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1. Member States shall lay down rules on sanctions or other measures as needed applicable to sponsors or providers of political advertising services for infringements of Articles 5 to 17, 20 and 21 and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are implemented in a timely manner. The sanctions provided for shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. In setting out the rules on sanctions, Member States shall take into account the rules governing the freedom of the press and freedom of expression in other media and the rules or codes governing the journalist profession.

2. The maximum amount of the financial penalties that may be imposed shall be based on the economic capacity of the entity subject to sanctions, which shall be:

(a) 6 % of the annual income or budget of the sponsor or of the provider of political advertising services as applicable and whichever is the highest; or (b) 6 % of the annual worldwide turnover of the sponsor or the provider of political advertising services in the preceding financial year.

3. Member States shall, by 10 January 2026, notify the Commission of those rules and of those measures and shall notify it, without delay, of any subsequent amendments affecting them.

4. When deciding on the type of sanction and its level, due regard shall be given in each individual case, among others, to the following:

(a) the nature, gravity, recurrence and duration of the infringement;

(b) the intentional or negligent character of the infringement;

(c) any action taken to mitigate any damage;

(d) any relevant previous infringements and any other aggravating or mitigating factor applicable to the circumstances of the case;

(e) the degree of cooperation with the competent authority; and (f) the size and economic capacity of the entity subject to sanctions, where applicable.

5. Infringements of Articles 5, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 18 shall be considered to be particularly serious where they concern political advertising published or disseminated during the last month preceding an election or referendum and are directed to citizens in the Member State in which the relevant election or referendum is being organised. Member States may also impose periodic penalty payments to compel sponsors, providers of political advertising services and political advertising publishers to put an end to a serious and repeated infringement of this Regulation.

6. For infringements of the obligations laid down in Articles 18 and 19 of this Regulation, the supervisory authorities referred to in Article 51 of the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 may within their competence impose fines in line with Article 83 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and up to the amount referred to in Article 83(5) of that Regulation.

7. For infringements of the obligations laid down in Articles 18 and 19 of this Regulation, the European Data Protection Supervisor referred to in Article 52 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 may impose within its competence fines in line with Article 66 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 up to the amount referred to in Article 66 (3) of that Regulation.

8. Member States shall report annually to the Commission on the sanctions imposed to enforce the provisions of this Regulation, in particular on the type of sanctions applied and the amount of the fines and financial penalties. The Commission shall take into account this information when drawing up the report required under Article 27.