The Turnover Trap: High-Stakes EAA Fines in Netherlands, Spain & Poland

## Financial Severity: The Turnover Trap Countries like the Netherlands, Spain (for very serious infractions), and Poland have tied penalties to annual turnover. This represents a "nuclear" financial risk for large multinational corporations. A generic "accessibility budget" of €50k is woefully insufficient legal cover against a potential fine that could reach millions.

• ### The Netherlands: The Million-Euro Threat
• The Netherlands has transposed the EAA with exceptionally high financial ceilings, linking penalties directly to company turnover.
• ACM Fines: The standard maximum fine is €900,000. However, if 1% of the company’s annual turnover exceeds this threshold, the fine can be increased to 1% of annual turnover.
• Periodic Penalty Payments: Beyond the lump-sum fine, Dutch law utilizes the last onder dwangsom (incremental penalty payment). The ACM can issue an order to fix an issue by Date X, with a fixed sum (e.g., €5,000) due for every day of delay thereafter.

### Spain: The Tiered Sanction Regime Spain uses a tiered system where "Very Serious Infractions" carry fines up to €1,000,000. * Public Procurement Bans: Crucially, this tier carries the threat of loss of eligibility for public subsidies and bans from public procurement for up to 2 years. In a market where the public sector is a massive buyer, this "blacklisting" can be more damaging than the fine.

• ### Poland: The 10% Turnover Cap
• Poland has adopted a high-stakes penalty model similar to antitrust law.
• Maximum Fine: The penalty can be up to 10% of the annual turnover achieved in the preceding financial year. This is one of the highest potential caps in the EU.
• Systemic vs. Procedural: While procedural non-conformities are capped at salary-indexed amounts, systemic failures (total lack of accessibility) trigger the turnover-based mechanism.