The European Accessibility Act (EAA): Country-by-country compliance data
All organizations doing business in the EU, regardless of location, will be impacted by the EAA. To ensure your organization is safely compliant in each country, you need accurate, country-specific data about national regulations, potential fines, and market surveillance authorities.
Why country-specific EAA compliance data is crucial
Failing to comply with the EAA could mean fines as high as €500,000, marketplace removal, and even jail time. Given that each country can separately fine you for digital inaccessibility, you could end up paying fines per country. To make sure this doesn’t happen, you can use the information we’ve provided below to understand what’s required on a country-by-country basis.
*Please note that this is an evolving situation, with new details continuing to emerge. We will keep updating this information in collaboration with our legal partners Taylor Wessing on an ongoing basis.
**This information is meant to support internal discussions with your in-house legal, compliance, regulatory reporting, and risk teams. It is not intended to be legal advice. Deque highly encourages you to seek counsel in all regulatory-based decisions.
National regulation(s)
It’s important to remember that the EAA is a directive. Each country must still enact and enforce its own regulations to ensure that their country is in alignment with the EAA’s requirements. This process is referred to as transposition. Below, you’ll find country-by-country legislation information, as well as relevant links to learn more.
Fines and punishments
Businesses that do not conform with a given country’s EAA compliance standards could face fines, damaging public exposure, expulsion from the market, and even jail time. Below, you’ll find details about the penalties each country has established.
| Country | Fines |
|---|---|
| Austria | Fines range up to EUR 80,000. |
| Czechia | Fines range up to EUR 400,000. |
| France | Fines range up to EUR 300,000. |
| Germany | Fines range up to EUR 500,000. |
| Hungary | Fines range up to EUR 1,261,164, or 5% of the annual net turnover. |
| Ireland | Fines range up to EUR 60,000. Imprisonment up to 18 months. |
| Italy | Fine range up to EUR 40,000 or, for private entities that fall within the scope of the Stanca Law, up to 5 percent of turnover. |
| Netherlands | Fines range up to EUR 103,000. |
| Slovakia | Fines range up to 200,000. |
| Spain | Fines range up to EUR 1,000,000. |
Market surveillance authorities
The EAA requires each EU member state to establish a market surveillance authority that will check compliance with the EAA and have the power to require businesses to take appropriate corrective action to ensure services and products meet EAA requirements. In some cases, the market surveillance authority is the body that imposes fines. Below, you’ll find information about the market surveillance authority in each country.
| Country | Surveillance authorities(s) |
|---|---|
| Austria | The Federal Office for Social Affairs And Disabillity. |
| Czechia | The Czech Trade Inspection Authority, Czech Telecommunication Office, Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting, Ministry of Transport, Regional Officies, The Railway Authority, Civil Aviation Authority, State Navigation Authority, Municipality of the Capital City of Prague and municipal Offices of the municipality with extended competence. |
| France | DGCCRF, ARCOM, AFM, Banque de France and ARCEP. |
| Germany | Market surveillance authority and Federal State Media Authority. |
| Hungary | NMHH, The consumer protection authority, authorities as determined in Government decree Nr. 382/2016 (XII.2) and 6/203 (I.18). |
| Ireland | -Competition and Consumer Protection Commission -Commission for Communications Regulation -Coimisiún na Meán -National Transport Authority -Central Bank of Ireland |
| Italy | MIMIT and AdID. |
| Netherlands | AFM, ACM and ILT. |
| Slovakia | The Slovak Trade Inspection and Council for Media Services. |
| Spain | Autonomous communities, the cities of Ceuta and Melila and The cities of Ceuta and Melila |
*We will continue to populate this page with updates as we confirm them. Please continue to visit to review the latest details.
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