General Data Protection Regulation

Article 83

General conditions for imposing administrative fines

1. Each supervisory authority shall ensure that the imposition of administrative fines pursuant to this Article in respect of infringements of this Regulation referred to in paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 shall in each individual case be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

2. Administrative fines shall, depending on the circumstances of each individual case, be imposed in addition to, or instead of, measures referred to in points (a) to (h) and (j) of Article 58(2). When deciding whether to impose an administrative fine and deciding on the amount of the administrative fine in each individual case due regard shall be given to the following:

3. If a controller or processor intentionally or negligently, for the same or linked processing operations, infringes several provisions of this Regulation, the total amount of the administrative fine shall not exceed the amount specified for the gravest infringement.

4. Infringements of the following provisions shall, in accordance with paragraph 2, be subject to administrative fines up to 10 000 000 EUR, or in the case of an undertaking, up to 2 % of the total worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial year, whichever is higher:

5. Infringements of the following provisions shall, in accordance with paragraph 2, be subject to administrative fines up to 20 000 000 EUR, or in the case of an undertaking, up to 4 % of the total worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial year, whichever is higher:

6. Non-compliance with an order by the supervisory authority as referred to in Article 58(2) shall, in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article, be subject to administrative fines up to 20 000 000 EUR, or in the case of an undertaking, up to 4 % of the total worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial year, whichever is higher.

7. Without prejudice to the corrective powers of supervisory authorities pursuant to Article 58(2), each Member State may lay down the rules on whether and to what extent administrative fines may be imposed on public authorities and bodies established in that Member State.

8. The exercise by the supervisory authority of its powers under this Article shall be subject to appropriate procedural safeguards in accordance with Union and Member State law, including effective judicial remedy and due process.

9. Where the legal system of the Member State does not provide for administrative fines, this Article may be applied in such a manner that the fine is initiated by the competent supervisory authority and imposed by competent national courts, while ensuring that those legal remedies are effective and have an equivalent effect to the administrative fines imposed by supervisory authorities. In any event, the fines imposed shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Those Member States shall notify to the Commission the provisions of their laws which they adopt pursuant to this paragraph by 25 May 2018 and, without delay, any subsequent amendment law or amendment affecting them.

Holdings

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C-383/2313 Feb 2025

Criminal proceedings against ILVA A/S

In Article 83(4) to (6) of Regulation 2016/679, 'undertaking' has the same meaning as in Articles 101 and 102 TFEU. Where a fine for infringing Regulation 2016/679 is imposed on a controller that is or forms part of an undertaking, the maximum fine is determined as a percentage of the undertaking's total worldwide annual turnover in the preceding business year. That concept must also be used to assess the recipient's actual or material economic capacity and thus whether the fine is effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

C-590/2220 Jun 2024

AT and BT v PS GbR and Others

When determining the amount of compensation for damage under Article 82(1), it is not necessary to apply by analogy the criteria in Article 83 for setting administrative fines. That compensation right also does not need to have a dissuasive function.

C-741/2111 Apr 2024

GP v juris GmbH

When setting compensation under Article 82(1) of Regulation 2016/679, it is not necessary to apply mutatis mutandis the criteria for setting administrative fines in Article 83. It is also not necessary to take account of the fact that several infringements of that regulation concerning the same processing operation affect the person seeking compensation.

C-807/215 Dec 2023

Deutsche Wohnen SE v Staatsanwaltschaft Berlin

National law cannot make an administrative fine against a legal person acting as controller for an infringement referred to in Article 83(4) to (6) conditional on first attributing that infringement to an identified natural person.

C-807/215 Dec 2023

Deutsche Wohnen SE v Staatsanwaltschaft Berlin

An administrative fine under Article 83 may be imposed only if it is established that the controller - which is both a legal person and an undertaking - committed an infringement referred to in Article 83(4) to (6) intentionally or negligently.