In order to ensure effective enforcement of the obligations laid down in this Regulation, each market surveillance authority should have the power to impose or request the imposition of administrative fines. Maximum levels for administrative fines to be provided for in national law for non-compliance with the obligations laid down in this Regulation should therefore be established. When deciding on the amount of the administrative fine in each individual case, all relevant circumstances of the specific situation should be taken into account and, as a minimum, those explicitly established in this Regulation, including whether the manufacturer is a microenterprise or a small or medium-sized enterprise, including a start-up, and whether administrative fines have been already applied by the same or other market surveillance authorities to the same economic operator for a similar infringement. Such circumstances could be either aggravating, in situations where the infringement by the same economic operator persists on the territory of Member States other than that where an administrative fine has already been applied, or mitigating, in ensuring that any other administrative fine considered by another market surveillance authority for the same economic operator or the same type of infringement should already take account, along with other relevant specific circumstances, of a penalty and the quantum thereof imposed in other Member States. In all such cases, the cumulative administrative fine that could be applied by market surveillance authorities of several Member States to the same economic operator for the same type of infringement should ensure the respect of the principle of proportionality. Given that administrative fines do not apply to microenterprises or small enterprises for a failure to meet the 24-hour deadline for the early warning notification of actively exploited vulnerabilities or severe incidents having an impact on the security of the product with digital elements, nor to open-source software stewards for any infringement of this Regulation, and subject to the principle that penalties should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, Member States should not impose other kinds of penalties with pecuniary character on those entities.

This recital provides context for:

• Article 64 – Penalties