§7.6.2 The application of the safeguard clause

COMMISSION NOTICE The ‘Blue Guide’ on the implementation of EU product rules 2022 · European Union

— A large part of Union harmonisation legislation has a detailed procedure that applies across the EU when Member States adopt compulsory restrictive measures. — The mechanism allows other Member States and the Commission to object. It also allows the Commission to take a position on the national measures restricting the free movement of products with a view to ensuring the functioning of the internal market. The safeguard clause procedure, based on Article 114(10) TFEU and included in a large part of sectoral Union harmonisation legislation, requires Member States to take provisional measures in relation to products presenting a risk to health and safety or other aspects of public interests protection and obliges them to notify those measures to the Commission and other Member States. The safeguard clause procedure is designed to provide a means to notify all national market surveillance authorities and the Commission about measures taken on products presenting a risk to health and safety or other aspects of public interests protection, including the grounds for the decision, and, accordingly, to have the necessary restrictions extended to all Member States, so as to ensure an equivalent level of protection throughout the EU. Furthermore, it allows other Member States and the Commission to take a position on the national measures restricting the free movement of products with a view to ensuring the functioning of the internal market. It is to be noted that the safeguard procedure is different from RAPEX notification procedure because of their different notification criteria and different methods of application. The safeguard clause procedures under the Union harmonisation legislation apply independently from RAPEX. Accordingly, RAPEX does not necessarily have to come into play before the safeguard clause procedure is applied. However, the safeguard clause procedure has to be applied, in addition to RAPEX, when a Member State takes a decision to prohibit or restrict the free movement of products covered by Union harmonisation legislation on the basis of a danger or other serious risk presented by the product.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07