ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (75)606
Vol.1975/0232

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concernant l'ouverture aupublic desarchives historiques delaCommunauté économique
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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPBÀNCOMMUNÏTDBS
COM(75)606Final
Brussels,28November1975
REPORTONTHESTATEOPIMPLEMENTATION ,;
OPCOUNCILDIRECTIVE68,414/EECAMENDED
.BYCOUNCILDIRECTIVE72/425/EECIMPOS­
INGAifOBLIGATION ONMEMBERSTATESOPTHEEEC
TOMAINTAIN MINIMUMSTOCKSOP,CRUDEOIL
AND/ORPETROLEUM PRODUCTS
/V
C0ÎÎ(75)606Final

I.LEGISLATIVE AKDREGULATORY POSITION
CouncilDirective68/414/EEC,modifiedbyCouncilDirective72/425/EEC
requirestheMemberStatestoadopt,before1January1975»suchlaws,
regulations oradministrative provisionsasmaybeappropriatein
ordertomaintainatalltimestheirstocksofthespecified
categoriesofpetroleumproductsatalevelequivalenttonotless
than90days*average'dailyinternalconsumptioninthepreceding
calendaryear.
On22November1974»theCommissionsentalettertoeachofthe
foreignministersoftheMemberStates,otherthanPrance,
emphasisingtheurgentneedforcompliancewithDirective72/425.
1.,2„,3OnlyfourMemberStates(France,Luxembourg ,Denmarkandthe
1 AUnitedKingdom)havesofarenactedthenecessarylawsand/or
regulations ,etc.
InGermany,alawconcerningtheincreaseofsecuritystockswas
broughtintoforceon24June1975*
Accordingtothatlaw,from1October1976,refineriesareobligedto
holdsecuritystockscorresponding toJOdays*consumption and
dependentimportersareobligedtoholdstocksofJOdays*
consumption .
Stagebystageapplicationisenvisagedfortheindependent
importers;theywillbeobligedtohavesecuritystocksof40days'
consumption by1October1980.
I■,n,.. •/•
1Forthelast16years,theoiltradeasawholeinFrancehas,by
categoryandinapermanentmanner,held90days'emergencystocks(under
-theOrderof10March1958andtheImplementing Orderof13April'1959).
Article4oftheGrandDucalRegulationof31.10.1973(Art.4)«
^RegulationonMinimumStocksof22December1972andRegulationon
EmergencyStocksof12February1973.
^EssentialCommoditiesReservesActof1938andFuelandElectricity
(Control).Actof1973.

-2-
Furthermore ,theGermanGovernment rh:?;s':££"nati'Oftal ^reserve,in-'
undergroundstoragepoints,xvhichwillreach,at.the-'endof1975»
1.6milliontons,in1976,4milliontonsandafinalfigureof10
milliontonsifthe"budgetarypositionpermits.
IntheNetherlands ,adraftlawrequiresrefineriestohold90days*
t
andindependent importerstohold70days'stocks.Thetotal
obligationtohold90days'stockswillbeachievedbytakinginto
accountthe15/tallowanceinrespectofindigenouscrude.
Italy,byvirtueoflawsinforce,doesnotneednewlegislationto
conformwithEECDirective72/425«Itwillbesufficientineffect
toenforceministerial decreeslegallytoobligetheoperatorsto
constituteandmaintainsecuritystocks.Suchanoperationwould
takeaboutamonth. *•-
InBelgium,defacto,thetotalstoragecapacityinthecountryand
thestocksheldexceed,intotal,takingthenational -planasa
whole,the90days'levelrequiredbytheCommission *
Belgiumconfirmsthat,atpresent,shesatisfiestheprincipal
securityobjectivesoftheCommunityDirectiveof20.12.1968.
Atanyrate,Belgiumhasindicatedthatalllegislativemeasureswill
betakenbefore1January1976toimposestocksof90days'
consumption . - ■ ■
1_...InIreland,alegalframeworkexistswherebytheresponsibleminister
.1 .. r ■ r
cantakelegalstepsandregulationswithoutdelayandwithoutneed
:forthepriorapprovalofParliament.
AWorkingPartydrawnfrom.theoilindustrywasformedinAugust1974to
studytheproblemsraisedbytheapplication ,,ofDirective72/425andto
giveadviceonthebestwayofimplementingit.TheWorkingParty
reportedin'January1975;-itsreportisnowbeingconsideredindetail
byallpartiesconcerned,includingtheoilindustryandthevarious
Governmentdepartments . •

-3-
BILATERAL AGK3EKEFTS
•a)3x1gtingagreornents
UnderArticle6ofDirective68/414/3ECstocksKaybeestablished
withintheterritoryofaMemberStatefortheaccountof
undertakings establishedinanotherMemberStateunder
individualagreementsbetweengovernments .-*' •
Uptothepresent,theexistingagreementswhichhavebeen
notifiedtotheCommission areasfollows:
Pernanyhasconcludedagreementswithitsneighbourswithinthe
meaningofthesaidArticle.The"agreementstjithBelgiumandthe
Netherlandsarereciprocal ;thosewithPranceandItaly,however,
areunilateralinthattheyrelateonlytostocksbelongingto
Germanundertakings situatedinaforeigncountry.
LuxembourghasconcludedanagreementwithBelgium.
Apartfromthesebilateralagreements,itshouldbenotedthat
theBel.^o-Luxoinbourgagreement(Article5oftheProtocolof
29January1963)stipulatesthatintheeventofsupply
difficulties ,thetwocountries *disposablestockswillbepooled
andconsidered asawhole.
b)Indraftorunderconsideration
negotiations arenowinprogressbetweenBelgium,ontheonehand,
andtheNetherlands andPrance,ontheother.

-4-
TheUnited Kingdom hasapproached France' !Germany ,Iraland and
theNetherlands with aview tobilateral agreements ;-likewise
Luxembourg hasapproached France ,Ireland andBelgium ,
III .PROBLEMS OFFORMING SECURITY STOCKS ,'
The declarations made bytheMember States ontheincreasing of
stocks to90days hasraised acertain number ofproblems ,
especially :
a)Problems affecting theundertakings /companies -/
^Several Member States have pointed outthat ,although their total
capacity available ,onanational basis ,exceeds the90-day level
overall ,certain companies are atpresent short ofthe
individual storage capacity required .
Certain Member States have said that theamount ofcapital that
will have tobetied upinstocks isoausing cash-flow problems
intheoilindustry (andinparticular totheindependents )which
also maynotalways beable topass ontheadditional costs to
consumers .
b)Monetary problems
Certain Member States have emphasised themonetary problems ,the
funds necessary tobuythesupplementary oil ,risk aggravating
severely thedisequilibrium which already exists inthebalance
ofpayments .
1

IV.STOCK FOSITIOir BTTHECOMMUNITY (situation at1.6.1975 )
Oil/products stocks atthefull disposal ofaMember State inthe
event ofoil supply problems
1.Total stocks (allproducts ) j
-Asemerges from theMember States *returns supplied pursuant to
Directive 68/414/EEC ,"theaverage level ofCommunity stocks on
1January 1975 was 101days ,on1April 1975 »98days andon
1June 1975 ,95days .
2.Stocks bycategory ofproduct
Community Directives require theMember States tohold ,atall
times ,stocks ofpetroleum products equivalent tonot less than
90days *internal consumption ofeach ofthe specified categories
1ofpetroleum products .
1Inthestatistical summary ofstocks provided formArticle 4,finished
products shall beaccounted foraccording totheir actual tonnage ;crude
oilandintermediate products shall beaccounted for :
-intheproportions ofthequantities foreach category ofproduct
obtained during thepreceding calendar year from therefineries ofthe
State concerned ,or
-onthebasis oftheproduction programmes oftherefineries oftheState
concerned forthecurrent year ,or
-onthebasis oftheratio between thetotal quantity manufactured during
thepreceding calendar year inthe State concerned ofproducts covered
bytheobligation tomaintain stocks andthetotal amount ofcrude oil
used during that year ;theforegoing shall apply tonotmore than 40/&
ofthetotal obligation forthefirst andsecond categories (petrol and
gasoils )andtonotmore than 50/£forthethird category (fuel oils ).
Blending components ,when intended forprocessing into thefinished
products listed inArticle 3,maybesiibmitted fortheproducts for
which they areintended .

-6-ι
Analysis ofthe stock situation inrespect ofeach oftheproduct
categories used ,incalculating internal consumption produces the
following results :
a)Category I(motor spirit andaviation gasolines )
The average ,level ofCategory Istocks throughout theCommunity at
1January 1975 was87days ,at1April 19T5 *93days andat
1June 1975 ,92days ,
b)Category II(gasoil ,diesel oil ,kerosene andjetfuel ofthe
kerosene type )
,Thequantities ofCategory IIproducts instock amounted at
1January 1975 to116days ,at1April .1975 to103days andat
1June 1975 "to95days .
c)Category III (fuel oils )
Category IIIstocks ,fortheCommunity asawhole ,amounted at
1January 1975 to90days ,at 1April 1975 to94days andat
1June 1975 to95days .