EU Accessibility Act penalties and fines

Directive (EU) 2019/882 sets the penalty standard and leaves the sanction types, amounts, calculation methods, procedures, and responsible authorities to Member States. The Directive supports statements about required penalty characteristics, Commission notification, and EU-level assessment criteria; it does not support a single EU-wide maximum fine.

Article 30 also requires effective remedial action when an economic operator does not comply. Depending on national law and the product or service procedure, exposure may therefore include an order to correct non-compliance, a restriction or withdrawal affecting a product, another national remedy, and a penalty. Do not use a fine estimate as a substitute for the remediation plan.

The procurement exclusion is narrow. Article 30(5) says Article 30 does not apply to procurement procedures subject to Directives 2014/24/EU or 2014/25/EU, and Article 29 contains the same exclusion for its enforcement routes. It does not say that covered products or services, contracting authorities, or economic operators are generally exempt from accessibility or procurement law.

For products, the Directive uses market surveillance. Article 19 applies specified provisions of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 and requires authorities to check the assessment, result, and Annex VI criteria when an economic operator relies on Article 14 fundamental alteration or disproportionate burden.

Under Article 20, an authority with sufficient reason to believe that a covered product does not comply evaluates it against the Directive and the relevant economic operators must cooperate. If the authority finds non-compliance, it requires appropriate corrective action within a reasonable period. It requires withdrawal within an additional reasonable period only if the operator does not take adequate corrective action. Cross-border cases can also trigger notification to the Commission and other Member States and the Union safeguard procedure.

Article 22 covers formal non-compliance separately. The listed defects include missing or improperly affixed CE marking, a missing or incorrect EU declaration of conformity, unavailable or incomplete technical documentation, and missing, false, or incomplete manufacturer or importer information. Persistent formal non-compliance can lead to restriction, prohibition, or withdrawal.

Services follow a different compliance architecture from products. Article 23 requires Member States to establish, implement, and periodically update procedures for checking service compliance, following up complaints or reports, and verifying that the economic operator has taken the necessary corrective action.

Member States must designate the authorities responsible for those procedures and inform the public about the authorities' existence, responsibilities, identity, work, and decisions. That information must be available in accessible formats on request. Article 13 separately requires a service provider that identifies non-compliance to take corrective measures and immediately inform the competent national authorities in every Member State where the service is provided, including details of the non-compliance and measures taken.

Article 29 requires Member States to provide adequate and effective means to ensure compliance. Those means must include routes for a consumer to act under national law before a court or competent administrative body. It does not create a single EU complaint portal, filing deadline, remedy, or appeal route.

The same Article also requires routes for public bodies or private associations, organisations, or other legal entities with a legitimate interest to engage in judicial or administrative procedures, either on behalf of or in support of the complainant, with that complainant's approval. As with penalties, the detailed procedure is national law.

For a country-specific exposure check, identify the Member State and economic operator role first. Then locate the notified transposition measure, verify the current operative text in the national official legal database, identify the competent authority and procedure, and map the alleged conduct to the national provision. Only then record the available corrective measures, fine range or calculation rule, appeal route, and deadlines.