Effective, proportionate, and dissuasive

Effective, proportionate, and dissuasive are the three legal standards that Member States must apply when setting penalties for breaches of the political advertising regulation. This means sanctions must actually work to stop violations (effective), fit the severity of the breach (proportionate), and be strong enough to discourage future non-compliance (dissuasive). These principles ensure that violations of transparency and targeting rules have real consequences across the EU.

Legal Basis

"Member States shall lay down the rules on penalties applicable to infringements of this Regulation and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are implemented. The penalties provided for shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive."

— Article 26(1), Regulation 2024/900

Why It Matters

This legal standard determines how Member States design their penalty systems for political advertising violations. National authorities must balance three requirements: penalties must be strong enough to change behavior (effective), fair relative to the harm caused (proportionate), and serious enough to prevent repeat violations (dissuasive).

The standard applies to all actors in the political advertising chain—sponsors, providers, publishers, and platforms. For example, a fine for failing to label a single social media post might be lower than for running an unlabeled national campaign, but both must meet the three-part test. Member States have discretion in setting specific fines, but they cannot set token penalties that companies simply write off as a cost of doing business.

This framework mirrors other EU enforcement regimes, particularly the GDPR, where the same three-part standard has been tested in courts and enforcement practice. It creates a consistent baseline across the Union while allowing Member States to tailor penalties to local conditions and legal traditions.

Key Points

• Effective means penalties must actually work to stop the unlawful behavior and secure compliance
• Proportionate means the severity of the penalty must match the seriousness of the infringement
• Dissuasive means sanctions must be strong enough to discourage the violator and others from repeating the breach
• Member States set specific penalty levels but must meet all three standards for every violation
• The standard applies to breaches of both transparency obligations (Chapter II) and targeting restrictions (Chapter III)
• Repeat violations, intentional breaches, and larger-scale infringements typically warrant higher penalties

Effective, proportionate, and dissuasive vs. Maximum harmonization

While the three-part penalty standard is harmonized across the EU, the specific penalty levels are not. Member States have flexibility to set fines, sanctions, and other enforcement measures that reflect their legal systems and the scale of their advertising markets. This differs from "maximum harmonization" regimes where the EU sets exact penalty amounts or caps.

The regulation does not specify minimum or maximum fines, only the legal standard penalties must meet. This allows Germany, for example, to set different fine levels than Malta, as long as both meet the effective-proportionate-dissuasive test. However, national authorities must cooperate under Article 25 when violations have cross-border effects, ensuring consistent enforcement across Member States.

Related Terms

• Penalties
• Competent authority
• Supervision and enforcement
• Member State
• Cross-border cooperation
• Infringement
• Transparency obligations
• Targeting techniques
• Sponsor
• Provider of political advertising services