Article 62: measures for providers and deployers that are SMEs or start-ups
Member States give SMEs, including start-ups, with a registered office or a branch in the Union priority access to the AI regulatory sandboxes, organise specific awareness raising and training activities, use or establish dedicated communication channels to provide advice and answer queries, and facilitate the participation of SMEs in the standardisation development process. When setting the fees for conformity assessment under Article 43, the specific interests and needs of SME providers are taken into account, those fees being reduced proportionately to their size, market size and other relevant indicators. The AI Office provides standardised templates, maintains a single information platform, organises communication campaigns and promotes the convergence of best practices in public procurement. This article lowers no requirement; it makes the road towards one cheaper and more accessible.
Paragraph 1 provides: Member States shall undertake the following actions: (a) provide SMEs, including start-ups, having a registered office or a branch in the Union, with priority access to the AI regulatory sandboxes, to the extent that they fulfil the eligibility conditions and selection criteria; the priority access shall not preclude other SMEs, including start-ups, other than those referred to in this paragraph from access to the AI regulatory sandbox, provided that they also fulfil the eligibility conditions and selection criteria; (b) organise specific awareness raising and training activities on the application of this Regulation tailored to the needs of SMEs including start-ups, deployers and, as appropriate, local public authorities; (c) utilise existing dedicated channels and where appropriate, establish new ones for communication with SMEs including start-ups, deployers, other innovators and, as appropriate, local public authorities to provide advice and respond to queries about the implementation of this Regulation, including as regards participation in AI regulatory sandboxes; (d) facilitate the participation of SMEs and other relevant stakeholders in the standardisation development process.
Praxikon tracks Article 62: measures for providers and deployers that are SMEs or start-ups under the EU AI Act, checked against the official source on 6 September 2026, citing the source for every statement.
- Status
- Applicable
- Application date
- Not recorded
- Version
- 1.0.0
- Last reviewed
- 6 September 2026
Review status: placed against the official source (6 September 2026). Next check due by 5 March 2027. The check date is the knowledge date of this version; no later recheck has been recorded.
From source to evidence
Why this obligation applies, what it asks of you, and what you show for it.
Applies
Applicable · Not recorded
For whom
- Deployer
- Provider of an AI system
What you do
Make use of the SME facilities in Article 62
What you record
File on SME status and facilities used
Official source
Who this is relevant to
When this applies
Deployer
An organisation using an AI system under its authority, excluding personal non-professional use.
Provider of an AI system
A party that develops or has an AI system developed and places it on the market under its own name.
- 1The priority access in paragraph 1, point (a), applies to SMEs, including start-ups, having a registered office or a branch in the Union, and only to the extent that they fulfil the eligibility conditions and selection criteria. The reduction of fees in paragraph 2 attaches to conformity assessments under Article 43 and to the capacity of an SME provider, including start-ups. Article 62 sits in Chapter VI, which is named in none of the three exceptions in the third paragraph of Article 113; the general date of application in the second paragraph therefore governs, 2 August 2026.
What the official source establishes
Paragraph 3 provides: the AI Office shall undertake the following actions: (a) provide standardised templates for areas covered by this Regulation, as specified by the Board in its request; (b) develop and maintain a single information platform providing easy to use information in relation to this Regulation for all operators across the Union; (c) organise appropriate communication campaigns to raise awareness about the obligations arising from this Regulation; (d) evaluate and promote the convergence of best practices in public procurement procedures in relation to AI systems.
Our interpretation
The official source remains authoritative. This general interpretation is not legal advice.
Article 62 is not an exemption but a facility, and that distinction is the whole article. Nowhere does it say that an SME or a start-up has to comply with less. What changes is the price and the access: priority access to the AI regulatory sandbox, tailored training and awareness raising, a channel to put questions, a seat at the standardisation table, and reduced fees for conformity assessment under Article 43. Anyone reading this article as an SME regime with lighter requirements is looking at the wrong provision; the only relief from a substantive requirement in this Regulation sits in Article 63 and touches only the quality management system of Article 17. Since 27 July 2026 that relief is available to SMEs, including start-ups, and no longer to microenterprises alone: Article 1, point (26), of Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 replaced Article 63(1) to that effect. A standalone small enterprise that is not a microenterprise therefore does fall within it, provided it has no partner enterprises or linked enterprises within the meaning of Recommendation 2003/361/EC. Read paragraph 2 carefully as well, because it says something stronger than is usually assumed. It is not a power but an instruction: the fees are reduced, proportionately to the size of the provider, the market size and other relevant indicators. If you receive a quotation for a conformity assessment without that proportionality being made visible, that is a question you can put and whose answer you can record. Do not confuse that reduction with free access to an AI regulatory sandbox: that sits in Article 58(2), point (d), applies to SMEs including start-ups, and expressly leaves standing the exceptional costs that national competent authorities may recover in a fair and proportionate manner. Two different provisions, two different flows of money.
In practice the core of this article is that you have to ask for it yourself. The Member State grants priority access to those who come forward and meet the eligibility conditions and selection criteria; priority will not operate by itself for anyone who does not apply. That makes two things important. First, that you can show you are an SME in the sense in which the Regulation uses that word, and that you have a registered office or a branch in the Union; that is a matter of file, not of conversation. Second, that you know which national body in your Member State staffs the channel in paragraph 1, point (c), because that channel is meant to provide advice and answer queries about implementation, including on participation in a sandbox. Point (d) is almost always skipped and is the most valuable part for a technical company: the participation of SMEs in the standardisation development process is facilitated. The harmonised standards will settle what counts as sufficient in practice; having a say in that text is cheaper than having to build to it later. Finally, factor paragraph 3 into your own planning. The AI Office provides standardised templates and maintains a single information platform. As long as no template exists for your topic, you build your own document; once one arrives, it is a template and not a licence, and the substantive requirement stays the same.
What you can do now
Record once whether your organisation is an SME or a start-up in the sense in which this Regulation uses that word, with the reasoning and the date attached, and whether you have a registered office or a branch in the Union; refresh that file at every change in the corporate structure. Find out which national competent authority in your Member State runs the AI regulatory sandbox and which channel it offers for questions about implementation, and use that channel before you buy an expensive external route. If you apply for a conformity assessment under Article 43, ask explicitly with the quotation how the reduction proportionate to your size, the market size and other relevant indicators has been applied, and keep that answer with your procurement file. Sign up for the standardisation development process on the topics that touch your product, because that is the cheapest place to influence what later counts as sufficient. Before you build your own template, check whether the AI Office has already provided one, and use the single information platform as a first source rather than a secondary summary. Finally, do not assume that any of these facilities lightens a substantive requirement: in your planning, set out next to each facility which requirement continues to apply in full.
- 01
Make use of the SME facilities in Article 62
Apply for priority access to the AI regulatory sandbox, use the national communication channel for questions about implementation, sign up for the standardisation process, and on a conformity assessment under Article 43 ask how the fee reduction has been applied.
What to retain
File on SME status and facilities used
The substantiation of your status as an SME or start-up with the date, the evidence of a registered office or branch in the Union, and per facility what was applied for, with which body, on what date and with what outcome, including the answer to how the fee reduction was applied.
Control and reassessment
Fee and access review on a conformity assessment
The control that on every application for a conformity assessment under Article 43 and on every sandbox application it is checked whether the SME facilities have been invoked and whether the proportionate fee reduction has been made visible, and that the answer reaches the procurement file.
Public tools
Full text of Article 62
The full legal text in the public AI Act Explorer.
Conditions and exceptions
- Paragraph 1, point (a), expressly states that the priority access shall not preclude other SMEs, including start-ups, other than those referred to in that paragraph from access to the AI regulatory sandbox, provided that they also fulfil the eligibility conditions and selection criteria. Priority is therefore an order of precedence and not an exclusive right, and it releases nobody from the eligibility conditions and selection criteria.
Official sources and locators
EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
European Parliament and Council | original-oj-2024-07-12
Source locator: Article 62(1) to (3)
EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
European Parliament and Council | original-oj-2024-07-12
Source locator: Article 43; Article 58(2), point (d); Article 63; Article 113, second paragraph
Referring to this object
Citation block
Copy this reference into your advice, article or file. The identifier, the version and the hash keep the statement findable later, even once the dataset has moved on.
Reference
Praxikon, "Article 62: measures for providers and deployers that are SMEs or start-ups", praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-62-sme-support-measures@1.0.0, dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.2.0 (schema 1.5.0), effective_at 2026-08-02T00:00:00.000Z, known_at 2026-09-06T00:00:00.000Z, sha256 89d0012409a5635c7734726e3fa30d2a1fa3427dc6277cfe8f675f151cd5d5dc, https://www.praxikon.com/en/verplichtingen/article-62-sme-support-measures (https://www.praxikon.com/api/v1/obligations?id=praxikon%3Aeu%3Aai-act%3Aobligation%3Aarticle-62-sme-support-measures&effective_at=2026-08-02&known_at=2026-09-06&lang=en, accessed 2026-09-15)
Short form
praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-62-sme-support-measures@1.0.0 (sha256 89d00124)
BibTeX
@misc{praxikon-eu-ai-act-obligation-article-62-sme-support-measures-1-0-0,
author = {{Praxikon}},
title = {Article 62: measures for providers and deployers that are SMEs or start-ups},
year = {2026},
version = {1.0.0},
number = {praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-62-sme-support-measures},
howpublished = {AI Act Change \& Evidence Graph, dataset 2.2.0, schema 1.5.0},
note = {effective_at 2026-08-02T00:00:00.000Z; known_at 2026-09-06T00:00:00.000Z; sha256 89d0012409a5635c7734726e3fa30d2a1fa3427dc6277cfe8f675f151cd5d5dc},
url = {https://www.praxikon.com/en/verplichtingen/article-62-sme-support-measures},
urldate = {2026-09-15},
language = {en}
}CSL JSON
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]How to verify a reference later is set out in the methodology. Terms
Version history
v1.0.0
2 August 2026
Article 62: measures for providers and deployers that are SMEs or start-ups
Member States give SMEs, including start-ups, with a registered office or a branch in the Union priority access to the AI regulatory sandboxes, organise specific awareness raising and training activities, use or establish dedicated communication channels to provide advice and answer queries, and facilitate the participation of SMEs in the standardisation development process. When setting the fees for conformity assessment under Article 43, the specific interests and needs of SME providers are taken into account, those fees being reduced proportionately to their size, market size and other relevant indicators. The AI Office provides standardised templates, maintains a single information platform, organises communication campaigns and promotes the convergence of best practices in public procurement. This article lowers no requirement; it makes the road towards one cheaper and more accessible.
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