How Are Penalties Set by Member State?

Penalties by Member State pattern describes how penalties for infringements of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 are set, without inventing fines or penalty levels for any Member State. The Regulation requires each Member State to lay down rules on penalties for infringements, and requires that penalties be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, with the rules notified to the Commission. The pattern is therefore a national pattern within a Union requirement: the Regulation sets the standard for penalties, and each Member State sets the specific rules, levels and procedures under national law. No single Union fine table exists in the Regulation, and this guide does not present one.

Penalty reading requires jurisdiction labelling. A penalty statement that is correct for one Member State may be incorrect for another, because the national rules, the competent authority, the procedure and the level differ. A planning document that states a penalty level without naming the Member State, the national rule and the date checked, is an unverified statement. A document that names the state, the rule and the check date allows the statement to be verified and updated when the national rule changes. Jurisdiction labelling is the control that prevents a general statement from being read as a specific penalty.

What does the Regulation require on penalties?

The Regulation requires Member States to lay down rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the Regulation, to ensure that penalties are effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and to notify the rules to the Commission. The requirement is a framework requirement: it obliges Member States to have a penalty system, and it sets the standard that the system must meet, without setting the penalty levels in the Regulation itself. The standard of effective, proportionate and dissuasive is a legal standard that a national penalty system must meet, and it is applied by national courts and authorities in the context of the specific infringement.

A penalty file should cite the Regulation requirement, the Member State rule relied on, and the notification or publication reference for that rule, with the check date. A file that cites only the Regulation, without the national rule, shows the framework but not the applicable penalty. A file that cites only a national rule, without the Regulation standard, shows the level but not the framework that the level must meet. Both citations are needed for a complete penalty reference.

How do Member State penalty patterns differ?

Member State penalty patterns differ in the authority that imposes the penalty, the procedure followed, the factors considered, the levels set for different infringements, and the availability of administrative, civil or criminal routes. Some states use administrative fines imposed by a market surveillance or environmental authority, some use court imposed fines, and some combine routes depending on the infringement. Factors commonly considered include the seriousness of the infringement, its duration, the risk presented, the operator cooperation, and any previous infringements, but the weighting and the levels are national matters, and this guide does not state them.

Worked check: an operator sells in three Member States and prepares a penalty briefing. The briefing lists, per state, the authority, the procedure reference, the factors and the level reference, each dated. A reader can verify each state separately. A second briefing states a single penalty level for all three states, without state labels. The second briefing cannot be verified, and a reader who relies on it will misjudge the penalty exposure in at least one state. The per state table is the correct pattern.

What infringements can attract penalties?

Infringements that can attract penalties include placing a non-compliant battery on the market, failing to carry out conformity assessment, failing to draw up or keep a declaration, failing to affix CE marking or labelling correctly, failing to provide a passport where required, failing to meet collection, treatment or reporting duties, and failing to cooperate with market surveillance authorities. The list in this guide is an outline of infringement types drawn from the operator and conformity chapters, not a penalty tariff, and the specific infringement definitions and levels are set in national rules. An operator should map each duty in the Regulation to the national infringement provision that applies in each state of sale.

Mapping should be carried out as a duty to provision table, per Member State, with the Regulation duty, the national provision and the check date. A table that maps duties to a single national provision for all states will be wrong for at least one state. A per state table, reviewed after a national rule change, allows the operator to judge exposure state by state. The table should be kept with the conformity evidence, not in a commercial file, because penalty exposure follows conformity failure.

How are penalties distinguished from surveillance measures?

Penalties are distinguished from surveillance measures by purpose and by authority action. Surveillance measures, such as corrective action, withdrawal and recall, aim to remove non-compliance and risk from the market. Penalties aim to sanction the infringement and deter repetition, and they can apply in addition to surveillance measures, under the national rules. A battery that has been corrected and withdrawn can still attract a penalty for the infringement that led to the measure, and a penalty paid does not by itself bring a battery into conformity. The two tracks should be managed separately, with separate files and separate advice where needed.

File separation should be maintained in practice: a surveillance file for the measure, with the corrective action and verification evidence, and a penalty file for the infringement, with the national rule, the procedure and the response. A single file that merges the two tracks will confuse the evidence, because the surveillance file shows correction while the penalty file must show the infringement and its circumstances. Separate files allow each track to be judged on its own evidence, and they prevent a correction from being presented as a defence to a penalty where the national rules do not provide for it.

What factors affect proportionality?

Proportionality in penalties is judged by the seriousness and duration of the infringement, the risk presented, the operator conduct including cooperation and corrective action, the scale of the batteries affected, and any previous infringements, as applied under national rules and general legal principles. Cooperation and prompt corrective action are relevant to proportionality in many systems, but they do not automatically remove a penalty, and the effect of cooperation depends on the national rule. An operator should therefore cooperate and correct promptly, while seeking advice on the penalty track in the relevant state, rather than assuming that correction alone settles the penalty question.

Proportionality evidence should be prepared as a factual record: the finding, the scope, the risk assessment, the cooperation steps, the corrective action and the timetable, with dates. A factual record allows a decision maker to judge proportionality on evidence. A record that argues proportionality without facts, or that omits the scope and risk, cannot support a judgement. The record should be prepared at the time of the finding, not reconstructed later, because dates and scope are hardest to reconstruct after the event.

How should penalty information be kept current?

Penalty information should be kept current by a per state review calendar, with the national rule checked, dated and filed, and with a review trigger for any change in the national rule, the competent authority or the operator sales footprint. As checked on 28 October 2026, no penalty levels are stated in this guide, because levels are national, dated and subject to change, and any level stated without a state, rule and date would be an unverified figure. A reader who needs a penalty level for a specific state should check the current national rule for that state, with advice where needed. This guide gives general educational information only and is not individual legal advice. A reader with a specific battery or market decision should check the current Regulation text and any applicable delegated act, as checked on 28 October 2026, before acting.

This guide gives general educational information only and is not individual legal advice. A reader with a specific battery or market decision should check the current Regulation text and any applicable delegated act, as checked on 28 October 2026, before acting. Penalty statements should always carry the Member State, the national rule and the check date, and no level should be stated without those labels.