What Happens If You Don't Comply with the EAA?

Livana Team8 min29 April 2026

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) has been enforceable since June 28, 2025. Every EU member state now has national legislation in place, and market surveillance authorities are actively monitoring compliance.

But what actually happens if you don't comply? The answer depends on where you operate - and it ranges from administrative fines to criminal prosecution.

How enforcement works

Unlike GDPR, which has a single supervisory authority model, EAA enforcement is handled through market surveillance - the same mechanism used for product safety. Each member state designates one or more authorities responsible for checking compliance, handling complaints, and imposing penalties.

Enforcement typically follows this path:

**Complaint or market surveillance check** - an authority receives a complaint from a consumer or disability organisation, or identifies a non-compliant product/service during routine checks
**Investigation** - the authority examines the product or service against EN 301 549 requirements
**Notice of non-compliance** - the business receives formal notification of the issues found
**Corrective action period** - the business is given a deadline to fix the issues (typically 30-90 days)
**Penalties** - if issues aren't resolved, fines and other sanctions are imposed

Penalty ranges by country

Each member state sets its own penalties. Here are some of the most significant:

Germany

Germany's Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG) sets fines of up to €100,000 per violation. The enforcement authority is the Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency) for telecommunications and the relevant market surveillance authorities for other sectors.

Germany is expected to be one of the most active enforcers given its strong consumer protection infrastructure. Read more about EAA compliance in Germany.

Spain

Spain's transposition law includes some of the highest penalties in the EU - up to €1,000,000 for very serious violations. Penalties are tiered:

- Minor violations: up to €10,000
- Serious violations: €10,001 to €100,000
- Very serious violations: €100,001 to €1,000,000

Repeat offences and violations affecting a large number of consumers push penalties to the upper end. See details on EAA compliance in Spain.

Ireland

Ireland stands out for including criminal liability. Under Ireland's European Accessibility Act 2024, non-compliance can result in:

- Fines up to €60,000 on summary conviction
- Up to 12 months imprisonment
- For conviction on indictment: fines up to €500,000 or 3 years imprisonment

This makes Ireland one of the strictest jurisdictions for EAA enforcement. Check the Ireland country page for the full picture.

France

France's implementation ties into its existing accessibility framework. Penalties include fines up to €50,000 per violation, with the possibility of service suspension for repeat offenders. The DGCCRF (consumer protection authority) oversees enforcement. Learn more about EAA compliance in France.

Italy

Italy's transposition includes administrative fines up to €40,000 per violation, enforced by the AgID (Agency for Digital Italy) and relevant market surveillance bodies. See EAA compliance in Italy.

Netherlands

The Netherlands can impose fines up to €900,000 or 10% of annual turnover, whichever is higher. The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) handles enforcement. Details on our Netherlands country page.

Beyond fines: other consequences

Financial penalties are only part of the picture. Non-compliance can trigger several other consequences:

Product or service removal

Market surveillance authorities can order non-compliant products to be withdrawn from the market or non-compliant services to be suspended. For an e-commerce business, this could mean being blocked from selling to EU consumers entirely.

Public naming

Several member states allow authorities to publicly name non-compliant businesses. This is published on government websites and often picked up by media, creating reputational damage that outlasts the fine itself.

Consumer complaints and class actions

The EAA gives consumers and disability organisations the right to file complaints directly with enforcement authorities. Some member states also allow private legal action. As awareness grows, expect the volume of complaints to increase significantly.

Procurement exclusion

Many EU public procurement frameworks require accessibility compliance. Non-compliance with the EAA can disqualify you from government contracts - a significant revenue loss for B2B companies.

Real enforcement patterns

While the EAA is still in its early enforcement phase, we can look at patterns from similar regulations:

GDPR enforcement ramped up slowly in the first year, then accelerated dramatically. The first major GDPR fine (€50M against Google) came within six months. EAA enforcement is expected to follow a similar curve.

Existing national accessibility laws in countries like Germany (BGG/BITV) and France (RGAA) have already resulted in enforcement actions against public sector websites. The EAA extends this enforcement to the private sector.

ADA litigation in the US shows what happens when accessibility enforcement matures - over 5,000 lawsuits filed in 2025 alone. Europe's enforcement model is regulatory rather than litigious, but the volume of complaints is expected to be substantial.

The disproportionate burden defence

The EAA includes a "disproportionate burden" provision. Businesses can argue that full compliance would impose a disproportionate burden, considering:

- The size and resources of the business
- The estimated costs of compliance
- The benefits to users with disabilities
- The frequency and duration of use of the service

However, this is not a blanket exemption. You must:

Conduct and document an assessment
Notify the relevant national authority
Review the assessment every five years or when the service is substantially changed
Still comply to the greatest extent possible

Authorities will scrutinise these claims. "We didn't budget for it" is not a valid disproportionate burden argument.

What to do now

If you haven't started your EAA compliance work, you're already behind the enforcement deadline. Here's how to minimise your risk:

**Run an accessibility audit today** - [scan your website with Lumi](/) to get a baseline of issues across WCAG 2.1 AA criteria
**Check your scope** - use our [EAA Scope Checker](/tools/eaa-scope-checker) to confirm whether and how the EAA applies to your business
**Prioritise by severity** - critical issues (no keyboard access, missing form labels, broken screen reader support) should be fixed first
**Document everything** - keep records of your audits, remediation plans, and fixes. This demonstrates good faith if an authority investigates
**Set up continuous monitoring** - accessibility breaks with every deploy. Monitoring catches regressions before a complaint does

The cost of compliance is almost always less than the cost of non-compliance. A single fine in Spain could fund years of accessibility work.