OJ C, C/2024/2664, 29.4.2024". Pages are the English edition's, or before 1973 the original-language edition's; an act also reprinted in a later issue cites the earliest. For a consolidated text, its base act's. Absent when CELLAR records no publication. | |
| is_superseded | No | Whether a newer consolidated version (an unofficial reading aid merging later amendments) than the text served is in effect, so this text may lack those amendments. False when the text served is the newest consolidated version in effect, or a consolidated version dated after it that does not apply yet. Not a repeal/replacement signal — the base act remains the law and may still be in force (see in_force). Present whenever the act has a consolidated version in effect; absent otherwise. | |
| resource_type | No | Human-readable document type label (e.g. "Regulation", "Directive"). Absent for some older works. | |
| base_act_celex | No | CELEX of the base act a consolidated text consolidates (e.g. 32024R1689), linked through CELLAR rather than derived from the consolidated CELEX. Its authors, in-force status, legal basis, and EuroVoc subjects are reported here in place of the consolidation's own. Absent for a base act, and for a consolidated text whose base act is unlinked or carries no CELEX. | |
| case_reference | No | Case law: the case reference from the title (e.g. "Case C-131/12."). | |
| content_format | No | Format of the returned content: "html", "markdown", or "xml". | |
| content_offset | No | Character offset where the returned contiguous window begins. Present in "paged" and "full" modes. Absent for outline and select responses, whose content is not a contiguous span — read selected_sections for each matched section's own offset. | |
| content_status | No | Body resolution status: "not_requested" for metadata-only calls, "available" when a body was resolved, or "unavailable" after ordinary resolution attempts returned no usable body. | |
| subject_matter | No | Case law: the subject-matter keyword list from the title (e.g. "Personal data – Protection of individuals …"). | |
| dates_of_effect | No | Every date of effect CELLAR records for the act, sorted by date, one entry per date and type (a date can carry two, e.g. entry into force and application), whether past or ahead and whatever in_force says. For a consolidated text, its base act's. Absent when none is recorded. | |
| end_of_validity | No | Date (YYYY-MM-DD) the act's validity ends or ended: past for an expired act, and possibly in the future for one not yet in force (read it with entry_into_force), so on its own it does not mean the act expired. Present only when in_force is false and CELLAR records an actual date rather than its open-ended 9999-12-31; for a consolidated text, its base act's. | |
| referring_court | No | Case law: the national court that referred a preliminary ruling, from the title (e.g. "Audiencia Nacional"). Absent on direct actions and appeals. | |
| requested_celex | No | The originally requested CELEX, echoed when resolve "current_consolidated" served a different consolidated version. celex_number holds the CELEX actually served. Absent when the served work is the one requested. | |
| entry_into_force | No | Earliest entry-into-force date (YYYY-MM-DD) of an act not yet in force. Present only when in_force is false and that date is after today (UTC); for a consolidated text, its base act's. Every recorded date, typed, is in dates_of_effect. | |
| eurovoc_subjects | No | EuroVoc subject classifications — for a consolidated text, its base act's. Absent when none are recorded. | |
| national_measure | No | National implementing measure publication citation and notification facts recorded on the served work. Missing facts are omitted; no source URL is inferred. | |
| advocates_general | No | Advocates General who delivered this case-law record, by surname as CELLAR records it (e.g. ["Jääskinen"]), sorted. A few Opinions of the Court list several. Absent for legislation and for case law with none recorded. | |
| content_available | No | Whether body content was fetched from EUR-Lex. False in "metadata_only" mode (no fetch attempted) — use content_mode to distinguish "not requested" from "unavailable upstream". | |
| content_omissions | No | Known source omissions; an available body can still omit substantive tables. | |
| language_fallback | No | Human-readable note explaining the fallback that occurred (e.g. "Requested FR content unavailable; returned EN"). Present only when a fallback happened. | |
| selected_sections | No | Source address of each distinct section the selection located, in document order. Present only when select was used. A section nested inside another selected section keeps its own entry, though its text appears in content only once, inside the enclosing section. A selection is a set of slices, not a contiguous window, so these addresses — not content_offset — are how a caller navigates one; every section stays individually reachable even when the cap cut its text. | |
| author_institution | No | Primary (first) author, by the English label of its CELLAR authority code: an EU institution or body (e.g. "European Parliament", "Court of Justice", "European Union"), a member state on a national implementing measure (e.g. "Netherlands"), an MEP by surname on a parliamentary question (e.g. "VAN MIERT"), "Provisional data" for a consolidated text with no linked base act, or for a national-court decision the deciding court (e.g. "Supremo Tribunal de Justiça"). A code with no English label shows the last segment of its code. Each label is accepted by the author_institution filter of eurlex_search_documents. For co-legislated acts, prefer author_institutions for the complete set. For a consolidated text, the base act's (see base_act_celex). Absent when not recorded, and for an AG opinion whose only recorded author is the Advocate General. | |
| consolidated_as_of | No | Consolidation date of current_consolidated_celex in ISO 8601 (YYYY-MM-DD). Present whenever is_superseded is. | |
| requested_language | No | Originally requested language code when English fallback changed the effective language reported in language. | |
| structure_detected | No | Whether any structure was parsed from the body. Present when outline or select was used; false means no detectable chapter/article/annex structure, or for case law no section heading or operative part — read it via offset/limit or content_mode "full". | |
| author_institutions | No | All authors, labelled as in author_institution and listed once each, for acts adopted by more than one body (e.g. ["European Parliament", "Council of the European Union"]) or signed by several states. Advocates General appear in advocates_general instead. For a consolidated text, the base act's. Absent when none recorded. | |
| content_chars_total | No | Total character length of the full document body. Present when content was fetched and available; use with content_offset to page through the entire act. | |
| content_chars_returned | No | Number of body characters returned in this response (equals content length). Present when a body was fetched and available. | |
| transposition_deadlines | No | A directive's deadlines for transposition into national law, sorted. For a consolidated text, its base act's. Absent when none is recorded. | |
| current_consolidated_celex | No | CELEX of the act's newest consolidated version in effect (e.g. 02014R0833-20260424) — fetch it with eurlex_get_document, or pass resolve "current_consolidated". A consolidation dated in the future is never this version. Present whenever is_superseded is. | |
| alternative_representations | No | Verified alternative PDF stream locations; no claim that they contain every omitted table. | |
| content_unavailability_reason | No | Why content_status is "unavailable": no representation exists, the upstream request failed, or a multipart Formex body could not be assembled completely. |