European Accessibility Act Compliance in Malta

The regulations apply to businesses that place covered products on the market in Malta or provide covered services to consumers there. They cover e-commerce, consumer banking, e-books, electronic communications, access to audiovisual media services and parts of air, bus, rail and waterborne passenger transport, together with a defined list of consumer hardware and self-service terminals. Regulation 3(1) lists the products: consumer general purpose computer hardware and its operating systems; payment terminals; ATMs, ticketing machines, check-in machines and interactive information terminals dedicated to covered services; consumer terminal equipment used for electronic communications or for access to audiovisual media services; and e-readers.

Regulation 3(2) lists the services: electronic communications, services giving access to audiovisual media services, listed elements of air, bus, rail and waterborne passenger transport, consumer banking, e-books and dedicated software, and e-commerce. Regulation 2 defines e-commerce services as services provided at a distance through websites and mobile device-based services, by electronic means, at the individual request of a consumer and with a view to concluding a consumer contract.

Regulation 4(5) exempts microenterprises that provide services from the service accessibility requirements and from any obligation relating to compliance with them. Regulation 2 defines a microenterprise as an enterprise that employs fewer than 10 persons and has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 2 million or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 2 million. The exemption covers services only. A microenterprise that deals in covered products still has to meet the product requirements, although regulation 14(4) exempts it from documenting its assessment of fundamental alteration or disproportionate burden.

Regulation 13(2) requires service providers to prepare the information set out in Annex V, explaining how their services meet the requirements, and to keep it for as long as the service is in operation. That information has to be public in written and oral format, including in a manner accessible to persons with disabilities, and point 1 of Annex V places it in the general terms and conditions or an equivalent document.

Regulation 3(4) leaves out pre-recorded time-based media and office file formats published before 28 June 2025, online maps and mapping services if the essential information is provided in an accessible digital manner for maps intended for navigational use, third-party content that is neither funded or developed by the business nor under its control, and archived content not updated or edited after 28 June 2025. Under regulation 4(4), the built environment used by clients of covered services also has to meet the accessibility requirements in Annex III.

The transposing act is the Accessibility Measures (European Accessibility Act) Regulations, 2022, Legal Notice 214 of 2022, in Maltese the Regolamenti tal-2022 dwar Miżuri ta’ Aċċessibilità (Att Ewropew dwar l-Aċċessibilità), A.L. 214 tal-2022. The Minister responsible for disability and the development of this sector made them under article 8 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (Cap. 627), and regulation 1(2) states that their scope is to transpose Directive (EU) 2019/882. They were published in the Government Gazette of Malta, the Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta’ Malta, No. 20,899 of 29 July 2022, and came into force on 28 June 2025 under regulation 1(3). They are consolidated as Subsidiary Legislation 627.03, and no legal notice has amended them.

Malta published them a month after the transposition deadline of 28 June 2022. The European Commission sent Malta a letter of formal notice under INFR(2022)0314 on 19 July 2022 and closed the case on 12 March 2025. EUR-Lex lists these regulations as Malta's only national transposition measure for the Directive.

The regulations name no specific technical standard. Regulation 15 presumes that products and services meeting harmonised standards whose references are published in the Official Journal of the European Union, or technical specifications, conform to the accessibility requirements those standards or specifications cover. Point 2 of Annex V lets a service provider apply those harmonised standards and technical specifications when it describes how its service meets the requirements. The practical reference for websites and apps is the European standard EN 301 549. EN 301 549 V3.2.1 applies the WCAG 2.1 level AA success criteria to web content. EN 301 549 V4.1.1, which adopts WCAG 2.2 AA, was published on 2 September 2026 and is not yet cited in the Official Journal.

Regulation 2 names one market surveillance authority for the regulations: the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD), in Maltese the Kummissjoni għad-Drittijiet ta’ Persuni b’Diżabilità, as designated by article 22(1)(v) of the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act (Cap. 413), in Maltese the Att dwar Opportunitajiet Indaqs għal Persuni b’Diżabilità. Article 22(1)(v) has the CRPD fulfil that role through its Investigations Unit and Enforcement Unit. Regulation 23(1)(a) requires it to have procedures to check that services comply, including the provider's regulation 14 assessment of fundamental alteration or disproportionate burden, and the regulations name no other authority for any sector, so the CRPD supervises e-commerce along with every other covered service.

For products, regulation 22(1) requires it to make the economic operator put an end to formal non-compliance, such as a missing CE marking. If that non-compliance persists, regulation 22(2) requires it to take all appropriate measures to restrict or prohibit the product being made available on the market or to ensure that it is withdrawn. On 4 February 2026 the CRPD announced a three-year memorandum of understanding with the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA), under which the MCCAA, in particular its Technical Regulations Division, gives technical advice and training for EAA market surveillance.

Regulation 23(1)(b) requires the CRPD to have procedures to follow up complaints or reports about services that do not comply. Under article 32(4)(a) of Cap. 413 its Investigations Unit investigates complaints, and the unit can be reached at investigations@crpd.org.mt. Regulation 26(2) also lets consumers, and bodies with a legitimate interest acting on their behalf, take action under article 3 of Cap. 627, which provides for a petition to the UNCRPD Redress Panel or, where the remedy sought includes a financial one, a civil action under article 33E(1) of Cap. 413. A decision of the Investigations Unit can be appealed to the Administrative Review Tribunal within 20 days of notification under articles 32D and 32E of Cap. 413.

Regulation 26(1) requires the CRPD to work under article 32A of Cap. 413 to ensure adequate and effective compliance. Under article 32A the Enforcement Unit acts once the Investigations Unit authorises it and can be directed to take urgent interim measures. Article 32(4)(b) gives the Enforcement Unit two measures: an administrative fine in accordance with Cap. 413, and an order to stop an act or omission in breach of the law.

Regulation 27(1) says the penalties shall be prescribed, taking into account how serious the non-compliance is and how many units and persons it affects. Its Maltese text refers to article 32C of Cap. 413 and its English text to article 32. Article 32C requires the Minister to make provisions on administrative fines by regulations made under Cap. 413. No such regulations are listed under Cap. 413 on legislation.mt, so no fine amount or maximum is published for an EAA breach in Malta.