1.   Notwithstanding Article 6, applications submitted before the date of adoption of this Decision for the EU Ecolabel for the product group ‘hard covering products’, as defined in Decision 2009/607/EC shall be evaluated in accordance with the conditions laid down in Decision 2009/607/EC.

2.   Applications for the EU Ecolabel for products falling within the product group ‘hard covering products’ submitted on or within two months from the date of adoption of this Decision may be based either on the criteria set out in this Decision, or on the criteria set out in Decision 2009/607/EC for the product group ‘hard coverings’. Those applications shall be evaluated in accordance with the criteria on which they are based.

3.   EU Ecolabel licenses awarded on the basis of an application evaluated in accordance with the criteria set out in Decision 2009/607/EC may be used for 12 months from the date of adoption of this Decision.