The safeguard clause referred to in Article 9 is the EEA procedure whereby any measure taken by a Member State, on the grounds of non-compliance with the protection requirements and for the purpose of withdrawing from the market, prohibiting the placing on the market or restricting the free movement of apparatus accompanied by one of the means of attestation provided for in the Directive and therefore bearing the CE marking, must be immediately notified to the Commission by the Member State which has taken it.

A notified measure which fulfils the criteria of invoking the safeguard clause is followed by a process of consultation between the Commission and the 'parties concerned' The 'parties concerned' primarily means the Member State of the EEA which has taken the restrictive measure, the manufacturer or his authorised representative established within the EEA or, failing them, the person who placed the apparatus on the EEA market.

The consultation procedure enables the Commission, on the basis of the above reasons, to assess whether the restrictive measure is justified. This means that the measures notified to the Commission must be accompanied by detailed information specifying in particular the reasons why the protection requirements laid down in the Directive have not been complied with by the apparatus concerned.

Where the Commission finds, following such consultation,that the measures are justified, it immediately informs the Member State which took the initiative and the other Member States. In the Commission's view, the objective of informing the other Member States is to prompt these Member States to take appropriate measures.

Where the Commission finds that the measures are not justified, it reserves the right to proceed under Article 169 of the European Union Treaty. Before doing this, it will immediately inform the Member State which took the initiative and the manufacturer or, failing this, any other person who placed the apparatus on the EEA market.