Recital 41

Given the current state of technology, it would be overly burdensome on microenterprises and small enterprises to impose further design obligations in relation to connected products manufactured or designed, or the related services provided, by them. That is not the case, however, where a microenterprise or a small enterprise has a partner enterprise or a linked enterprise within the meaning of Article 3 of the Annex to Recommendation 2003/361/EC that does not qualify as a microenterprise or a small enterprise and where it is subcontracted to manufacture or design a connected product or to provide a related service. In such situations, the enterprise which has subcontracted the manufacturing or design to a microenterprise or a small enterprise is able to compensate the subcontractor appropriately. A microenterprise or a small enterprise may nevertheless be subject to the requirements laid down by this Regulation as data holder where it is not the manufacturer of the connected product or a provider of related services. A transitional period should apply to an enterprise that has qualified as a medium-sized enterprise for less than one year and to connected products for one year after the date on which they were placed on the market by a medium-sized enterprise. Such a one-year period allows such a medium-sized enterprise to adjust and prepare before facing competition in the market for services for the connected products that it manufactures on the basis of the access rights provided by this Regulation. Such a transitional period does not apply where such a medium-sized enterprise has a partner enterprise or a linked enterprise that does not qualify as a microenterprise or a small enterprise or where such a medium-sized enterprise was subcontracted to manufacture or design the connected product or to provide the related service.