Get EU Document
eurlex_get_documentRead-onlyIdempotent
Fetch the metadata and full text of an EU act by CELEX number, ELI URI, or work URI. Returns structured metadata (title, date, type, author institution, legal basis, EuroVoc subjects, in-force status) plus the act body as HTML, Markdown, or Formex4 XML, defaulting to English with automatic fallback. Ordinary offset-based paged windows and full-mode windows are capped at 100,000 characters; page with offset/limit to reconstruct larger acts, or use outline: true for a heading map and select to pull specific articles, chapters, recitals, or annexes.
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| limit | No | Maximum characters to return in this window ("paged" mode only). Default 25000, max 100000. 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). Sections are located in the body of the requested format, so pair select with the same format used for any outline. A section that cannot be located is reported in selection.missed with no wrong text returned. 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 recitals as a heading list, each with its character offset — instead of body text. 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 for a base act with newer consolidated versions. "as_requested" (default) returns the exact CELEX requested; "current_consolidated" serves the newest consolidated version instead (echoing the request in requested_celex), a no-op when none exists. Either way, is_superseded / current_consolidated_celex / consolidated_as_of flag a stale base act. | 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. 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 |
Output Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| cap | No | Maximum body characters allowed in the window. | |
| date | No | Document date in ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD). | |
| error | No | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. | |
| shown | No | Number of body characters returned. | |
| title | No | Document title in the requested language (absent for some older works and judgments). | |
| notice | No | How to retrieve the remaining document content. | |
| 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 and 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 window. Continue in "paged" mode with offset = content_offset + content_chars_returned until false. Always false in "metadata_only" mode. | |
| in_force | No | Whether the act is currently in force. | |
| language | No | Language code of the returned content. | |
| work_uri | No | CELLAR work URI. | |
| selection | No | Outcome of a structural selection. Present only when select was used; content holds the matched sections joined in document order. | |
| truncated | No | True when the returned body window was capped. | |
| legal_basis | No | Legal basis acts for this work. | |
| celex_number | No | Confirmed CELEX number for the retrieved work. | |
| content_mode | No | Content mode applied to this response: "metadata_only", "paged", or "full". | |
| is_superseded | No | True when a newer consolidated version of the requested base act exists (an unofficial reading aid merging later amendments), so the returned text may not include those amendments. Not a repeal/replacement signal — the base act remains the law and may still be in force (see in_force). Absent when the act has no consolidated version, or is itself one. | |
| resource_type | No | Human-readable document type label (e.g. "Regulation", "Directive"). Absent for some older works. | |
| content_format | No | Format of the returned content: "html", "markdown", or "xml". | |
| content_offset | No | Character offset where the returned content window begins. Present when a body was fetched and available. | |
| 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. | |
| requested_celex | No | The originally requested CELEX, echoed when resolve "current_consolidated" served a different (consolidated) work. celex_number holds the CELEX actually served. Absent when the served work is the one requested. | |
| eurovoc_subjects | No | EuroVoc subject classifications. | |
| 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". | |
| 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. | |
| author_institution | No | Human-readable name of the primary (first) originating EU institution (e.g. "European Parliament", "Council of the EU"). For co-legislated acts, prefer author_institutions for the complete set. Absent when not recorded. | |
| consolidated_as_of | No | Consolidation date of current_consolidated_celex in ISO 8601 (YYYY-MM-DD). Present only when is_superseded is true. | |
| requested_language | No | Originally requested language code when English fallback changed the effective language reported in language. | |
| structure_detected | No | Whether any act structure was parsed from the body. Present when outline or select was used; false means no detectable chapter/article/annex structure — read it via offset/limit or content_mode "full". | |
| author_institutions | No | All originating EU institutions, for co-legislated acts adopted by more than one body (e.g. ["European Parliament", "Council of the EU"]). 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. | |
| current_consolidated_celex | No | CELEX of the newest consolidated version of the requested base act (e.g. 02014R0833-20260424) — fetch it with eurlex_get_document, or pass resolve "current_consolidated". Present only when is_superseded is true. | |
| 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. |