The new Act on Accessibility Requirements for Products and Services will enter into force on 28 June 2025. This Act transposes Directive (EU) 2019/882, into Croatian legislation and establishes a new regulatory framework requiring businesses to ensure that certain products and services they place on the market are accessible to persons with disabilities. This regulatory framework has been developed carefully and over a long period of time, which means that the new obligations imposed on businesses are substantial. Nevertheless, the Act recognizes that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may face greater challenges in complying with these requirements. Accordingly, it provides for specific mechanisms to ensure that accessibility requirements are applied only to the extent that they do not impose a disproportionate burden and do not necessitate significant changes to the products and services in question.

Scope of Application of the Act

The Act imposes obligations on economic operators engaged in the manufacture or provision of services, with the primary responsibilities placed on product manufacturers.

A manufacturer, for the purposes of this Act, is any natural or legal person who manufactures a product, commissions its design or manufacture, or places it on the market under their name or trademark. The manufacturer must ensure that any product placed on the market is designed and produced in accordance with accessibility requirements. In addition, the manufacturer is required to compile technical documentation and carry out (or ensure the implementation of) a conformity assessment procedure. Once conformity is established, the manufacturer must issue an EU Declaration of Conformity and affix the CE marking to the product.

The Act further prescribes technical requirements regarding the documentation and traceability of documentation, including those relating to product series or batches.

The manufacturer may appoint an authorised representative,whose responsibilities are limited to retaining the EU Declaration of Conformity and the technical documentation, in order to make these available,upon request, to the competent inspection authority for a period of five years,along with any other information necessary to demonstrate product compliance.

The Act also applies to importers of products. An importer is a person established within the EU who places a product from a third country on the EU market, and is obliged to place only those products on the market that meet the accessibility requirements. The Act sets out additional obligations for importers who know or have reason to believe that a product does not conform to the relevant requirements.

Importers are required to provide their contact details to ensure that product information can be requested from them in an accessible manner. They must also ensure that the product is accompanied by instructions and safety information, and that the product remains in conformity with accessibility requirements during the period in which it falls under their responsibility. Importers also share the obligations of the authorised representative.

The Act is further applicable to distributors, defined as any natural or legal person in the supply chain who is neither a manufacturer nor an importer, and who makes a product available on the EU market for distribution, consumption, or use in the course of a commercial activity—whether for payment or free of charge.

Distributors are obliged to verify that the CE marking is affixed to the product and that the required documentation accompanies it. They must also take appropriate measures if they suspect that a product does not comply with the accessibility requirements.

Finally, service providers must ensure that the design and provision of their services comply with the requirements of the Act. All relevant information must be made available to the public in both written and oral form throughout the entire period during which the service is provided.

Although the Act does not explicitly highlight this, the preamble to the Directive indicates that the accessibility requirements are particularly focused on providers of public transport services and public sector bodies (e.g., websites and mobile applications serving the purpose of passenger transport).

Which Products and Services Are Covered by the Act?

When examining the scope of application, it is evident that the accessibility requirements are primarily aimed at enhancing the practicality of everyday life for persons with disabilities.

For the purposes of the Act, a “product” is defined as a substance, preparation, or item manufactured through a production process,excluding food, animal feed, live plants or animals, products of human origin,or plant and animal products directly related to their future reproduction. A“service” is defined as an independent economic activity that is normally performed for remuneration.

The list of covered products primarily concerns the everyday use of digital and electronic services by consumers, including computer equipment, self-service terminals, communication and media equipment, and e-readers.

This list should be interpreted purposively. For example,the term “payment terminal” would primarily include POS devices. However,considering that the Directive refers to payment terminals including both hardware and software components, the term may also include products such as self-service checkouts.

A similar interpretive approach can be applied to the term“interactive self-service terminals providing information” (which is not explicitly defined in the Act). Given that the Directive promotes increased accessibility and the removal of barriers for persons with disabilities, this term should likely be understood to include any self-service device that provides consumers with some form of information, regardless of its type or context of use (e.g. self-service checkouts, self-service scales, price check scanners, and similar devices that are directly accessible to consumers).

When it comes to the services covered by the Act, the focus again lies on the use of technology to facilitate the daily life of persons with disabilities. The Act therefore covers: electronic communications services as defined by the Electronic Communications Act, consumer banking services,e-books and dedicated software, and e-commerce services. Interestingly,websites, mobile device services (including apps), and electronic ticketing services are mentioned only as obligations for air, bus, rail, and public transport providers. According to our analysis, the most visible impact of this Act is expected to be in the media sector, given that the accessibility requirements also apply to services that provide access to audiovisual media services.

Disproportionate Burden

To provide a degree of balance, the Act allows economic operators to assess the burden imposed by the regulation (in accordance with pre-defined criteria) and, based on that assessment, to deviate from certain accessibility requirements.

Specifically, accessibility requirements apply only to the extent that they do not impose a disproportionate burden on the economic operator, and only where they do not require substantial modifications to products or services that would fundamentally alter their basic nature. Both the Directive and the Act follow the principle of “Think Small First”, taking into account the administrative and financial burden—particularly on micro,small, and medium-sized enterprises.

Annex VI of the Act sets out the criteria for assessing such burden, and the assessment itself must be retained for a period of five years from the date the product was last made available on the market or the service was last provided. Importantly, an economic operator that is not funded from its own resources may depart from the accessibility requirements solely on the grounds that compliance would require substantial modifications to products or services that would fundamentally change their core nature.

This assessment must be repeated in the event of any changes to the service being offered, upon the request of an inspector, and at least once every five years. If an operator decides to deviate from the accessibility requirements based on such an assessment, all operators—except for micro-enterprises—are required to notify the competent authority of the Member State where the product is placed on the market or the service is provided.

Conclusion

The Directive was adopted in response to the fact that many Europeans live with some form of disability, and that differing national accessibility requirements for products and services have created obstacles to the free movement of goods and services within the EU.This Act, as a direct implementation of the Directive without substantive changes, contributes to the harmonisation of accessibility rules across the European Union.

If you are interested in further information regarding the compliance of your business with accessibility requirements or have any questions, please feel free to contact us via our email address.

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