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"B COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 20 December 1968
imposing an obligation on Member States of the EEC to maintain minimum stocks of crude oil and/or
petroleum products
(68/414/EEC)
(OJ L 308, 23.12.1968, p. 14)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Council Directive 72/425/EEC of 19 December 1972 L 291 154 28.12.1972
"M2 Council Directive 98/93/EC of 14 December 1998 L 358 100 31.12.1998
Corrected by:
"C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 999, 1.1.1973, p. 29 (68/414)1968L0414 — EN — 31.12.1998 — 002.001 — 1
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 20 December 1968
imposing an obligation on Member States of the EEC to maintain
minimum stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products
(68/414/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
and in particular Article 103 thereof;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament (
1);
Whereas imported crude oil and petroleum products are of increasing
importance in providing the Community with supplies of energy; whereas anydifficulty, even temporary, having the effect of reducing supplies of suchproducts imported from third States could cause serious disturbances in the
economic activity of the Community; whereas the Community must therefore
be in a position to offset or at least to diminish any harmful effects in such acase;
Whereas a crisis in obtaining supplies could occur unexpectedly and whereas
it is therefore essential to establish forthwith the necessary means to make
good a possible shortage;
Whereas, to this end, it is necessary to increase the security of supply for
crude oil and petroleum products in Member States by establishing andmaintaining minimum stocks of the most important petroleum products;
Whereas national production contributes in itself to the security of supply;
whereas the conditions of Community production and the greater security of
supply inherent in such production justify making it possible for MemberStates to place the burden of maintaining stocks on imports;
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
1. Member States shall adopt such laws, regulations or administrative
provisions as may be appropriate in order to maintain within the EuropeanCommunity at all times, subject to the provisions of Article 7, their stocks ofpetroleum products at a level corresponding, for each of the categories of
petroleum products listed in Article 2, to at least 90 days’ average daily
internal consumption in the preceding calendar year referred to in Article 4.
2. That part of internal consumption met by derivatives of petroleum
produced indigenously by the Member State concerned may be deducted up to
a maximum of 25 % of the said consumption. The distribution within the
Member States of the result of such a deduction shall be decided by theMember State concerned.
Article "M2 23
The following categories of product shall be taken into account in calculating
internal consumption:
— motor spirit and aviation fuel (aviation spirit and jet-fuel of the gasoline
type);
— gas oil, diesel oil, kerosine and jet-fuel of the kerosine type;— fuel oils.!B
(1) OJ No 20, 6.2.1965, p. 330/65.!M2
!B1968L0414 — EN — 31.12.1998 — 002.001 — 2
!M2
Bunker supplies for sea-going vessels shall not be included in the calculation
of internal consumption.
Article 3
1. Stocks maintained in accordance with Article 1 shall be fully at the
disposal of Member States should difficulties arise in obtaining oil supplies.
Member States shall ensure that they have the legal powers to control the use
of stocks in such circumstances.
At all other times, Member States shall ensure the availability and
accessibility of these stocks; they shall establish arrangements allowing for
the identification, accounting and control of the stocks.
2. Member States shall ensure that fair and non-discriminatory conditions
apply in their stockholding arrangements.
The cost burden resulting from the maintenance of stocks in accordance with
Article 1 shall be identified by transparent arrangements. In this context,
Member States may adopt measures to obtain appropriate informationregarding the cost burden of stockholding in accordance with Article 1 and tomake such information available to interested parties.
3. To fulfil the requirements of paragraphs 1 and 2, Member States may
decide to have recourse to a stockholding body or entity which will be
responsible for holding all or part of the stocks.
Two or more Member States may decide to have recourse to a joint
stockholding body or entity. In that case they shall be jointly responsible for
the obligations deriving from this Directive.
Article 4
Member States shall submit to the Commission a statistical summary showing
stocks existing at the end of each month, drawn up in accordance with
Articles 5 and 6 and specifying the number of days of average consumption in
the preceding calendar year which those stocks represent. This summary mustbe submitted at the latest by the 25th day of the second month after the monthto be reported.
A Member State’ s stockholding obligation shall be based on the previous
calendar year’ s internal consumption. At the beginning of each calendar year,
Member States must re-calculate their stockholding obligation at the latest by
31 March in each year and ensure that they comply with their new obligationsas soon as possible and, in any event, at the latest by 31 July in each year.
In the statistical summary, stocks of jet fuel of the kerosene type shall be
reported separately under category II.
Article 5
Stocks required to be maintained by Article 1 may be maintained in the form
of crude oil and intermediate products, as well as in the form of finished
products.
In the statistical summary of stocks provided for in Article 4, finished
products shall be accounted for according to their actual tonnage; crude oil
and intermediate products shall be accounted for:
— in the proportions of the quantities for each category of product obtained
during the preceding calendar year from the refineries of the Stateconcerned, or
— on the basis of the production programmes of the refineries of the State
concerned for the current year, or
— on the basis of the ratio between the total quantity manufactured during
the preceding calendar year in the State concerned of products covered bythe obligation to maintain stocks and the total amount of crude oil usedduring that year; the foregoing shall apply to not more than 40 % of the
total obligation for the first and second categories (petrol and gas oils),
and to not more than 50 % for the third category (fuel oils).
Blending components, when intended for processing into the finished
products listed in Article 2, may be substituted for the products for which
they are intended.1968L0414 — EN — 31.12.1998 — 002.001 — 3
Article 6
1. When calculating the level of minimum stocks provided for in Article 1,
only those quantities which would be held in accordance with Article 3(1)shall be included in the statistical summary.
2. For the purposes of implementing this Directive, stocks may be
established, under agreements between Governments, within the territory of
a Member State for the account of undertakings, or bodies/entities,established in another Member State. It is for the Government of the Member
State concerned to decide whether to hold a part of its stocks outside its
national territory.
In such cases, the Member State on whose territory the stocks are held under
the framework of such an agreement shall not oppose the transfer of thesestocks to the other Member States for the account of which stocks are held
under that agreement; it shall keep a check on such stocks in accordance with
the procedures specified in that agreement but shall not include them in itsstatistical summary. The Member State on whose behalf the stocks are heldmay include them in its statistical summary.
In such cases, together with the statistical summary provided for by Article 4,
each Member State shall send a report to the Commission concerning thestocks maintained within its own territory for the benefit of another MemberState, as well as the stocks held in other Member States for its own benefit. In
both cases, the storage locations and/or companies holding the stocks,
quantities and product category — or crude oil — stored will be indicated inthe report.
Drafts of the agreements mentioned in the first subparagraph shall be sent to
the Commission, which may make its comments known to the Governments
concerned. The agreements, once concluded, shall be notified to the
Commission, which shall make them known to the other Member States.
Agreements shall satisfy the following conditions:— they must relate to crude oil and to all petroleum products covered by this
Directive,
— they must lay down conditions and arrangements for the maintenance of
stocks with the aim of safeguarding control and availability of these
stocks,
— they must specify the procedures for checking and identifying the stocks
provided for, inter alia, the methods for carrying out and cooperating oninspections,
— they must as a general rule be concluded for an unlimited period,
— they must state that, where provision is made for unilateral termination,
the latter shall not operate in the event of a supply crisis and that, in anyevent, the Commission shall receive prior information of any termination.
When stocks established under such agreements are not owned by the
undertaking, or body/entity, which has an obligation to hold stocks, but are
held at the disposal of this undertaking, or body/entity, by another
undertaking, or body/entity, the following conditions shall be met:
— the beneficiary undertaking, or body/entity, must have the contractual
right to acquire these stocks throughout the period of the contract; themethodology for establishing the price of such acquisition must be agreed
between the parties concerned,
— the minimum period of such a contract must be 90 days,— storage location and/or companies holding the stocks at the disposal of
the beneficiary undertaking, or body/entity, as well as quantity andcategory of product, or crude oil, stored in that location must be
specified,
— the actual availability of the stocks for the beneficiary undertaking, or
body/entity, must be guaranteed, at all times throughout the period of thecontract, by the undertaking or body/entity holding the stocks at thedisposal of the beneficiary undertaking, or body/entity,
— the undertaking, or body/entity, holding the stocks at the disposal of the
beneficiary undertaking, or body/entity, must be one which is subject tothe jurisdiction of the Member State on whose territory the stocks are!B
!M21968L0414 — EN — 31.12.1998 — 002.001 — 4
situated insofar as the legal powers of that Member State to control and
verify the existence of the stocks are concerned.
3. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 1, the following may be included
in the stocks:
— supplies on board oil tankers in port for the purpose of discharging, once
the port formalities have been completed;
— supplies held in ports of discharge;
— supplies held in tanks at the entry to oil pipelines;
— supplies held in refinery tanks, excluding those supplies in pipes and
refining plant;
— supplies held in storage by refineries and by importing, storage or
wholesale distribution firms;
— supplies held in storage by large-scale consumers in compliance with the
provisions of national law concerning the obligation to maintainpermanent stocks;
— supplies held in barges and coasting-vessels engaging in transport within
national frontiers, in so far as it is possible for the competent authorities
to keep a check on such supplies and provided that the supplies could bemade available immediately;
Consequently the following shall, in particular, be excluded from the
statistical summary: indigenous crude oil not yet extracted; supplies intended
for the bunkers of sea-going vessels; supplies in direct transit apart from thestocks referred to in paragraph 2; supplies in pipelines, in road tankers and
rail tank-wagons, in the storage tanks of retail outlets, and those held by small
consumers. Quantities held by the armed forces and those held for them by theoil companies shall also be excluded from the statistical summary.
Article 6a
Member States shall adopt all the necessary provisions and take all the
necessary measures to ensure control and supervision of stocks. They shall
put in place mechanisms to verify the stocks according to the provisions of
this Directive.
Article 6b
Member States shall determine the penalties applicable to breaches of the
national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive and shall take anymeasure necessary to ensure the implementation of these provisions. The
penalties shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
Article 7
If difficulties arise with regard to Community oil supplies, the Commission
shall, at the request of any Member State or on its own initiative, arrange aconsultation between the Member States.
Save in cases of particular urgency or in order to meet minor local needs,
Member States shall refrain, prior to the consultation provided for above, fromdrawing on their stocks to any extent which would reduce those stocks tobelow the compulsory minimum level.
Member States shall inform the Commission of any withdrawals from their
reserve stocks and shall communicate as soon as possible:
— the date upon which stocks fell below the compulsory minimum;
— the reasons for such withdrawals;
— the measures, if any, taken to replenish stocks;
— an appraisal, if possible, of the probable development of the situation
with regard to the stocks while they remain below the compulsoryminimum.!M2
!B
!M2
!B1968L0414 — EN — 31.12.1998 — 002.001 — 5
Article 8
The establishment of stocks as required by this Directive shall be offered as
soon as possible after notification thereof and not later than 1 January 1971.
Member States shall inform the Commission of measures taken to this effect.
Article 9
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.!B1968L0414 — EN — 31.12.1998 — 002.001 — 6