‘Notification’ means providing information. There are various procedures in accordance with which the Member States are required to notify/inform the Commission that they have adopted national legislation.
The first procedure involves Member States informing the Commission that they have now adopted rules implementing directives in national law.
The second procedure involves a Member State informing the Commission of the adoption of national rules which may constitute a barrier to trade, i.e. prevent the free exchange of goods between the EU countries. The Commission then has three months in which to assess whether a Member State’s proposed national rules will entail a form of discrimination against goods from the other Member States in the country in question. If the country has not heard from the Commission within three months, the national rules may enter into force.
However, if the Commission assesses that there may be problems associated with adoption of the new national rules, a procedure of long duration will begin, and the Member State must wait to enforce the rules until the detailed examination has been completed. As a last resort, the Commission may, where appropriate, prohibit enforcement of the rules.
Finally, the Member States are obliged to inform the Commission of state aids.