L 32/130 Official Journal of the European Union 6.2.2007 COMMISSION DECISION of 8 December 2006 concerning national provisions notified by Denmark on certain industrial greenhouse gases (notified under document number C(2006) 5934) (Only the Danish text is authentic) (2007/62/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 95(6) thereof, Whereas: L FACTS AND PROCEDURE By letter of 2 June 2006 the Permanent Representation of the Kingdom of Denmark to the European Union, the Danish Government, referring to Article 9(3)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council ('), notified to the Commission its national provisions concerning the regulation of certain industrial greenhouse gases that it deems necessary to maintain after the adoption of that Regulation, together with the justification for maintenance. In this letter the Danish Government points out that the Kingdom of Denmark intends to maintain its national provisions which are more stringent than the Regulation, in accordance with Article 9(3)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 842/ 2006. 1. Community legislation 1.1. Article 95(4) and (6) of the EC Treaty Article 95(4) of the EC Treaty provides that ‘If, after the adoption by the Council or by the Commission of a harmonisation measure, a Member State deems it necessary to maintain national provisions on grounds of major needs referred to in Article 30, or relating to the protection of the environment or the working environment, it shall notify the Commission of these provisions as well as the grounds for maintaining them.” According to Article 95(6), the Commission shall, within six months of the notification, approve or reject the national provisions involved after having verified whether or not they are a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between Member States and whether or not they shall constitute an obstacle to the functioning of the internal market. () OJL 161, 16.4.2006, p. 1. (1) 1.2. Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) aims at preventing and contain- ing the emissions of certain F-gases (HFCs, PFCs and SF6) covered by the Kyoto Protocol. It also contains a limited number of use bans and placing on the market prohibitions when alternatives were considered available and cost effective at Community level and where improvement of containment and recovery were regarded as not feasible. The Regulation has a double legal base, Article 175(1) of the EC Treaty with respect to all provisions but Articles 7, 8 and 9, which are based on Article 95 of the EC Treaty due to their implications in terms of free circulation of goods within the EC single market. Article 9 of the Regulation governs the placing on the market and, more precisely, prohibits the marketing of a number of products and equipment containing, or whose functioning relies upon, F-gases covered by the Regulation. In its paragraph 3(a) it stipulates that Member States that have, by 31 December 2005, adopted national measures which are stricter than those laid down in the Article and which fall under the scope of the Regulation may maintain those national measures until 31 December 2012. In accordance with its paragraph 3(b), these measures and their justification shall be notified to the Commission and they shall be compatible with the Treaty. The Regulation shall apply with effect from 4 July 2007, with the exception of Article 9 and Annex II, which shall apply from 4 July 2006. 2. National provisions notified The national provisions notified by Denmark were introduced by Order No 552 of 2 July 2002. The Order concerns three greenhouse gases classified under the Kyoto Protocol, most of which have high global warming potentials: hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluor- ocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).