1. Without prejudice to Articles 4(2) and 5, a Member State may provide for an exemption from the obligation imposed in Article 1(1) if as at the balance sheet date of a parent undertaking the undertakings to be consolidated do not together, on the basis of their latest annual accounts, exceed the limits of two of the three criteria laid down in Article 27 of Directive 78/660/EEC.
2. A Member State may require or permit that the set-off referred to in Article 19(1) and the elimination referred to in Article 26(1)(a) and (b) be not effected when the aforementioned limits are calculated. In that case, the limits for the balance sheet total and net turnover criteria shall be increased by 20 %.
3. Article 12 of Directive 78/660/EEC shall apply to the above criteria.
4. This Article shall not apply where one of the undertakings to be consolidated is a company whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market of any Member State within the meaning of Article 1(13) of Counci