ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(74)1964
Vol.1974/0319

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenneetdelaCommunautéeuropéennedel'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiésconformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
InaccordancewithCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
CommunityandtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity(OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocumentsinthis
filehavebeendeclassified inconformitywithArticle5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung(EWG,Euratom)Nr.354/83desRatesvom1.
Februar1983überdieFreigabederhistorischen ArchivederEuropäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI.L43vom15.2.1983,
S.1),geändertdurchdieVerordnung(EG,Euratom)Nr.1700/2003vom22.September2003
(ABI.L243vom27.9.2003,S.1),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeitzugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(74)1964 final
l
Bruxelles,27november1974
PROPOSALFORACOUNCILDECISION (EEC)
onthemeasuresto"betaken
mtheeventofoilsupplydifficulties ;
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission)
COMm)196^final

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Asudden drop inimports ofcrude oilandpetroleum products ,which isasign ofa
difficult supply situation ,is,byandlarge ,affecting allimporting countries .
Tocope with thesituation far-reaching international cooperation isnecessary .
Theproblem ofallocating available oilsupplies intheevent ofsupply difficulties
must therefore beexamined inthe context ofthe Community 'sexternal relations .
nevertheless ,special Community arrangements should beintroduced inorder to
safeguard theunity ofthecommon market intheevent ofsupply difficulties .This
isanobligation under theTreaty ,but itisalso essential ifwithin the
Community allusers ofenergy aretoshoulder their fair share oftheburden
resulting from thecrisis .
When supply difficulties arise itisnecessary :
(a)tosetforthewhole oftheCommunity aspecific target forthereduction of
energy consumption .This target must relate toallforms ofenergy andnot
only tocrude oilandpetroleum products ,sinoe theshare ofthese fuels in
total energy consumption varies greatly from country tocountry ;
(b)tocoordinate national measures torestrict consumption sothat thevarious
countries' economies areaffected asuniformly aspossible ;
(c)toprevent price movements which could enable certain regions toobtain supplies
more advantageously ,which would beattheothers' expense ;
(d)tobase export policy inrespect ofthird countries onuniform principles ,with
Community decision-taking procedures .
Ifthese four conditions aresatisfied itshould normally bepossible tomaintain
free movement oftheproducts within theCommunity .However ,especially ifthe
shortage affects Mera ". States unevenly ,itcannotberuled outthat disturbances
inintra-Community ttu might seriously jeopardize supplies tocertain parts ofthe
Community andmight require theintroduction ofprotective measures .Andother
^supplementary measures maybeneeded toensure thesatisfactoiy organization ofthe
supply ofcrude oilandoilproducts totheentire Community ,onwhich decisions
will have tobetaken quickly .

_2-
Several ofthese points arealready covered "byinstruments miorce orfcy
Commission proposals which are "being discussed "bytheCouncil .
Directive No68/414/EEC ,asamended "byDirective No72/425/EEC ,which imposed the
obligation tomaintain emergency stocks ofcrude oilandpetroleum products
corresponding to90days' consumption ,provides forconsultation between the
Member States andthe Commission with respect towithdrawals from those stocks .
Council Directive No73/238/EEChasasitsobject thecoordination ofmeasures
tomitigate theeffects ofsupply difficulties .Aproposal foraCouncil
Regulation (Annex IIItoDocCOM(74)550 final )provides fortheintroduction of
common rules forimports and exports ofhydrocarbons .Pricing policy isbeing
studied byaspecial working party oftheEnergy Committee .The Commission will
present aproposal tothe Council onthebasis oftheworking party 'sconclusions .
Thetwoproposals contained inAnnexes Iana IIprovide the legal basis forthe
other measures ,which would beputinto effect only intheevent ofacrisis .
Oneconcerns thesetting ofaCommunity target forthereduction ofenergy
consumption ;theother provides fortheintroduction ofarrangements for supervising
intra-Community trade andspecifies that protective measures maybeapplied if
supplies toone ormore Member States areseriously endangered .
Inboth cases ,toenable themeasures envisaged tobeputinto effect immediately ,
itisproposed that thedecision inquestion beadopted bythe Commission and
applied without delay bytheMember States .The Council mayamend orrepeal
the Commission 'sdecision within ten days .

Annex I
PROPOSAL FOR ACOUNCIL DECISION PITTHE SETTING OFACOMMUNITY
TARGET FOR AREDUCTION INTHE CONSUMPTION OFPRIMARY FORMS OF
ENERGY INTHE EVENT OFDIFFICULTIES INTHE SUPPLY OFCRUDE
OIL ORPETROLEUM PRODUCTS
THE COUNCIL OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean' Economic Community ,and
inparticular Article 103(4 )thereof ;
Having regard tothe proposal from the Commission ;
A
Having regard toCouncil Directive No73/238/EEC of24July 1973 onmeasures
tomitigate theeffects ofdifficulties inthesupply ofcrude oilandpetroleum
products ;
Having regard toCouncil Directive No68/414/EEC of20December 1968 imposing an
obligation onMember States oftheEEC tomaintain minimum stocks ofcrude oil
and/orpetroleum products ;
Whereas -inthe itofsupply difficulties theconsumption ofenergy products in
the Community «.Idbereduced byreference totheforeseeable trend ofsupplies and
of .,withdrawals ,ifany ,from theemergency stocks ;
Whereas ,intaking measures tomeet thetarget forareduction inenergy consumption
setforthewhole oftheCommunity ,Member States will have regard tothestructure
of:.their particular market ;
OJNoL228 ,16August 1973 ,p.1.
^OJNoL308,23December 1968 ,p.14*

-2-
HASADOPTEDTHESDECISION: j
l
Article 1
1.Wheredifficulties ariseinthesupplyofcrudeoilorpetroleumproducts
inoneormoreMemberStates,theCommission,actingattherequestofa
MemberStateoronitsowninitiative,may,afterconsultingtheMember
States,setfortheCommunityasawholeatargetforreducingthetotal
consumption ofprimaryformsofenergy.Intheeventofaslightshortfall
insupplies,thereductioninconsumption maybeconfinedtopetroleum
products.
2.Whereintervention bytheCommissionhasbeenrequestedbyaMemberState,the
Commissionshalltakeadecisionwithinamaximumoffiveworkingdays
followingreceiptofsuchrequest.
3.AnydecisiontakenbytheCommissiontosetatargetforreducingconsumption
pursuanttoparagraph 1shallbecommunicated totheCouncilandtothe
MemberStates.AnyMemberStatemay,withintenworkingdaysfollowingthe
dayofcommunication ,refersuchdecisiontotheCouncil.TheCouncil,
actingbyaqualifiedmajority,mayrepealoramendtheCommission^decision.
4.DecisionstakenbytheCommissionshallapplyassoonastheyhavebeen
communicated toMemberStates.
Article2
MemberStatesshallwithoutdelaytake.allmeasuresnecessarytoreduce
theirconsumptionofpetroleumproductsand/orotherprimaryformsof
energybyatleasttheirshareofthereductiontargetsetforthewhole
CommunitypursuanttoArticle 1.

-3-
Article 3
TheMember States shall inform the Commission ,assoon asthey are put
into effect ,ofallthemeasures taken pursuant toArticle 2.
Article 4
This Decision isaddressed tothe Member States .
Done atBrussels ,
For the Council
The Président

AMEX II
PROPOSAL FORACOUNCIL DECISION ONINTRA -
COMMUTTITY TRADE INCRUDE OIL AND PETROLEUM
PRODUCTS INTHEEVENT OPSUPPLY DIFFICULTIES
THE COUNCIL OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having Regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Economic Community ,
and .inparticular Article 103(4 )thereof ;
Having regard totheproposal from the Commission ;
Having regard toCouncil Directive No73/238/EEC of24July 1973 onmeasures
tomitigate theeffects ofdifficulties inthe supply ofcrude oiland
petroleum products ;
Whereas ;itisnecessary toprevent such supply difficulties from causing
disturbances intrade within the Community which would seriously jeopardize
supplies toone ormore Member States ;
Whereas itisnecessary tobecontinuously informed regarding intra-Community
trade inorder tokeep acheck onthedevelopment ofthe situation ;
Whereas asystem ofautomatic authorizations isanappropriate means which
least affects trade within the Community ;
Whereas protective measures mayprove necessary ;
Whereas that other supplementary measures may also benecessary forthe
satisfactory organization ofthesupply ofcrude oilandoilproducts to
theentire Community .
OJNoL228 ,18August 1973 »p-1.

HASADOPTEDTHISDECISION :
Article 1
1.VJheredifficulties ariseinthesupplyofcrudeoilorpetroleumproducts
inoneormoreMemberStates,theCommission ,actingattherequestofa
MemberStateoronitsowninitiative ,maydecidetomakeintrs.-Community
tradeinproductsfallingwithinheadingNo27.09andsubheading
Fos27.10A,B,CIandCIIoftheCommonCustomsTariffsubjectto
automaticauthorization ,to"begranted "by"theexportingMemberState.
Authorizations shallhegraftedwithoutdelayandfreeofadministrative
chargesinrespectofanyquantityrequestedandforamaximumperiod
ofonemonth.
2.Whereintervention "bytheCommissionhas"beenrequested "byaMember
State,theCommissionshalltakeadecisionwithinamaximumoffive
workingdaysfollowingreceiptofsuchremiest.
3.Anydecisiontaken"bytheCommissiontointroduceasystemofauthorizati
pursuanttoparagraph 1shall "becommunicated totheCouncilandtothe
MemberStates.AnyMemberStatemay,withintenworkingdaysfollowing
thedayofcommunication ,refersuchdecisiontotheCouncil.The
Council,actingbyaqualifiedmajority,mayrepealtheCommission's
decisionor.altertheconditionsandprocedureslaiddowntherein.
4.DecisionstakenbytheCommissionshallapplyassoonastheyhavebeen
communicated toMemberStates.Theyshallnotapplytoproductswhich
arealreadyunderway.

Article 2
1.TheMember States concerned shall inform theCommission every other
Wednesday andforthefirst time onthesecond Wednesday following :the
dayofcommunication ofadecision taken pursuant toArticle 1:
(a)ofauthorizations delivered during theperiod oftwoweeks
expiring atmidnight ontheSunday preceding thedayofcommunication
"bytendays ;
(b)ofexports actually effected during that period .
2.Theinformation referred toinparagraph 1shall relate tothevolume
andvalue ofproducts exported ,broken down bycountry ofdestination
and "byrelevant heading andsubheading ofthe Common Customs Tariff .
Article }
TheCommission shall ,within eight days ofreceipt ,forward totheMember
States the information transmitted under Article 2ofthis Decision and shall
organize ,onitsowninitiative or-attherequest ofaMember State ,the
necessary consultations .
Article â
If,following such consultation ,theCommission finds that theoilsupply of
aMember State isseriously imperilled ,itmay ,inorder toensure abalanced
supply throughout theCommunity ,authorize such Member State tosuspend ,
subject toconditions laid down byit,theissue oftheauthorizations
provided for inArticle 1.

Article 5
Intheevent ofasudden crisis inaMember State ,such that anydelay would
cause serious harm toitseconomy ,such Member State may ,asaprotective
measure ,suspend theissue ofauthorizations pending adecision bythe
Commission .Such State shall immediately inform the Commission and the
other Member States thereof . The Commission shall take adecision thereon
within five working days .
Article 6
The Council will decide within tendays oftanysupplementary proposal which
the Commission may putforward aimed atcreating asatisfactory organization
ofthesupply ofcrude oilandoilproducts totheentire Communicy .
Article 7
The Commission shall laydown theprocedures for the communications provided
for inArticle 2.
Article 8
This Decision is -addressed tothe Member States .
Done atBrussels ,
For the Council
The Président