EU Open Data Portal Scraper: Search data.europa.eu datasets

EU Open Data Portal Scraper searches the public data.europa.eu hub and saves dataset records as a flat dataset. You can search by keyword, narrow by country or file format, or look up a dataset id. No login. Results export to JSON, CSV, or Excel from the Apify dataset.

Use cases

• Open data research: pull air quality, transport, or other data.europa.eu datasets into a spreadsheet
• Catalog monitoring: schedule a keyword search and compare new dataset ids over time
• Country filters: keep German, Belgian, or other national catalogs by ISO code
• Format checks: ask for CSV or JSON distributions when you only want files you can load
• Id lookup: confirm a known dataset id is still present on the hub
• Developer pipelines: feed the dataset into Make, Zapier, or a warehouse without writing a client

Input

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
searchQueries	array	air quality	Keywords to search for. One per line.
countries	array	empty	Lower-case ISO2 country codes, such as de.
formats	array	empty	File format labels, such as CSV.
datasetIds	array	empty	Dataset ids to look up. Unknown ids become error rows.
maxItems	integer	100	Cap on saved dataset records. Maximum 1000. Error rows are extra.
requestDelaySecs	number	0.3	Pause between requests, in seconds. Minimum 0.3.
timeoutSecs	integer	300	Stop starting new requests after this many seconds.
requestTimeoutSecs	integer	30	Timeout for each request.
proxyConfiguration	object	{"useApifyProxy": false}	Optional proxy. Default is no proxy.

Example input

{
    "searchQueries": ["air quality"],
    "countries": [],
    "formats": [],
    "datasetIds": [],
    "maxItems": 100,
    "requestDelaySecs": 0.3,
    "timeoutSecs": 300,
    "requestTimeoutSecs": 30,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false }
}

A country facet run looks like this:

{
    "searchQueries": ["transport"],
    "countries": ["de"],
    "formats": ["CSV"],
    "maxItems": 20
}

What data does this actor extract?

Each saved dataset record keeps the hub fields, plus source_url, scraped_at, and mode. The hub names title and description are stored as itemTitle and itemDescription. mode is dataset search, dataset detail, or facet filter.

{
    "id": "be-air-example",
    "itemTitle": { "en": "Air quality" },
    "itemDescription": { "en": "Belgian open data record" },
    "country": { "label": "Belgium", "id": "be" },
    "catalog": { "id": "data-gov-be" },
    "keywords": [{ "id": "air", "label": "air", "language": "fr" }],
    "modified": "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z",
    "resource": "http://data.europa.eu/88u/dataset/be-air-example",
    "source_url": "https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/be-air-example",
    "scraped_at": "2026-10-12T00:00:00+00:00",
    "mode": "dataset search"
}

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Dataset id, also the dedupe key.
itemTitle	object	Multilingual title from the hub.
itemDescription	object	Multilingual description from the hub.
country	object	Country label and code.
catalog	object	Catalog that harvested the dataset.
keywords	array	Keyword objects.
distributions	array	Files and access URLs, including their format labels.
resource	string	Canonical dataset URI.
source_url	string	Source URL for the row.
scraped_at	string	UTC time the row was saved.
mode	string	dataset search, dataset detail, or facet filter.
error	string	Present only on a failed lookup.
input	string	Query or id that failed.
status	integer	HTTP status, or 0 when there was no response.

Failed lookups do not stop the run. An unknown dataset id is stored as { "error", "input", "status": 404 }.

Limits and terms

European Commission metadata on the portal is reusable under the Commission reuse decision, and EC content is offered under CC BY 4.0. Each dataset can carry its own licence. Check the record before you republish files.

No account or login is required.

FAQ

Does this actor need an account or login?

No. The data.europa.eu portal is public, so you do not log in.

How fresh is the data?

Rows reflect what the portal shows at run time. modified and issued are whatever the portal last published. Schedule the actor if you want a newer pull tomorrow.

What happens on an empty search?

If you clear keywords, countries, formats, and dataset ids, the run finishes with no rows and a warning in the log.

Can I export CSV?

Yes. Open the run dataset on Apify and export JSON, CSV, or Excel. The overview view shows id, title, country, catalog, keywords, modified, resource, and mode.

Related tools

If you plan to join or analyse these rows, a quick CSV cleanup or a de-duplication pass are the usual next steps. BigiByte also builds scrapers for other open-data portals when you need them as a separate job.

Need another national or EU open-data catalog, a scheduled monitor, or a custom pipeline? BigiByte builds custom scrapers and data tools: https://bigibyte.com

Trademark Notice

EU Open Data Portal and related names, logos, and trademarks belong to their respective owners. Their use in this documentation is solely to identify the source of the data and does not imply affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement, or partnership.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: This Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or otherwise officially associated with EU Open Data Portal or its owners. All data is collected from publicly available sources. Users are responsible for complying with the source's terms of use, rate limits, and attribution or licensing requirements.

Is web scraping legal?

This Actor only collects publicly available data from EU Open Data Portal, without logging in or bypassing any access controls. Scraping public data is generally legal, but how you use it matters:

• Personal data: If the results include personal data (for example names, emails, or profile details), laws such as the GDPR in the EU and the CCPA in California may apply. Only collect and store personal data when you have a legitimate reason.
• Copyright: Some content (articles, images, descriptions) may be protected by copyright. Do not republish full copyrighted content without permission.
• Terms of use: Respect the source's terms, stated rate limits, and any attribution or licence requirements listed in the Limits and terms section.
• Legal advice: This is general information, not legal advice. If you're unsure, consult a lawyer.

To learn more, read Apify's guide: Is web scraping legal?