16At paragraphs 41 to 44 of the judgment under appeal, the Court stated:41 Contrary to what the applicants claim, the fact that the procedure in Article 95(5) EC relates to national measures which are still in draft form does not mean that it can be distinguished from the procedure laid down in Article 95(4) EC to an extent that the right to be heard can be held to apply to it. The applicants cannot properly argue that the requirement for speed is less great when examining a national measure which has not yet entered into force, so that the Commission could easily extend the six-month deadline laid down in Article 95(6) EC in order to have an exchange of arguments.42 First, the applicants’ argument is contrary to the letter of Article 95(6) EC. That provision applies without distinction to requests for derogation concerning national measures in force, referred to in Article 95(4) EC, and to requests concerning measures in draft form, to which Article 95(5) EC is applicable. Also, the Commission may exercise the option, provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 95(6) EC, of extending the six-month deadline for making a decision only if the complexity of the matter makes it necessary and in the absence of danger for human health. It is apparent therefore that the third subparagraph of Article 95(6) EC does not allow the Commission to defer the end of the six-month period for making a decision only so that the Member State which has submitted a request for derogation under Article 95(5) EC to it can be given the opportunity to state its views.43 Second, the applicants' argument runs counter to the scheme of Article 95(5) EC. The fact that that provision relates to a national measure which is not yet in force does not diminish the interest in having the Commission rule quickly on the request for derogation which has been submitted to it. The authors of the [EC] Treaty intended that that procedure should be speedily concluded in order to safeguard the applicant Member State's interest in being certain of the applicable rules, and in the interest of the proper functioning of the internal market.44 On that latter point, it should be pointed out that, in order to avoid prejudicing the binding nature and uniform application of Community law, the procedures laid down in Article 95(4) and (5) EC are both intended to ensure that no Member State applies national rules derogating from the harmonised legislation without obtaining prior approval from the Commission. In that respect, the rules applicable to national measures notified under Article 95(4) EC do not differ significantly from those which apply to national measures still in draft form notified under Article 95(5) EC. Under both procedures, the measures in question are inapplicable as long as the Commission has not adopted its decision on whether to grant a derogation. Under Article 95(5) EC, that situation arises from the very nature of the measures in question, which are still in draft form. As regards Article 95(4) EC, that situation arises from the subject-matter of the procedure which it lays down. The Court of Justice has pointed out that measures for the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the internal market would be rendered ineffective if Member States retained the right unilaterally to apply national rules derogating from those measures. A Member State is not, therefore, authorised to apply the national provisions notified by it under Article 95(4) EC until after it has obtained a decision from the Commission (see, by analogy with the procedure under Article 100a(4) of the EC Treaty, Case C-41/93 France v Commission [1994] ECR I-1829, paragraphs 29 and 30, and Case C-319/97 Kortas [1999] ECR I-3143, paragraph 28).
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