Regulation
Website accessibility fines: real penalties and risks (EU)
Fines, formal notices, reputation, lost customers: what is really at stake, and why it varies by country.
The risk of non-compliance is not limited to a fine. It is financial, legal, commercial and reputational. And it varies across the Union, because each state sets its own penalties.
Penalties that vary by country
The European Accessibility Act lets each member state define effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties (Article 30 of the directive). No amount is set at EU level: the figures live in the national transposition laws. Beware of received wisdom: in France, for instance, the famous « up to 50,000 EUR » belongs to the regime of Article 47 of the 2005 law (public sector and assimilated bodies, imposed by ARCOM); for a private e-commerce site, the standard EAA penalty is a 5th-class fine, cumulative per service and per obligation.
The amounts by country (official texts)
| Country | Text | Main penalties (digital services) | Who enforces |
|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 30 | No amount at EU level: each state defines « effective, proportionate and dissuasive » penalties | National authorities |
| France | Law 2023-171 + decree 2023-931 (consumer code) | 5th-class fine: 7,500 EUR per infringement for a company (15,000 EUR repeat), cumulative per service and per obligation, with possible injunctions under periodic penalty, suspension and publication. Separate regime (Art. 47 of the 2005 law, ARCOM): up to 50,000 EUR for the public sector and assimilated bodies, 25,000 EUR on the declarative duties | DGCCRF, ARCEP, ARCOM, Banque de France depending on the sector |
| Germany | BFSG, § 37 | Up to 100,000 EUR for a non-compliant product or service; up to 10,000 EUR for formal breaches; the service can be prohibited outright (§ 29) | MLBF, joint authority of the Länder (Magdeburg) |
| Spain | Ley 11/2023 (referral to RDL 1/2013) | Fallback regime: minor infringements up to 30,000 EUR, serious up to 90,000 EUR, very serious up to 1,000,000 EUR | Authorities designated by the State and the autonomous communities |
| Italy | D.Lgs 82/2022, Art. 24 | 5,000 to 40,000 EUR depending on scale; up to 5% of turnover for very large operators (average turnover above 500 million EUR); 2,500 to 30,000 EUR where an injunction is ignored | AgID (services), MIMIT (products) |
| Netherlands | Implementatiewet (Stb. 2024, 87) | Administrative fine up to the 5th criminal category amount (indexed; 103,000 EUR in 2025), or periodic penalty | RDI, ACM, AFM, Commissariaat voor de Media, ILT depending on the sector |
| Poland | Act of 26 April 2024 (Dz.U. 2024 item 731) | Up to 10 times the national average monthly wage (order of magnitude: 82,000 PLN, about 19,000 EUR, 2024 basis), capped at 10% of turnover; possible ban of up to 180 days | PFRON plus sector authorities |
| Portugal | Decreto-Lei 82/2022, Art. 29 | Non-compliant service = very serious offence: from 24,000 EUR to about 44,900 EUR for a company (general regime ceiling) | ASAE, ANACOM and sector regulators |
| Ireland | S.I. No. 636 of 2023 | Criminal regime: up to 5,000 EUR on summary conviction; up to 60,000 EUR and 18 months imprisonment on indictment | Designated market surveillance authorities |
Amounts taken from the official transposition texts (Legifrance, gesetze-im-internet.de, BOE, Normattiva, officielebekendmakingen.nl, ISAP, Diario da Republica, Irish Statute Book), consulted on 10 July 2026. Informational content: the exact regime depends on the sector and the case, and this is not legal advice.
What the amounts do not tell you
- Cumulation: several countries count per violation, per service or per obligation. A « modest » fine multiplied by the number of breaches quickly stops being modest.
- The measures that come with the fine often weigh more: injunctions under periodic penalties, publication of the sanction, or even an outright ban of the service (Germany) or a temporary block (Poland).
- The microenterprise exemption only covers services: fewer than 10 people AND turnover or balance sheet total of 2 million EUR at most. Products do not benefit from it.
- An existing website gets no grace period: the transition running to 2030 covers certain contracts and products, not a live e-commerce site.
Beyond the fine
- Formal notices and audits, increasingly frequent.
- Exclusion from certain markets, public tenders in particular.
- Reputational damage, lasting and hard to repair.
- Lost customers: an inaccessible site shuts out a significant share of the audience.
The best protection
A regular audit, fixes at the source and an honest, up-to-date statement are the best protection. For country-by-country detail, see our dedicated EAA pages for each member state.
Frequently asked questions
Are fines the same everywhere in Europe?
No. Each member state sets its own penalties. Amounts and procedures vary from country to country.
What fine does an e-commerce site risk in France?
A 5th-class fine: 7,500 EUR per infringement for a company (15,000 EUR repeat), cumulative per service and per obligation, with possible injunctions under periodic penalties, suspension and publication (DGCCRF). The often-quoted « up to 50,000 EUR » belongs to another regime: Article 47 of the 2005 law, aimed at the public sector and assimilated bodies.
Do the 100,000 EUR in Germany apply to every breach?
No. The 100,000 EUR ceiling of § 37 BFSG targets a precise list: non-compliant product or service and CE-marking breaches. Formal breaches (information, documentation) are capped at 10,000 EUR. And beyond the fine, the authority can prohibit the service outright.
Related definitions
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