SME facilitation
The most concretely documented SME facilitation measure in the Regulation is the fine-calculation method: for SMEs and startups, the lower — rather than the higher — of the fixed euro amount and the turnover percentage applies when calculating fines, in contrast to the general rule for large enterprises. The Regulation also contains other SME-oriented provisions, though the knowledge base does not provide a specific article reference for those.
The one element that can be documented with a specific citation is the fine-calculation rule under Article 99: for large enterprises the higher value applies, while for SMEs and startups the lower of the fixed amount and the turnover percentage applies. This can meaningfully reduce a small company's exposure in the event of an infringement. Beyond this, the AI Act contains other SME-oriented elements — such as priority access for SMEs and startups to regulatory sandboxes, and internal-control-based conformity assessment without a notified body in most high-risk areas — but the knowledge base underlying this glossary does not provide a specific article citation for those, so they are mentioned here only in general terms, without a pinpoint reference. Anyone wishing to rely on these with a precise legal citation should verify the exact provisions against the primary source (the full text of the AI Act).
The most practical SME advantage lies in the fine calculation: if enforcement proceedings are ever opened, proving SME status can directly reduce exposure — it is worth documenting this now, in advance (headcount, turnover, independence criteria).
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- Penalty / fineThe AI Act recognises three penalty tiers: EUR 35 million or 7% of total worldwide annual turnover for prohibited practices, EUR 15 million or 3% for infringements of provider, deployer and transparency obligations, and EUR 7.5 million or 1% for misleading the authority. The higher figure always applies — except for SMEs and startups, where the lower figure applies.
- Regulatory sandboxA regulatory sandbox is a controlled framework, established by a Member State authority, within which AI systems can be developed, tested and validated for a limited time, under regulatory supervision, before being placed on the market. The original deadline for establishing sandboxes was postponed by the Digital Omnibus to 2 August 2027.
- Conformity assessmentConformity assessment is the procedure by which a provider demonstrates that a high-risk AI system meets the requirements laid down in Section 2 of Chapter III of the Regulation — risk management, data governance, documentation, human oversight, and the rest. For systems falling under points 2–8 of Annex III, internal control suffices; involvement of a notified body is typically mandatory only for biometric systems.
Related questions in the knowledge base (Hungarian)
- Mekkora bírságot lehet kiszabni az EU AI Act alapján?Három sáv van: tiltott gyakorlatnál 35 millió euró vagy a világszintű éves árbevétel 7%-a; szolgáltatói, alkalmazói és átláthatósági kötelezettségszegésnél 15 millió euró vagy 3%; a hatóságnak adott hamis vagy félrevezető információért 7,5 millió euró vagy 1%. Mindig a magasabb érték irányadó, KKV-nál viszont az alacsonyabb.
- Mennyi a bírság, ha nem jelöljük az AI-tartalmat vagy a chatbotot?Legfeljebb 15 millió euró vagy az előző üzleti év teljes világszintű árbevételének 3%-a, amelyik magasabb. KKV-nál és startupnál a kettő közül az alacsonyabb az irányadó. Ez a 99. cikk (4) g) pontja alá eső, „egyéb kötelezettségszegés” kategória, nem a tiltott gyakorlatokra fenntartott 7%-os felső sáv.