European and foreign businesses get much higher fines compares to local businesses (e.g. Volkswagen, Deutsche Bank, Bayer (e.g. just after buying Massato), Toyota, etc...)
On the other hand Europe allows american businesses to access the european market without following the local laws. No user data can be transfered to the USA where protection clearly is not adequate, still they do.
EDIT: You can downvote me, but it's all true:
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/29/business/dealbook/volkswa...
"Criminal fines in the United States from 2001-12 were on average more than seven times the size for overseas entities than for American companies"