Member States should lay down rules on penalties applicable to infringements of national provisions adopted pursuant to this Regulation and should ensure that they are implemented. Member States can lay down rules for administrative as well as criminal penalties. In any case, the imposition of criminal and administrative penalties should not lead to a breach of the right not to be tried or punished twice in criminal proceedings for the same criminal offence (ne bis in idem principle), as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union. For the most serious infringements committed by a legal person, such as those of a high level of gravity due to their nature, extent and repetition, or those that pose a significant risk to human health or the environment, Member States should ensure that their national system of penalties includes administrative financial penalties whose maximum amount should be at least 3 % of the annual Union turnover of that legal person in the financial year preceding the year in which the administrative financial penalty is imposed. For such infringements, without prejudice to the obligations of Member States under Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Member States should be allowed to also or alternatively impose criminal penalties, provided that they are effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
