EU EUR-Lex Legislation & Legal Acts Scraper

Here is one real result, with every field the actor returns (all add-ons enabled; the long fullText is trimmed here, the run returns it in full):

{
  "celex": "32026R1165",
  "title": "Regulation (EU) 2026/1165 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2026 amending Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 as regards the extension of certain data protection periods (Text with EEA relevance)",
  "documentType": "Regulation",
  "typeLetter": "R",
  "dateDocument": "2026-05-20",
  "dateInForce": "2026-06-15",
  "dateEndValidity": "9999-12-31",
  "inForce": true,
  "author": "Council of the European Union",
  "authors": ["Council of the European Union", "European Parliament"],
  "descriptors": ["biocide", "chemical product", "data protection", "market approval", "marketing standard"],
  "ojReference": "OJ 2026/1165",
  "eli": "http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2026/1165/oj",
  "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32026R1165",
  "searchQuery": "data protection",
  "source": "EUR-Lex",
  "fullText": "L_202601165EN.000101.fmx.xml Official Journal of the European Union EN L series 2026/1165 26.5.2026 REGULATION (EU) 2026/1165 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 May 2026 amending Regulation (EU) No 528/2012...",
  "aiSummary": "This regulation amends existing EU rules on biocidal products to extend the data protection periods for certain active substances until December 31, 2030. It applies to companies involved in the approval and marketing of biocidal products...",
  "aiExtract": {
    "subjectMatter": "Amendment of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 regarding the extension of certain data protection periods for biocidal products.",
    "appliesTo": ["biocidal active substances", "biocidal products"],
    "keyObligations": ["Extend data protection periods for active substance/product-type combinations until 31 December 2030."],
    "amendsOrRepeals": ["Regulation (EU) No 528/2012"],
    "effectiveDate": "2026-05-20",
    "penalties": null
  },
  "observedAt": "2026-08-14T05:59:53.268Z"
}

The most complete EU EUR-Lex legislation scraper available. It returns every field EUR-Lex exposes for each legal act, including CELEX number, document and in-force dates, authors, EuroVoc descriptors, Official Journal reference, and ELI, plus optional add-ons for the full act text and AI summary and structured extract, and it gives you keyword, document type, and date filters to target exactly the acts you need.

📥 Input · 📤 Output · 💰 Pricing · ▶️ Examples

Table of contents

• What it does
• Quickstart
• Input reference
• Output reference
• Example output record
• Run via API and CLI
• Fetch results
• Billing and limits
• FAQ and troubleshooting

What it does

The actor searches EUR-Lex (the EU's official legal database) for each keyword you pass, applies the document type and date filters, and writes one normalized record per legal act to the run's dataset. Each record carries the CELEX identifier, title, document type, document and in-force dates, validity, authoring institutions, EuroVoc descriptors, Official Journal reference, ELI, and canonical URL. Optional add-ons fetch the full plain text of each act and, using AI, write a plain-English summary and extract a structured legal profile (subject matter, who it applies to, obligations, amendments/repeals, effective date, penalties).

Data covers EU legal acts (regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations) published on EUR-Lex. Missing source values are returned as null or empty, never invented.

Quickstart

Open the actor, paste this into the input, and press Run. It returns EU legal acts about energy since 2024.

{
  "searchQueries": ["energy"],
  "documentTypes": ["regulation", "directive", "decision"],
  "fromDate": "2024-01-01",
  "maxActs": 10
}

Add more keywords to searchQueries (each runs its own search), or leave it empty to return all acts within the type and date filters.

Input reference

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
searchQueries	string[]	no	["energy"]	Keywords to match in the legal act title. Each keyword runs a separate search. Empty returns all acts within the type and date filters.
documentTypes	enum[]	no	["regulation","directive","decision"]	Which kinds of legal act to include: regulation, directive, decision, recommendation.
fromDate	string	no	2024-01-01	Include acts with a document date on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
toDate	string	no	(today)	Include acts with a document date on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
maxActs	integer	no	30	Maximum number of legal acts to collect across all searches.
withFullText	boolean	no	false	Paid add-on. Fetches the full plain text of each act from EUR-Lex. Billed only when text is retrieved.
withSummary	boolean	no	false	Paid AI add-on. Adds a plain-English summary (what it does, who it applies to, key obligations). Billed only when produced.
withExtract	boolean	no	false	Paid AI add-on. Extracts structured data: subject matter, who it applies to, obligations, amendments/repeals, effective date, penalties. Billed only when produced.

Output reference

One dataset item per legal act. Types: string, boolean, array, object, or null when the source value is absent. fullText, aiSummary, and aiExtract appear only when the matching add-on is enabled.

Field	Type	Description
celex	string	CELEX number (unique identifier of the act).
title	string	Full official title of the legal act.
documentType	string	Act type: Regulation, Directive, Decision, or Recommendation.
typeLetter	string	Single-letter type code (for example R for regulation).
dateDocument	string	Document date (YYYY-MM-DD).
dateInForce	string	Date the act entered into force, when set.
dateEndValidity	string	End of validity date, or 9999-12-31 when open-ended.
inForce	boolean	true when the act is currently in force.
author	string	Primary authoring institution.
authors	string[]	All authoring institutions.
descriptors	string[]	EuroVoc subject descriptors.
ojReference	string	Official Journal reference.
eli	string	European Legislation Identifier URI.
url	string	Canonical EUR-Lex URL for the act.
searchQuery	string	The keyword that matched this act.
source	string	Data source label (EUR-Lex).
fullText	string	Full plain text of the act (only with withFullText), capped at 200,000 characters.
aiSummary	string	AI plain-English summary (only with withSummary).
aiExtract	object	AI structured legal profile: subjectMatter, appliesTo, keyObligations, amendsOrRepeals, effectiveDate, penalties (only with withExtract).
observedAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the record was collected.

On a failed run, a single item with a populated error field is written instead.

Example output record

Real record from a live run (input {"searchQueries": ["data protection"], "documentTypes": ["regulation"], "maxActs": 2, "withFullText": true, "withSummary": true, "withExtract": true}). The fullText and aiSummary are trimmed here; the run returns them in full.

{
  "celex": "32026R1165",
  "title": "Regulation (EU) 2026/1165 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2026 amending Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 as regards the extension of certain data protection periods (Text with EEA relevance)",
  "documentType": "Regulation",
  "typeLetter": "R",
  "dateDocument": "2026-05-20",
  "dateInForce": "2026-06-15",
  "dateEndValidity": "9999-12-31",
  "inForce": true,
  "author": "Council of the European Union",
  "authors": ["Council of the European Union", "European Parliament"],
  "descriptors": ["biocide", "chemical product", "data protection", "market approval", "marketing standard"],
  "ojReference": "OJ 2026/1165",
  "eli": "http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2026/1165/oj",
  "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32026R1165",
  "searchQuery": "data protection",
  "source": "EUR-Lex",
  "aiExtract": {
    "subjectMatter": "Amendment of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 regarding the extension of certain data protection periods for biocidal products.",
    "appliesTo": ["biocidal active substances", "biocidal products"],
    "keyObligations": ["Extend data protection periods for active substance/product-type combinations until 31 December 2030."],
    "amendsOrRepeals": ["Regulation (EU) No 528/2012"],
    "effectiveDate": "2026-05-20",
    "penalties": null
  },
  "observedAt": "2026-08-14T05:59:53.268Z"
}

Run via API and CLI

Start a run and wait for it to finish, then read the dataset. Replace <TOKEN> with your Apify API token.

Run synchronously and get dataset items in one call:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~eu-eurlex-legislation-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchQueries":["energy"],"documentTypes":["regulation","directive"],"fromDate":"2024-01-01","maxActs":25}'

Start a run asynchronously:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~eu-eurlex-legislation-scraper/runs?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchQueries":["data protection"],"withSummary":true,"maxActs":50}'

Apify CLI:

apify call scrapers_lat/eu-eurlex-legislation-scraper \
  --input '{"searchQueries":["fisheries"],"maxActs":50}'

Fetch results

Every run writes to a dataset. Fetch items as JSON, CSV, or Excel by changing format:

# JSON
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&clean=true&format=json"

# CSV
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&clean=true&format=csv"

# Paginate large datasets
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&offset=1000&limit=1000"

<DATASET_ID> is returned as defaultDatasetId in the run object. Use offset and limit to page through large result sets. clean=true drops empty and internal fields.

Billing and limits

• Pay per result. You are charged per legal act record returned (result event). See the pricing tab for the current per-result price.
• Optional add-ons. full_text is billed per act only when text is retrieved. AI add-ons (ai_summary, ai_extract) are billed per act and only when they produce output. Add-ons require a paid Apify plan.
• No charge on failure. If a run errors, the actor writes a single item with a populated error field and does not charge for it. Empty runs cost nothing.
• Spend cap respected. Set maxTotalChargeUsd on the run; once reached, the actor stops emitting and charging further billable results and add-ons.
• Free Apify plans are capped at 10 records per run. Upgrade for higher maxActs.

FAQ and troubleshooting

A run returned 0 records. Why? No act matched your keyword within the document type and date filters. Try a broader keyword, widen the date range, or add more document types. Zero-result runs are not charged.

What is a CELEX number? CELEX is the unique identifier EUR-Lex assigns to every legal act. It appears as celex and is embedded in the url.

Can I get the full legal text? Yes, enable withFullText. The full plain text is added as fullText (capped at 200,000 characters) and billed only when text is retrieved.

What does the AI extract return? withExtract returns a structured profile: subjectMatter, appliesTo, keyObligations, amendsOrRepeals, effectiveDate, and penalties. withSummary adds a plain-English summary.

Which document types are supported? Regulations, directives, decisions, and recommendations. Select any subset in documentTypes.

Is this an official EU tool? No. This actor is independent and has no affiliation with the European Union or the Publications Office. It reads only data that is publicly available on EUR-Lex.

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Independent tool, not affiliated with the European Union or EUR-Lex. Accesses only publicly available data on EUR-Lex.