Answers / one question
Does the microenterprise exemption apply to us?
It applies only to a service provider with fewer than ten people and turnover or a balance sheet total at or below EUR 2 million. It exempts that provider from the Article 4(3) service requirements and related obligations. It does not exempt products, and it does not remove the 112 duty.
The two limbs of the test
Article 3(23) defines a microenterprise as an enterprise that employs fewer than ten persons and has a turnover of EUR 2 million or less, or a balance sheet total of EUR 2 million or less. Both limbs are required: headcount and one of the two financial measures. A company with nine staff and a turnover of EUR 3 million is not a microenterprise.
What the exemption covers
Article 4(5) exempts microenterprises providing services from the requirements in Article 4(3) and from any obligations relating to compliance with those requirements. Article 4(3) is the provision that applies Annex I Section III and Section IV to services. The exemption therefore reaches the service design, information and sector duties, but not the other chapters of the Directive.
What it does not cover
The exemption is in the services paragraph. It does not exempt a microenterprise that manufactures, imports or distributes a product, and it does not exempt a service provider that also places a product on the market. A microenterprise dealing with products is exempt only from documenting its Article 14 assessment, and must still give the authority the relevant facts if it relies on that exception. The 112 duty in Article 4(8) is separate and is not covered by Article 4(5).
How to evidence the status
Keep a dated extract of the headcount and the accounts for the period you rely on. The status can change, and the exemption is applied at the level of the enterprise providing the service. If a group provides the service through a subsidiary, test the entity that provides it, not the group's consolidated figures, and record the reasoning.
The provisions behind this answer
Check it against the source
Read the provision at EUR-Lex, CELEX 32019L0882. This page states the rule in our own words; the instrument governs. Not legal advice; does not certify.