Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2001:96
Date: 2001-02-15
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Energy;Free movement of goods;Measures having equivalent effect;Quantitative restrictions
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Greece

Summary of the Judgment 
Free movement of goods — Quantitative restrictions — Measures having equivalent 
effect — Obligation on companies marketing petroleum products and wishing to transfer 
their storage obligation to refineries on national territory to obtain their supplies from 
those refineries — Not permissible — Justification — Protection of public security — 
None 
(EC Treaty, Arts 30 and 36 (now, after amendment, Arts 28 and 30 EC)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-398/98 
A Member State which establishes and 
maintains a system for the compulsory 
maintenance of emergency stocks of petro­
leum products which directly links the 
facility for companies which market those 
products to transfer their storage obligation 
to refineries established in national terri­
tory to an obligation to obtain their 
supplies of those products from those 
refineries fails to fulfil its obligations under 
Article 30 of the Treaty (now, after amend­
ment, Article 28 EC). 
Such a system constitutes discrimination 
against petroleum products from refineries 
situated in other Member States, in that it 
makes their marketing more difficult since 
marketing companies cannot free them­
selves from the obligation to store petro­
leum products at their installations if they 
buy their petroleum products from the 
refineries of those States, and is not justi­
fied by the objective of public security 
within the meaning of Article 36 of the 
Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 30 
EC), since that objective could have been 
achieved by less restrictive measures. 
(see paras 26, 31-32 
and operative part) 
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