EU AI Act Article 62: Free Support SMEs Can Claim
Article 62 of the EU AI Act gives SMEs and start-ups real support — priority sandbox access, free training, a direct advice channel and reduced fees. Here's how to claim it.
The EU AI Act is almost always discussed as a cost — obligations, documentation, fees. Article 62 is the part that runs the other way: it obliges Member States and the EU AI Office to give small teams concrete support in meeting the Act. Most SMEs and start-ups have never read it, and so never claim what it offers.
This guide sets out exactly what Article 62 makes available to small operators, and the route to accessing each measure.
What you need before starting
- An SME or start-up (and, following the 2026 Digital Omnibus amendments, in several respects a small mid-cap) with a registered office or a branch in the Union.
- A rough idea of whether any of your AI use is high-risk — the support is most valuable if you are heading towards conformity obligations. The Annex III test is the fastest way to check.
- Nothing else. None of the Article 62 measures require a lawyer or a paid intermediary to access.
What Article 62 actually gives you
Article 62 places duties on Member States (paragraph 1), on the way fees are set (paragraph 2), and on the AI Office (paragraph 3). Read together, they are a support package aimed squarely at small operators.
| Measure | Article | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Priority sandbox access | 62(1)(a) | SMEs and start-ups get priority access to national AI regulatory sandboxes |
| Tailored training | 62(1)(b) | Awareness-raising and training on applying the Act, shaped to SME needs |
| A direct advice channel | 62(1)(c) | Dedicated channels to ask questions and get advice from your authority |
| Standardisation access | 62(1)(d) | Help to take part in developing the standards you will later have to meet |
| Reduced fees | 62(2) | Conformity-assessment fees reduced proportionately to your size |
| AI Office resources | 62(3) | Free standardised templates, a single EU information platform, awareness campaigns |
Priority access to a regulatory sandbox
Under Article 62(1)(a), Member States must give SMEs and start-ups priority access to their AI regulatory sandboxes. A sandbox is a supervised environment where you can develop and test an AI system with the regulator alongside you.
Article 57 requires each Member State to have at least one national sandbox operational by 2 August 2026. Inside it, competent authorities provide guidance, supervision and support to help you identify risks and test mitigations.
On exit you receive written proof of the activities carried out and an exit report. Market-surveillance authorities and notified bodies must take that report positively into account, which can accelerate a later conformity assessment.
Priority access does not mean exclusive access — the Act is explicit that prioritising SMEs must not shut other eligible operators out.
Free training and a direct line for questions
Article 62(1)(b) requires Member States to run awareness-raising and training activities on applying the Act, tailored to the needs of SMEs, start-ups and deployers. This is not generic outreach; it is meant to be shaped to small-operator realities.
Article 62(1)(c) is the one small teams most often need and least often use. Member States must operate dedicated channels to give advice and answer queries — a route to ask your national authority a direct question rather than guessing. Start by finding your national competent authority through the EU AI Act policy hub.
Reduced conformity-assessment fees
If your AI system is high-risk and needs third-party conformity assessment, Article 62(2) requires that fees be set with SME interests in mind — reduced proportionately to your size, market size and other relevant indicators.
This does not make assessment free, but it is a statutory instruction that small providers should not pay the same absolute fee as a multinational. Raise it explicitly when you engage a notified body.
The AI Office’s free templates and information platform
Article 62(3) tasks the EU AI Office with practical, centrally-produced help: standardised templates for complying with the Act, a single information platform providing easy-to-use information for all operators across the EU, and awareness campaigns about obligations.
For a small team, the templates and the single platform are the fastest wins — free, reusable, and authoritative. Bookmark the AI Act Service Desk, the Commission’s official document and help hub, as your starting point.
What changed for small mid-caps in 2026
The Digital Omnibus on AI, agreed by the co-legislators in mid-2026, extended several SME accommodations to small mid-caps (SMCs) — notably the simplified documentation regime and special consideration in applying penalties.
If you sit just above the SME threshold, you are no longer automatically outside these simplifications. Check the final adopted text before assuming which bracket you fall into.
What you can do now
You can stop treating the Act as purely a burden and start claiming the support it mandates. Concretely: identify your national competent authority and its advice channel; check whether your national sandbox is live yet; and pull the AI Office templates rather than building compliance documents from scratch.
If any of your AI use is heading towards high-risk classification, the sandbox route and the reduced-fee provision are worth planning around early — both are far easier to use before you are in a compliance deadline, not during one.
Related reading on The Science Talk
This guide pairs with EU Just Solved Your AI Compliance Problem: Inside the JRC Scientific Research Report — a look at another strand of official EU support for organisations navigating AI compliance.
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