NoC332/74 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 16.12.92
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveprovidingforappropriatemeasurestobe
takenintheeventofdifficultiesinthesupplyofcrudeoilandpetroleumproductstothe
Community(*)
(92/C332/22)
On14May1992theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle198oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunityonthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforEnergy,NuclearQuestionsandResearch,whichwasresponsibleforpreparing
theCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon14October1992,inthelight
oftheReportbyMrBeale.
Atits300thPlenarySession(meetingof22October1992)theEconomicandSocialCommittee
adoptedunanimouslythefollowingOpinion.
1.Introduction 2.Generalobservations
2.1.Whatneedstobetakenintoaccountisthe
positionoftheCommunitywithintheInternational
EnergyAgency(IEA)—seeAppendicesIandII.Since
whatisusuallycalledthefirst'oilshock'in1973,the
IEAhasbeentheforuminwhichnowtwenty-three
industrializedcountriesagreetocooperateintheevent
ofanotherseriousinterruptioninoilsupplies.1.1.WhentheCommitteewasoriginallyconsulted
onthistopicbytheCouncilinMay1991,ithad
toconsidertwodraftDirectives .Thefirstofthese
concerned—asdoesthepresentone—theCom­
mission'sproposalstoavoidoratleastalleviateoil
supplydifficulties .IneffecttheDirectivewasintended
toupdatetheearlierCouncilDirective73/238and
CouncilDecision77/706,aswellasCommission
Decision79/639.
2.2.Thefactthat,interalia,majoroil-importing
countriessuchastheUSAandJapanaremembersof
theIEA—asarealltwelveCommunitystatesnow
thatFrenchaccessioniscompleted,plusfiveEFTA
StateswhicharemembersoftheEuropeanEconomic
Area—isanimportantguaranteeofadequateinter­
nationalcooperationinanyfuturecrisisofthatkind.
TheaimoftheIEAis,ofcourse,toenableitsmembers
toavoidseriousharmtotheirnormaleconomiclifein
thateventuality .1.2.TheseconddraftDirective,whichisnotat
presentunderconsiderationbytheCommittee,would
haverequiredallMemberStatestoestablishoilstock­
holdingagencies.(OnlyfourMemberStateshavesuch
agencies,therestfindingitmoreconvenienttorelyon
thestoragefacilitiesoftheoilrefinersand/orimporters
inordertofulfiltheirinternationalobligationtohold
90days'stocks.)
1.3.FollowingCouncilmeetingsinMayandOct­
ober1991,theCommissionwasrequiredtopresent
revisedproposals.Nonewdraftoftheoilstockholding
proposalhasyetappeared.Accordingly ,theCommittee
isonlyaskedforitsOpinionuponthedraftDirective
concerningemergencymeasuresinCOM(92)145.2.3.TheInternalMarketprogrammetakeseffecton
1January1993.Itisthereforeevidentthat,oncethe
freemovementofgoodsisareality,emergency
measurestakenindifferentStatesshouldbemutually
compatibleandshouldnotinterferewithtrade.(Such
considerations willalsoapplywithintheEEA,where
measuressuchasquantitativerestrictionsonimports
areprohibitedunderthetermsoftheTreatyinquestion.
SinceEEAMemberStatesarealsomembersoftheIEA,
thisshouldcausenoproblem.)1.4.TheCommitteenotesthatboththeprevious
draftDirectives,presentedbytheCommissionafterthe
IraqiinvasionofKuwaitinAugust1990butbefore
'DesertStorm'inthefirstmonthsof1991,would—if
acceptedbytheCouncil—havesignificantlyincreased
theCommission'spowertoactindependentlyofthe
Councilinthespheresofactivityconcerned.2.4.Althoughmarketforceswouldprobablyoperate
tocountertheeffectsofanysuchdifferences,coordi­
nationofemergencymeasurescouldassistinmain­
tainingsocialcohesion.Measures,e.g.torestrictoil
consumption ,whichdifferedbetweenMemberStates
wouldalsobeatobviousriskofevasion.Apossible
examplewouldbetheclosureofservicestationson
differentdays. (!)OJNoC127,19.5.1992,p.8.

16.12.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC332/75
2.5.Untilrecently,Francewasnotamemberof
theIEAalthoughtheCommissionwaspresentasan
observeratAgencymeetings.WhethertheCommunity
assuchwillnowentertheIEAandonwhatterms
(representation ,votingrights,etc.)isanintergovern­
mentalmatteronwhich—astheCommission hasmade
clear—theCommitteeisnotconsulted.However,the
CommitteenotestheCouncil'sdecisionthat,during
IEAmeetings,MemberStateswillspeakinsupportof
theCommunityposition.
2.6.WhatmustconcerntheCommittee,however,is
thepracticaleffectoftheCommission'sproposals.2.11.FollowingtheCouncil'sguidelines,theCom­
missionnowrecognizesthattheindividualMember
Statesarebestplacedtoidentifythemeasuresmost
likelytobeeffectiveunderlocalcircumstances :the
principleofsubsidiarityisimportanthere.Asthe
Councilhasdecided,theCommissionwillcoordinate
thesemeasureswithaviewtoincreasedefficiencyand
withregardtocompatibilitywiththeTreaty,according
toappropriateprocedures .
2.12.IntheCommittee'sexamination oftwoother
DraftDirectives,ithasbeennoticedthatthereare
referencestoenergyemergencies .TheseareinArticle
25oftheDraftDirectiveconcerningcommonrulesfor
theinternalmarketinelectricity(*)andinArticle23of
theDraftDirectiveconcerningcommonrulesforthe
internalmarketinnaturalgas(2).Sincesuchanemer­
gencycouldderivefromashortfallinoilsupplies,
theCommitteerecommendsthatthoseprovisionsbe
reviewedinlightofthepresentproposals.
2.13.Moreover,Article3ofanotherDraftDirective
—thatontheconditionsforgrantingandusingauthor­
izationsfortheprospection ,explorationandextraction
ofhydrocarbons (2)—permitsMemberStatestoretain
theoptiontoprohibitinteraliatheextractionofhydro­
carbonsongroundsof,e.g.'publicsecurity'.Thatpro­
visioncouldalsogiverisetoconflictinginterpretations
ofMemberStates'obligationsunderthatDirectiveand
thepresentone,unlesstheCommissionalsoreviews
themboth.2.7.Thatisnotaparticularlyeasymattertodeter­
mine,astherehasnotsince1974beenanoilsupply
crisisofsufficientgravityordurationtorequirethat
comprehensive measuresbe'triggered',eitherwithin
theCommunityorinthewiderIEA.
2.8.GiventheimportanceofoiltotheCommunity's
economy,itisobviouslyessentialthatpreparationsbe
inplacewellaheadoftimetocountertheeffectsand
alleviatetheextentofanyshortfallinsupplies.Contin­
gencyplanningintimesofnormalsupplyshouldpermit
theprioridentificationofthosemeasureswhichMem­
berStatescouldtakewhilerespectingCommunityLaw
andtheessentialsoftheInternalMarket.Forward
planningofthiskindis,infact,alreadyanintegralpart
oftheIEA'sactivity(seeAppendixII).3.Specificcomments
3.1.ThePreamble
3.1.1.TheCommitteesupportsthewordingofthe
Preambleinprinciple,sinceitrecognizestheneedfor
themeasurestakenintheeventofanoilsupplycrisis
tobedecidedinitiallywithintheIEAframework .Itis
not,however,entirelyclearwhatwouldbethe'excep­
tionallyserioussupplydifficulties'whichwould,
accordingtooneparagraph,justifytheCommunity
taking'independentactionunilaterally',unlessoneor
moreECMemberStateswereaffectedwhiletherest
oftheIEAwerenot.(Eventhen,however,theIEA
wouldbeboundtoactinaccordancewithitstreaty
obligations.)2.9.Itmustberecognizedthatthereisarelatively
smallnumberofcivilservantsandoilindustryperson­
nelwiththenecessaryseniorityandexperienceavailable
fordiscussionsatnationallevelandtoattendtherel­
evantmeetingsofboththeIEAandtheCommunityin
theeventofanoilsupplycrisis.Itwillthereforebe
essentialthattheprocedurestobeestablishedshould
minimizetheburdenontheindividualsinvolvedand
shouldnotaffecttheefficiencyofexistingdecision­
makingpractices.Fortunately,theCommissionreco­
gnizesthatconcernandhasstructuredtheDraftDirec­
tiveappropriately .TheCommissionadvisesthatitis
intendedthatthemembersoftheadvisoryOilSupply
Committee (seeparagraph3.4.2below)shouldbethe
sameindividualsastheMemberStates'representatives
ontheIEAGoverningBoard.3.2.Article1
3.2.1.TherequirementthatMemberStatesinform
theCommissionofthearrangementsandplansforcrisis
measuresbeingtakenlocallyisobviouslyessential.2.10.Thedatauponwhichthenecessarydecisions
willcontinuetobebasedmustinsomecasescomefrom
thesenioremployeesofvariousoilcompanieswho
attendtheIEA'sIndustryAdvisoryBoard(seeAppendix
II)—acaseinpointbeingthelocationoftankerson
thehighseas,theirnormaldestinationsandthevolumes
ofoilbeingcarried.(1)OJNoC71,20.3.1992.
(2)OJNoC139,2.6.1992.

NoC332/76 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 16.12.92
3.4.Article3
3.4.1.TheCommitteesupportstheproposalfora
bodysuchastheOilSupplyCommitteetoadvisethe
Commission .However,itisunderstoodthatrecourse
totheCouncilanddeferralofthemeasureswould
occuronlyinexceptionalcircumstances .
3.4.2.TheOilSupplyCommitteewouldbecompo­
sedofnationalgovernmentrepresentatives andCom­
missionofficials.Thereisnomentionofanymachinery
bywhichthesocialpartners—orindeedtheoilrefiners
andoilproductimportersinparticular—wouldbe
consulted.3.3.Article2
3.3.1.Theshapeofthecrisismeasureswillhave
beendeterminedbydecisionstakenwithintheIEAand
theCommunity'sMemberStates.Itthereforeappears
thattheCommunity'spositionwouldnotdifferfrom
thatoftheIEAasawhole,unlessamajorityofthe
twelveCommunitygovernmentswereatoddswith
theirIEApartners.
3.3.2.Thevariousproceduresdescribedinthis
Articlewouldbeapplicabletothecontingencyplanning
innormaltimeswhichtheCommitteebelievesisessen­
tial.Inacrisis,itwouldbenecessarytoavoidserious
delayandconfusionwhileMembergovernments ,oil
refinersandoilimporterswereengaged—asinpre­
viouscrises—inintenseactivityaimedatalleviating
supplydifficulties .3.5.Articles4,5,6andAnnex
Nocomment.
DoneatBrussels,22October1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN