Recital (77)

In the event of exceptional emergency situations stemming from natural disasters or other catastrophic events which seriously disrupt economic activities at the level of a Member State or its regions, Member States should be able to act quickly in order to minimise the adverse impact of those situations on the economy. Such situations have arisen in the context of the COVID pandemic and might arise in the context of a systemic crisis as defined in Directive 2014/59/EU or in situations where State aid is compatible with the internal market to repair damage caused by natural disasters or exceptional occurrences pursuant to Article 107(2), point (b), of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In such situations, which imply the risk of widespread insolvencies, including for companies that would be viable under ordinary circumstances, Member States should be able to temporarily derogate from certain provisions of this Directive. The derogations should be limited in scope and time to what is essential to address the exceptional situation, for example by being restricted geographically to the region in the Member States that is affected by a natural disaster. Member States should notify the Commission of the measures which derogate from this Directive, their territorial scope, their duration and a justification of the necessity to implement them. The obligation of Member States to notify those measures should not affect their entry into force and application. The notification, which facilitates the Commission’s monitoring of the compliance of derogations with the relevant requirements, should be brought to the attention of other Member States without undue delay. The maximum duration of the derogation should be one year, and it should be possible to extend it by six-month periods subject to an additional controlling mechanism. Member States should notify the request for an extension no later than three months before the expiration of the derogation in order to allow the Commission to oppose it if needed.