Article 4 scope checker
This checker helps you make an initial assessment of whether the Article 4 sharing framework may be relevant to a situation. It is not a substitute for legal assessment.
It is intended to help public organisations identify the main conditions, clarify the scope of a request and avoid applying Article 4 too broadly or too narrowly.
✅ Article 4 may be relevant if:
- both organisations are within the scope of the Act;
- the asset is an interoperability solution;
- the solution supports a trans-European digital public service;
- the solution has been requested or is being made publicly available through the relevant publication route.
Next step: use the relevant pathway pack.
❓Clarification is needed if one or more answers are “not sure”, especially on:
- whether the asset is an interoperability solution;
- whether it supports a trans-European digital public service;
- whether the requester is in scope;
- whether exceptions may apply.
Next step: prepare a short scope note before deciding how to proceed.
❌ Article 4(1) direct sharing is unlikely to apply if:
- the requester is not a Union entity or public sector body;
- the asset is not an interoperability solution;
- the solution does not support a trans-European digital public service;
- there is no request and no publication route under consideration.
This does not prevent voluntary sharing, publication or cooperation where lawful under other applicable rules.
Identify the relevant pathway
The figure below is a navigation aid and it does not create a hierarchy between pathways. Rather, it helps readers identify which pathway is most relevant to their starting point. Once the relevant pathway has been identified, the common lifecycle stages can be used to structure implementation in a coherent and proportionate manner. Depending on the type of interoperability solution and the maturity of the reuse context, some steps will be central, while others will be only marginally relevant. The pathways should therefore be applied proportionately. Their application should also take account, where relevant, of the broader ecosystem in which the solution is developed, maintained, governed, reused or supported.
Stages may overlap, repeat, or lead back to an earlier step as interoperability solutions are reused, adapted, and evolved.