Penalties
Article 31
Open ↗1. Without prejudice to the obligations of Member States under Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 30 ) , Member States shall lay down the rules on penalties applicable to infringements of this Regulation and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that those penalties are implemented. Before 1 January 2026, Member States shall notify the Commission of those rules and of those measures and shall notify it, without delay, of any subsequent amendment affecting them. 2. The penalties shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and shall be determined while having due regard to the following, as applicable: (a) the nature and gravity of the infringement; (b) the human population or the environment affected by the infringement, taking into account the need to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment; (c) any previous infringements of this Regulation by the undertaking held responsible; (d) the financial situation of the undertaking held responsible. 3. The penalties shall include: (a) administrative financial penalties in accordance with paragraph 4; however, Member States may also, or alternatively, use criminal penalties, provided that they are equivalently effective, proportionate and dissuasive as the administrative financial penalties; (b) confiscation or seizure, or withdrawal or removal from the market, or taking possession by the competent authorities of Member States of illegally obtained goods; (c) temporary prohibition from using, producing, importing, exporting or placing on the market the fluorinated greenhouse gases or products and equipment containing fluorinated greenhouse gases or whose functioning relies upon them, in the event of a serious infringement or of repeated infringements. 4. Administrative financial penalties referred to in paragraph 3, point (a), shall be proportionate to the environmental damage, where applicable, and effectively deprive those responsible of the economic benefits derived from their infringements. The level of administrative financial penalties shall gradually increase for repeated infringements. In the case of unlawful production, import, export, placing on the market or use of fluorinated greenhouse gases, or of products and equipment containing those gases or whose functioning relies upon those gases, the maximum amount of the administrative financial penalty shall be at least five times the market value of the gases or products and equipment concerned. Where such infringements are repeated within a five-year period, the maximum amount of the administrative financial penalty shall be at least eight times the market value of the gases or products and equipment concerned. 5. In addition to the penalties referred to in paragraph 1, undertakings that have exceeded their quota for placing hydrofluorocarbons on the market, allocated in accordance with Article 17(4), or transferred to them in accordance with Article 21(1), may only be allocated a reduced quota allocation for the allocation period after the excess has been detected. The amount of reduction shall be calculated as 200 % of the amount by which the quota was exceeded. If the amount of the reduction is higher than the amount to be allocated in accordance with Article 17(4) as a quota for the allocation period after the excess has been detected, no quota shall be allocated for that allocation period and the quota for the following allocation periods shall be reduced likewise until the full amount has been deducted. The reductions shall be recorded in the F-gas Portal.