Article 81 — Union Safeguard Procedure

Article 81

Union safeguard procedure

1. Where, within three months of receipt of the notification referred to in Article 79(5), or within 30 days in the case of
non-compliance with the prohibition of the AI practices referred to in Article 5, objections are raised by the market
surveillance authority of a Member State to a measure taken by another market surveillance authority, or where the

Commission considers the measure to be contrary to Union law, the Commission shall without undue delay enter into
consultation with the market surveillance authority of the relevant Member State and the operator or operators, and shall
evaluate the national measure. On the basis of the results of that evaluation, the Commission shall, within six months, or
within 60 days in the case of non-compliance with the prohibition of the AI practices referred to in Article 5, starting from
the notification referred to in Article 79(5), decide whether the national measure is justified and shall notify its decision to
the market surveillance authority of the Member State concerned. The Commission shall also inform all other market
surveillance authorities of its decision.

2. Where the Commission considers the measure taken by the relevant Member State to be justified, all Member States
shall ensure that they take appropriate restrictive measures in respect of the AI system concerned, such as requiring the
withdrawal of the AI system from their market without undue delay, and shall inform the Commission accordingly. Where
the Commission considers the national measure to be unjustified, the Member State concerned shall withdraw the measure
and shall inform the Commission accordingly.

3. Where the national measure is considered justified and the non-compliance of the AI system is attributed to

shortcomings in the harmonised standards or common specifications referred to in Articles 40 and 41 of this Regulation,
the Commission shall apply the procedure provided for in Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012.