EU AI Act: every application date and every fine tier, from the Regulation itself

The EU AI Act does not take effect on one date, and it does not fine on one scale. Article 113, as amended in July 2026, staggers application from 2 February 2025 to 2 August 2028, and Article 99 sets three fine tiers with ceilings from EUR 7,500,000 to EUR 35,000,000. This guide gives you both, straight from the Regulation, plus the SME rule in Article 99(6) that reverses the usual cap and the separate Commission fining power in Article 101.

When does each part of the EU AI Act apply?

Article 113 sets a default application date and then carves out exceptions. The Regulation entered into force on the 20th day after its publication in the Official Journal, which is dated 12 July 2024. Entry into force is not the same as application. The obligations bite on the dates below, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744.

Want it on one page? Our free EU AI Act mind map gives the five parts of the Act with a mnemonic, and the 10-question EU AI Act quiz checks your recall in five minutes.

Four details deserve attention, because they are easy to miss.

First, Article 113(b) pulls Chapter XII forward to 2 August 2025 but excepts Article 101. Article 101 is the Commission's power to fine providers of general-purpose AI models. It sits in a chapter that otherwise applies early, but the exception means it falls back to the general date of 2 August 2026.

Second, the 2026 amendment replaced the old Article 113(c), which had moved Article 6(1) and "the corresponding obligations" to 2 August 2027. The new point (c) delays Sections 1, 2 and 3 of Chapter III, the classification rules, the requirements and the obligations of providers and deployers, to one of two dates set by how the system is classified: 2 December 2027 for Annex III systems and 2 August 2028 for Annex I systems. Section 5 of Chapter III, on standards, conformity assessment, certificates and registration, is not named in point (c), so it keeps the general date.

Third, the two new prohibitions apply from 2 December 2026, while the rest of Article 5 has applied since 2 February 2025. They cover AI systems that generate or manipulate realistic intimate or sexually explicit material of an identifiable person without their consent, and material that Directive 2011/93/EU defines as child pornography or a pornographic performance. Our guide to the Article 5 prohibitions sets out the conditions.

Fourth, Article 111 now gives providers of generative systems placed on the market before 2 August 2026 until 2 December 2026 to comply with the marking duty in Article 50(2). High-risk systems intended for use by public authorities must comply by 2 August 2030.

The closing formula of Article 113 is also worth having verbatim, because it states the legal character of the instrument:

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

It is a regulation, not a directive. It does not wait for national transposition to apply.

What are the EU AI Act fine tiers under Article 99?

Article 99 puts enforcement in the hands of Member States. Under Article 99(1), as amended in 2026, Member States "shall lay down the rules on penalties and other enforcement measures," which "may also include administrative fines, warnings and non-monetary measures," and the penalties "shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive." Under Article 99(2), Member States must notify the Commission of their penalty rules by the date of entry into application at the latest.

The Regulation then fixes three ceilings for administrative fines.

The middle tier is not vague. Article 99(4) lists exactly which provisions it covers: provider obligations under Article 16, authorized representative obligations under Article 22, importer obligations under Article 23, distributor obligations under Article 24, the obligations of providers and operators under Article 25(2) and (4) (added in 2026), deployer obligations under Article 26, notified body requirements under Article 31, Article 33(1), (3) and (4) or Article 34, and the transparency obligations for providers and deployers under Article 50. If a fine question turns on which tier applies, it turns on whether the obligation sits in that list or in Article 5.

Article 99(7) then lists the circumstances that shape the amount in an individual case. They include the nature, gravity and duration of the infringement, whether fines have already been applied by other authorities for the same conduct, the operator's size, turnover and market share, the degree of cooperation with national competent authorities, how the infringement became known, whether the conduct was intentional or negligent, and mitigating action taken for affected persons.

How are EU AI Act fines capped for SMEs?

Every ceiling in Article 99 is expressed as a fixed sum or a turnover percentage, "whichever is higher." For small and medium-sized enterprises, Article 99(6) flips that:

In the case of SMEs, including start-ups, each fine referred to in this Article shall be up to the percentages or amount referred to in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5, whichever thereof is lower.

For a large undertaking, the cap is whichever figure is bigger. For an SME, the cap is whichever is smaller. Take a hypothetical start-up with a turnover of EUR 10,000,000 that breaches the Article 5 prohibitions. Its 7% figure is EUR 700,000, which is lower than EUR 35,000,000, so EUR 700,000 is its ceiling. The same breach by a large undertaking is capped at the higher of the two figures. This is consistent with Article 99(1), which requires Member States to take into account "the interests of SMEs, including start-ups, and SMCs, and their economic viability" when imposing penalties.

The 2026 amendment added a second reversal. Article 99(6a) reads: "In the case of SMCs, each fine referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 shall be up to the percentages or amount referred therein, whichever is lower." An SMC is a small mid-cap enterprise as defined in Commission Recommendation (EU) 2025/1099. The SMC rule does not reach the Article 5 tier in paragraph 3, so for a prohibited practice an SMC faces the same "whichever is higher" ceiling as a large undertaking.

What fines can the Commission impose under Article 101?

Do not fold Article 101 into the Article 99 scheme. Article 99 fines are imposed under national rules laid down by Member States. Article 101 fines are imposed by the Commission itself, and only on providers of general-purpose AI models.

The ceiling under Article 101(1) is 3% of annual total worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year or EUR 15,000,000, whichever is higher. The Commission may impose it when it finds the provider intentionally or negligently did one of four things: infringed the relevant provisions of the Regulation, failed to comply with a request for a document or information under Article 91 or supplied incorrect, incomplete or misleading information, failed to comply with a measure requested under Article 93, or failed to give the Commission access to the model for an evaluation under Article 92.

The procedure is also distinct. Under Article 101(2), the Commission must communicate its preliminary findings to the provider and give it an opportunity to be heard before deciding. Under Article 101(5), the Court of Justice of the European Union has unlimited jurisdiction to review Commission fining decisions and may cancel, reduce or increase the fine. Note one drafting point that catches people out: the SME reversal in Article 99(6) refers to "each fine referred to in this Article," meaning Article 99. Article 101 states its own ceiling as "whichever is higher" and contains no equivalent reversal.

Where do EU AI Act dates and fines sit in the AIGP?

If you are preparing for the IAPP's AIGP exam, this material falls under Domain II, "Understanding how laws, standards and frameworks apply to AI," and specifically competency II.C, "Understand the main elements of AI-specific laws," which the version 2.1 blueprint allocates 6 to 8 items. The blueprint was approved on 9 September 2025 and took effect on 2 February 2026, before the July 2026 amendment, so check the IAPP's exam pages for which text the exam follows. The exam itself is 3 hours and 100 items, all multiple choice, each worth one point, with no essays. Credential Press is independent of the IAPP; this guide is our reading of the Regulation, not an official study resource.

What you need to be able to do is keep the machinery straight: which date applies to which chapter, which fine tier attaches to which obligation, which body imposes the fine, and how the SME rule inverts the cap. Learn the dates in Article 113 as a set, original and amended, learn the three ceilings in Article 99 with their percentages, and keep Article 101 in its own box as a Commission power over general-purpose model providers. If you can state each of those in the Regulation's own terms, you have this corner of the syllabus where it needs to be.

Want it in one place? The EU AI Act handbook works through EU AI Act compliance from the Official Journal text of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, with every obligation traced to its Article, and the AI governance worked scenarios book takes 24 situations a governance lead faces under the AI Act and works each one to a decision, settled against the Articles by number.

Frequently asked questions

When does the EU AI Act apply?

Article 113, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, sets a general date of 2 August 2026. Chapters I and II applied from 2 February 2025, several chapters from 2 August 2025, two new prohibitions apply from 2 December 2026, and the high-risk rules apply from 2 December 2027 for Annex III systems and 2 August 2028 for Annex I systems.

What is the maximum fine under the EU AI Act?

Article 99(3) sets the top tier at EUR 35 000 000 or 7 per cent of total worldwide annual turnover for the preceding financial year, whichever is higher, for breaching the Article 5 prohibitions.

Are fines lower for small companies?

Article 99(6) reverses the test for SMEs including start-ups: the fine is capped at whichever of the fixed amount and the percentage is lower. Since July 2026, Article 99(6a) does the same for small mid-cap enterprises (SMCs), but only for the fines in Article 99(4) and (5).

Which books go deeper on this?

AI Governance Framework

Building one that survives the EU AI Act. 22 chapters, 416 pages.

What is insideBuy on Amazon

AI Governance Worked Scenarios

24 worked situations under the EU AI Act, decided against the Articles. 81 pages.

What is insideBuy on Amazon