Published on: June 2, 2025 / update from: June 2, 2025 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein
European Accessibility Act - The accessibility law (BFSG): warnings, fines and legal consequences - Image: Xpert.digital
Legal accessibility: what companies have to prepare for now
The European Accessibility Act: Drastic consequences for non-compliance
The accessibility law (BFSG) is about to come into force on June 28, 2025 and has significant legal obligations for many companies. In fact, companies that do not comply with the regulations risk both competition law warnings and sensitive fines. The law implements the EU directive 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act) into German law and obliges providers of certain products and services to access the accessibility. The legal consequences are significantly harder than in other laws, since the legislator wants to clearly signal that implementation must be taken seriously.
Temporary risk according to the BFSG
Legal basics for warnings
Reminder for violations of the BFSG are quite possible and are justified through competition law. According to Section 3a of the UWG, whoever deals with a legal provision that is also intended to regulate market behavior in the interest of market participants. The violation must be suitable for noticeably affecting the interests of consumers, other market participants or competitors. It is crucial whether the BFSG's provisions can be classified as so -called market behavior rules that develop competitive relevance via Section 3a of the UWG.
The warnings of the BFSG violations result from the fact that the provisions of the law impose economic actors extensive obligations for goods and services. Consumers in particular with restrictions are to be protected by the law. Manufacturers who do not adhere to the regulations thus violate a consumer -protecting standard and gain a competitive advantage over law -like manufacturers. This can certainly be seen as a noticeable impairment of the market position of other companies.
Persons and organizations entitled to warn
The right to warn is entitled to various actors. According to § 8 UWG, competitors who offer similar services to a significant extent are entitled to certain economic and consumer associations (provided they are entered in the list of the Federal Office for Justice) as well as chambers of industry and commerce. This regulation aims to ensure that competitors can prevent illegal behavior of their competitors in order to ensure fair market conditions.
An important aspect is that, unlike the GDPR, there is no general plaintiff for private individuals or warning lawyers. The primary path leads through the market surveillance authorities. However, competition law could still offer an opportunity for uninvolved third parties such as warning lawyers to submit complaints, although the exact modalities have not yet been finally clarified.
Content and form of a BFSG warning
A BFSG warning represents a formalized request to refrain from doing so. As a rule, these warnings contain a pre -made punitive declaration of cease and desist, which serves to rule out a risk of repetition. Often the warning is also included in an invoice for costs incurred or a flat rate of expenses. The goal is to solve the conflict out of court.
The warning must have certain content: name of the warning, reason and scope of the alleged violation, calculation of any cost claims and information on the right to claim. Caution should be exercised in response to a warning, since the submission of a cease and desist declaration leads to far -reaching consequences. In the event of a renewed violation, a contractual penalty threatens in considerable amount.
Fine and official sanctions
Height and categories of fines
The BFSG provides sensitive fines that are staggered depending on the type of violation. According to § 37 BFSG, administrative offenses can be punished in serious cases with a fine of up to 100,000 euros and in the other cases with a fine of up to 10,000 euros. This distinction shows the severity, which the legislature contains determined violations.
The serious violations, which are threatened with up to 100,000 euros, include the placing of products on the market, contrary to accessibility requirements, missing CE labels and other fundamental violations of duty. Less serious violations such as missing barrier -free information or incomplete information can be punished with up to 10,000 euros. These fine frames make it clear that the legislator takes the enforcement of accessibility requirements seriously.
Procedure for violations
The procedure if the BFSG is not complied with is clearly structured and follows a graded system. First, the market surveillance authority checks if it has the reason to assume that a product or service does not meet the accessibility requirements. Economic actors are obliged to participate in this exam. The market surveillance authority can check a service without a specific reason on the basis of reasonable samples.
If the market surveillance authority determines that a product or service does not meet the accessibility requirements, it calls on the economic actor to take suitable measures to manufacture conformity within a reasonable period of time. The economic actor has the right to be heard. If the affected actor does not meet this request, the market surveillance authority can take further measures, including the imposition of fines.
Responsible authorities and organization
Market monitoring is carried out by specially designed authorities. It was originally planned that each federal state will set up its own market surveillance authority. According to the current status, however, the countries seem to have agreed to found and finance a nationwide market surveillance authority. This is to be called “joint market monitoring of the countries for the accessibility of products and services (MLBF)” and is located in Saxony-Anhalt.
Several countries have already approved the state contract required for the establishment of the authority, including Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. It is therefore likely that instead of 16 individual market surveillance authorities there will only be the MLBF. This centralization could lead to a more uniform enforcement of the BFSG requirements.
Affected companies and areas of application
Recorded products and services
The BFSG records a wide range of products and services in the digital and analogous area. The affected digital products include computers, tablets, smartphones, e-book readers and other digital end devices. In the case of services, e-commerce platforms, online shops, banking services, digital booking systems and mobile applications from transport companies are recorded in particular.
Self -service terminals such as ATMs also fall under the regulations of the BFSG. Websites and mobile applications must be designed for B2C providers barrier-free, whereby there are differences between B2B and B2C offers. The requirements are based on the standards of EN 301 549 based on the web content accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Company sizes and exceptions
The BFSG basically affects all companies that offer corresponding products or services. However, there are important exceptions for small companies. The law mainly applies to companies with more than 10 employees and over 2 million euros in annual sales. Small companies are only excluded if they only provide services - but as soon as products are manufactured or sold, the law also applies here.
This regulation means that smaller companies can also be affected if they put products on the market. The distinction between B2B and B2C is relevant because the requirements apply primarily to consumer transactions. Companies should therefore check exactly whether and to what extent they are affected by the BFSG requirements.
Temporal application
The requirements of the BFSG generally apply to products that are placed on the market after June 28, 2025, as well as services that are provided for consumers after June 28, 2025. This means that companies still have a few weeks to adapt their offers accordingly. After this date, all new products and services must meet the accessibility requirements.
Products and ongoing services already on the market are generally not retrospectively affected. However, companies should keep in mind that when changing or revising their offers, the new requirements take effect after the cut -off date. An early adjustment can therefore make sense to avoid later costly improvements.
Protection measures and compliance strategies
Preventive measures to avoid sanctions
In order to avoid warning and fines, companies should act proactively and check their digital offers in good time. An important recommendation is to optimize the pages that are open to the public without login in such a way that they have no errors in automatic test tools such as Wave. Many mass stirders use such automatic tools, which is why optimization for these systems can offer certain protection.
The implementation of the technical standards of the EN 301 549 is essential for compliance. This standard is based on the internationally recognized Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and defines the specific technical requirements for accessibility. Companies should systematically check their websites and applications for compliance with these standards and make appropriate adjustments.
Documentation and declarations of conformity
A proper documentation of the accessibility measures is not only important for compliance, but can also be helpful in the event of warnings or official exams. In contrast to BITV 2.0, which allows a declaration of barrier with not fulfilled points, the BFSG requirements are more comprehensive and targets on the complete fulfillment of the EN 301 549.
Companies should develop a clear strategy for gradual implementation of accessibility requirements. Even if not all aspects can be fully implemented by June 28, 2025, it is important to have a comprehensible timetable for further measures. This can be an advantage when evaluating by authorities or in defense against warnings.
Legal advice and defense strategies
When receiving a BFSG warning, companies should immediately obtain expert legal council, ideally with a lawyer with specialization in competition law. The submission of a declaration of injunctive relief leads to far -reaching consequences, since a contractual penalty threatens to consider considerably in the event of a renewed violation. Information or compensation claims can also be in the room.
It is advisable to have the legal situation extensively checked before an explanation is made or judicial steps are initiated. Possible defense strategies can refer to the interpretation of the BFSG requirements, the authorization of the warning or technical aspects of the complaints contested. Since the jurisprudence for the BFSG has not yet been established, defense opportunities can result here.
Recommendations for action
From June 28, 2025, the accessibility law will bring considerable legal risks for companies that do not meet the requirements. Both competition law warnings and fines of up to 100,000 euros are realistic consequences for violations. The legislator has significantly signaled that it takes the enforcement of accessibility requirements seriously and provides for hard sanctions accordingly.
Companies should therefore immediately check whether they are affected by the BFSG requirements and initiate corresponding adjustment measures. An early and systematic approach to accessibility is not only legally offered, but can also bring economic advantages through an extended target group and improved user experience. The remaining time until the entry into force should be used intensively for the preparation in order to avoid costly legal consequences.
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