1968L0414 — EN — 23.12.1968 — 000.001 — 1
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►B COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 20December 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)
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, Consolidated text of corrigenda to instruments published in
Special Editions 1952-72, 29 (68/414)
1968L0414 — EN — 23.12.1968 — 000.001 — 2
▼B
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 20December 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 any difficulty, even temporary, having the effect of reducingsupplies of such products imported from third States could cause seriousdisturbances in the economic activity of the Community; whereas theCommunity must therefore be in a position to offset or at least todiminish any harmful effects in such a case;
Whereas a crisis in obtaining supplies could occur unexpectedly and
whereas it is therefore essential to establish forthwith the necessarymeans 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 establishingand maintaining minimum stocks of the most important petroleumproducts;
Whereas national production contributes in itself to the security of
supply; whereas the conditions of Community production and thegreater security of supply inherent in such production justify making itpossible for Member States to place the burden of maintaining stocks onimports;
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
Member States shall adopt such laws, regulations or administrative
provisions as may be appropriate in order to maintain at all times,subject to the provisions of Articles 2 and 7, their stocks of petroleumproducts at a level corresponding, for each of the categories of petro-leum products listed in Article 3, to at least 65 days’ average dailyinternal consumption in the preceding calendar year.
That part of internal consumption met by derivatives of petroleum
produced indigenously by the Member State concerned may bededucted up to a maximum of 15 % of the said consumption.
Bunker supplies for sea-going vessels shall not be included in the
calculation of internal consumption.
Article 2
Without prejudice to Article 1, Member States may exempt undertak-
ings from the obligation to ►
C1maintain stocks ◄in respect of an
amount not exceeding the quantity of products which those undertak-ings manufacture from indigenously produced crude oil.
(1) OJ No 20, 6.2.1965, p. 330/65.
1968L0414 — EN — 23.12.1968 — 000.001 — 3
▼B
Article 3
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.
Article 4
Member States shall submit to the Commission a statistical summary
showing stocks existing at the end of each quarter, drawn up in accord-ance with Articles 5 and 6 and specifying the number of days ofaverage consumption in the preceding calendar year which those stocksrepresent. This summary must be submitted within ninety days of theend of the quarter.
Article 5
In the statistical summary of stocks provided for in Article 4, finished
products shall be accounted for according to their actual tonnage; crudeoil 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 ofthe State concerned; 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 prod-ucts covered by the obligation to maintain stocks and the totalamount of crude oil used during that year; the foregoing shall applyto not more than ►
C140% 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 3, may be substituted for the products forwhich they are intended.
Article 6
1. When calculating the level of minimum stocks provided for in
Article 1, only those quantities which would be fully at the disposal of aMember State should difficulties arise in obtaining oil supplies shall beincluded in the statistical summary.
Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2, those stocks must be located
within the territory of the State concerned.
2. For the purposes of implementing this Directive, stocks may be
established, under individual agreements between Governments, withinthe territory of a Member State for the account of undertakings estab-lished in another Member State.
In such cases, the Member State in whose territory the stocks are held
may not oppose their transfer to the other Member States; it shall as faras possible keep a check on such stocks but shall not include them in itsstatistical summary. The Member State on whose behalf the stocks areheld may include them in its statistical summary.
Drafts of the agreements mentioned in the first subparagraph shall be
sent to the Commission, which may make its comments known to theGovernments concerned. The agreements, once concluded, shall benotified to the Commission, which shall make them known to the otherMember States.
Agreements shall satisfy the following conditions:
— they must relate to crude oil and to all petroleum products covered
by this Directive;
1968L0414 — EN — 23.12.1968 — 000.001 — 4
▼B
— they must specify the procedures for checking and identifying the
stocks provided for;
— they must as a general rule be concluded for an unlimited period;— they must state that, where provision is made for unilateral termina-
tion, the latter shall not operate in the event of a supply crisis andthat, in any event, the Commission shall receive prior information ofany termination.
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 tomaintain permanent stocks;
— supplies held in barges and coasting-vessels engaging in transport
within national frontiers, in so far as it is possible for the competentauthorities to keep a check on such supplies and provided that thesupplies could be made available immediately;
Consequently the following shall, in particular, be excluded from the
statistical summary: indigenous crude oil not yet extracted; suppliesintended for the bunkers of sea-going vessels; supplies in direct transitapart from the stocks referred to in paragraph 2; supplies in pipelines, inroad tankers and rail tankwagons, in the storage tanks of distributingstations, and those held by small consumers. Quantities held by thearmed forces and those held for them by the oil companies shall also beexcluded from the statistical summary.
Article 7
If difficulties arise with regard to Community oil supplies, the Commis-
sion shall, at the request of any Member State or on its own initiative,arrange a consultation 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 providedfor above, from drawing on their stocks to any extent which wouldreduce those stocks to below 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 situa-
tion with regard to the stocks while they remain below the compul-sory minimum.
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 1January 1971.
Member States shall inform the Commission of measures taken to this
effect.
Article 9
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.