Council Directive 2006/67/EC of  24 July 2006  imposing an obligation on Member States to maintain minimum stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products (Codified version)   (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2006-07-24
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: codification of EU law, crude oil, disclosure of information, energy supply, minimum stock, petroleum product

L 217/8

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Official Journal of the European Union

8.8.2006

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2006/67/EC

of 24 July 2006

imposing an obligation on Member States to maintain minimum stocks of crude oil and/or
petroleum products

(Codified version)

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular Article 100 thereof,

establishing the European

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Council Directive 68/414/EEC of 20 December 1968
imposing an obligation on Member States of the EEC
to maintain minimum stocks of crude oil and/or
petroleum products (3) has been substantially amended
several times (4). In the interests of clarity and rationality
the said Directive should be codified.

Imported crude oil and petroleum products are of
importance in providing the Community with supplies
of energy. Any difficulty, even temporary, having the
effect of reducing supplies of such products imported
from third States, or significantly increasing the price
thereof on international markets, could cause serious
the
disturbances
activity
Community. The Community must
therefore be in a
position to offset or at least to diminish any harmful
effects in such a case.

economic

the

of

in

(3)

A crisis in obtaining supplies could occur unexpectedly
and it is therefore essential to establish forthwith the
necessary means to make good a possible shortage.

(1) OJ C 226 E, 15.9.2005, p. 44.
(2) OJ C 112, 30.4.2004, p. 39.
(3) OJ L 308, 23.12.1968, p. 14. Directive as last amended by Directive

98/93/EC (OJ L 358, 31.12.1998, p. 100).

(4) See Annex I, Part A.

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

To this end,
it is necessary to increase the security of
supply for crude oil and petroleum products in Member
States by establishing and maintaining minimum stocks
of the most important petroleum products.

It is necessary that the organisational arrangements for
oil stocks do not prejudice the smooth running of the
internal market.

In Directive 73/238/EEC (5) the Council decided upon
appropriate measures — including drawing on oil
stocks — to be taken in the event of difficulties in the
supply of crude oil and petroleum products to the
Community; Member States have undertaken similar
in the Agreement on an ‘International
obligations
Energy Programme’.

It is necessary that stocks be at the disposal of Member
States should difficulties in oil supply arise. Member
States should possess the powers and the capacity to
control
they can be made
available promptly for the benefit of the areas which
most need oil supplies.

the use of stocks so that

Organisational arrangements
the maintenance of
stocks should ensure the stocks' availability and their
accessibility to the consumer.

for

It is appropriate that organisational arrangements for the
maintenance of stocks are transparent, ensuring a fair
and non-discriminatory sharing of
the
stock-holding obligation. Therefore, information relating
to the cost of holding oil stocks may be made available
by Member States to interested parties.

the burden of

In order to organise the maintenance of stocks, Member
States may have recourse to a system based on a stock-
holding body or entity which will hold all, or part, of the
stocks making up their stock-holding obligation. The
if any, should be maintained by refiners and
balance,
the
other market
operators.
Government and the industry is essential
to operate
efficient and reliable stock-holding mechanisms.

Partnership

between

(5) OJ L 228, 16.8.1973, p. 1.

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Indigenous production contributes in itself to security of
supply. The oil market evolution can justify an appro-
priate derogation from the obligation to maintain oil
stocks for Member States with indigenous oil production.
In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, Member
States may exempt undertakings from the obligation to
maintain stocks in respect of an amount not exceeding
the quantity of products which those undertakings manu-
facture from indigenously produced crude oil.

accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set
out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond
what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

(19)

This Directive should be without prejudice to the obli-
gations of the Member States relating to the time-limits
for transposition into national law of the Directives set
out in Annex I, Part B,

(11)

(12)

It is appropriate to adopt approaches which are already
followed by the Community and the Member States
within their international obligations and agreements.
Owing to changes in the pattern of oil consumption,
international
an
important component of this consumption.

bunkers

aviation

become

have

(13)

There is a need to adapt and simplify the Community
statistical reporting mechanism concerning oil stocks.

(14) Oil stocks can,

in principle, be held anywhere in the
Community and, therefore, it is appropriate to facilitate
the establishment of stocks outside national territory. It is
necessary that decisions
for holding stocks outside
national territory be taken by the Government of the
Member State concerned according to its needs and
supply security considerations.
In the case of stocks
held at the disposal of another undertaking, or body/
entity, more detailed rules are needed to guarantee their
availability and accessibility in the event of oil supply
difficulties.

(15)

It is desirable, in order to ensure the smooth running of
the internal market, to promote the use of agreements
between Member States concerning minimum stock-
holding in order to further the use of storage facilities
is for the Member States
in other Member States.
It
such
concerned to take
agreements.

the decision to conclude

(16)

It is appropriate to reinforce the administrative super-
vision of stocks and establish efficient mechanisms for
the control and verification of stocks. A regime of
sanctions is necessary to impose such a control.

(17)

The Council should be regularly informed on the state of
the security stocks in the Community.

(18)

Since the objective of the action to be taken, namely the
maintenance of a high level of security in the supply of
crude oil within the Community, by means of reliable
arrangements based on solidarity
and transparent
between Member States, while complying with the rules
of the internal market and the competition rules, may be
better achieved at Community level, the Community may
in accordance with the principle of
adopt measures,
In
subsidiarity as set out

in Article 5 of

the Treaty.

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 Community at all times, subject to the
provisions of Article 10, their stocks of petroleum 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
2.
petroleum produced indigenously by
the Member State
concerned may be deducted up to a maximum of 25 % of
the said consumption. The domestic distribution of the result
of such a deduction shall be decided by the Member State
concerned.

Article 2

The following categories of product shall be taken into account
in calculating internal consumption:

(a) motor spirit and aviation fuel (aviation spirit and jet-fuel of

the gasoline type);

(b) gas oil, diesel oil, kerosene and jet-fuel of the kerosene type;

(c)

fuel oils.

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.

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accessibility of

At all other times, Member States shall ensure the availability
and
establish
arrangements allowing for the identification, accounting and
control of the stocks.

stocks. They

these

shall

2. Member States shall ensure that fair and non-discrimi-
natory conditions apply in their stock-holding 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 information regarding the cost
burden of stock-holding in accordance with Article 1 and to
make such information available to interested parties.

In the statistical summary of stocks existing at the end of

2.
each month:

(a)

finished products shall be accounted for according to their
actual tonnage;

(b) crude oil and intermediate products shall be accounted for:

(i)

in the proportions of the quantities for each category of
product obtained during the preceding calendar year
from the refineries of the Member State concerned; or

3.
To fulfil the requirements of paragraphs 1 and 2, Member
States may decide to have recourse to a stock-holding body or
entity which will be responsible for holding all or part of the
stocks.

(ii) on the basis of
refineries of
current year; or

the production programmes of
the Member State concerned for

the
the

Two or more Member States may decide to have recourse to a
joint stock-holding body or entity. In that case they shall be
the obligations deriving from this
jointly responsible for
Directive.

Article 4

shall

submit

1. Member States
to the Commission a
statistical summary showing stocks existing at the end of each
month, drawn up in accordance with Article 5(2) and (3) and
Article 6 and specifying the number of days of average
consumption in the preceding calendar year which those
stocks represent. This summary shall be submitted at
the
latest by the 25th day of the second month after the month
to be reported.

2.
A Member State's stock-holding obligation shall be based
on the previous calendar year's internal consumption. At the
beginning of each calendar year, Member States
re-
calculate their stock-holding obligation at
the latest by 31
March in each year and ensure that they comply with their
new obligations as soon as possible and, in any event, at the
latest by 31 July in each year.

shall

In the statistical

3.
the
kerosene type shall be reported separately under the category
referred to in point (b) of Article 2.

jet-fuel of

stocks of

summary,

(iii) on the basis of the ratio between the total quantity
manufactured during the preceding calendar year in
the Member State concerned of products covered by
the obligation to maintain stocks
total
amount of crude oil used during that year, up to a
maximum of 40 % of the total obligation for the first
and second categories (petrol and gas oils), and up to a
maximum of 50 % for the third category (fuel oils).

and the

3.
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.

Article 6

1. When the level of minimum stocks provided for in Article
1 is calculated, only those quantities which would be held in
accordance with Article 3(1) shall be included in the statistical
summary.

Subject to the provisions of paragraph 1, the following

2.
may be included in the stocks:

(a) supplies on board oil tankers in port for the purpose of
discharging, once the port formalities have been completed;

Article 5

(b) supplies held in ports of discharge;

Stocks required to be maintained by Article 1 may be
and intermediate

1.
maintained in the
form of
products, as well as in the form of finished products.

crude oil

(c) supplies held in tanks at the entry to oil pipelines;

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(d) supplies held in refinery tanks, excluding those supplies in

pipes and refining plant;

and/or companies holding the stocks, quantities and product
category — or crude oil — stored will be indicated in the
report.

(e) supplies held in storage by refineries and by importing,

storage or wholesale distribution firms;

(f)

in
supplies held in storage by large-scale consumers
compliance with the provisions of national law concerning
the obligation to maintain permanent stocks;

2.
Drafts of the agreements mentioned in the first subpar-
agraph of paragraph 1 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.

(g) supplies held in barges and coasting-vessels engaging in
transport within national frontiers, on condition that it is
possible for the competent authorities to keep a check on
such supplies and provided that the supplies can be made
available immediately.

intended for

The following shall,

in particular, be excluded from the
3.
indigenous crude oil not yet extracted;
statistical summary:
supplies
sea-going vessels;
supplies in direct transit apart from the stocks referred to in
Article 7(1); supplies in pipelines, in road tankers and rail tank-
wagons, in the storage tanks of retail outlets, and those held by
small consumers.

the bunkers of

Agreements shall satisfy the following conditions:

(a)

they must relate to crude oil and to all petroleum products
covered by this Directive;

(b) they must lay down conditions and arrangements for the
maintenance of stocks with the aim of safeguarding control
and availability of these stocks;

(c)

they must specify the procedures for checking and iden-
inter alia, the methods for
tifying the stocks provided for,
carrying out and cooperating on inspections;

Quantities held by the armed forces and those held for them by
the oil companies shall also be excluded from the statistical
summary.

(d) they must as a general rule be concluded for an unlimited

period;

Article 7

1.
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 under-
takings, or bodies/entities, established in another Member State.
It is for the Government of the Member State concerned to
decide whether
stocks outside its
national territory.

to hold a part of

its

The Member State on whose territory the stocks are held under
the framework of such an agreement shall not oppose the
transfer of these stocks 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 its statistical summary. The Member State on whose
behalf the stocks are held may include them in its statistical
summary.

(e)

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 any event, the Commission shall
receive prior information of any termination.

3. When stocks established under such agreements are not
owned by the undertaking, or body/entity, which has an obli-
gation to hold stocks, but are held at the disposal of this under-
taking, or body/entity, by another undertaking, or body/entity,
the following conditions shall be met:

(a)

the beneficiary undertaking, or body/entity, must have the
contractual right
the
period of the contract; the methodology for establishing
the price of such acquisition must be agreed between the
parties concerned;

to acquire these stocks throughout

(b) the minimum period of such a contract must be 90 days;

Together with the statistical summary, each Member State shall
send a report to the Commission concerning the stocks main-
tained within its own territory for the benefit of another
Member State, as well as the stocks held in other Member
States for its own benefit. In both cases, the storage locations

(c) storage location and/or companies holding the stocks at the
disposal of the beneficiary undertaking, or body/entity, as
well as quantity and category of product, or crude oil,
stored in that location must be specified;

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(d) the actual availability of the stocks for the beneficiary under-
taking, or body/entity, must be guaranteed, at all
times
throughout the period of the contract, by the undertaking
or body/entity holding the stocks at the disposal of the
beneficiary undertaking, or body/entity;

(e)

the undertaking, or body/entity, holding the stocks at the
disposal of the beneficiary undertaking, or body/entity, must
be one which is subject to the jurisdiction of the Member
State on whose territory the stocks are situated insofar as
the legal powers of that Member State to control and verify
the existence of the stocks are concerned.

Article 8

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 9

Member States
shall determine the penalties applicable to
breaches of the national provisions adopted pursuant to this
Directive and shall take any measure necessary to ensure the
implementation of
these provisions. The penalties shall be
effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

Article 10

(b) the reasons for such withdrawals;

(c)

the measures, if any, taken to replenish stocks;

(d) an appraisal, if possible, of the probable development of the
situation with regard to the stocks while they remain below
the compulsory minimum.

Article 11

The Commission shall submit regularly to the Council a report
on the situation concerning stocks in the Community, including
if appropriate on the need for harmonisation in order to ensure
effective control and supervision of stocks.

Article 12

Directive 68/414/EEC shall be repealed, without prejudice to the
obligations of the Member States relating to the time-limits for
transposition into national
the
Directives set out in Annex I, Part B.

law and implementation of

References to the repealed Directive shall be construed as
references to this Directive and shall be read in accordance
with the correlation table in Annex II.

1.
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 a consultation between the Member
States.

Article 13

This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Save in cases of particular urgency or in order to meet
2.
minor local needs, Member States shall refrain, prior to the
consultation provided for in paragraph 1, from drawing on
their stocks to any extent which would reduce those stocks
to below the compulsory minimum level.

Article 14

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

3. Member States shall inform the Commission of any with-
drawals from their reserve stocks and shall communicate as
soon as possible:

Done at Brussels, 24 July 2006.

(a)

the date upon which stocks fell below the compulsory
minimum;

For the Council
The President

M. PEKKARINEN

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ANNEX I

PART A

Repealed Directive with its amending acts

Council Directive 68/414/EEC

(OJ L 308, 23.12.1968, p. 14)

Council Directive 72/425/EEC

(OJ L 291, 28.12.1972, p. 154)

Council Directive 98/93/EC

(OJ L 358, 31.12.1998, p. 100)

PART B

List of time-limits for transposition into national law

(referred to in Article 12)

Directives

Time-limit for transposition

Date of application

68/414/EEC

98/93/EC

1 January 1971

1 January 2000 (1)

1 January 1971

(1) 1 January 2003 for the Hellenic Republic as regards the obligations of Directive 98/93/EC in relation to the inclusion of bunker

supplies for international aviation in the calculation of internal consumption. See Article 4 of Directive 98/93/EC.

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ANNEX II

Correlation table

Directive 68/414/EEC

This Directive

Article 1

Article 1

Article 2, first paragraph, introductory wording

Article 2, first subparagraph, introductory wording

Article 2, first paragraph, first indent

Article 2, first subparagraph, point (a)

Article 2, first paragraph, second indent

Article 2, first subparagraph, point (b)

Article 2, first paragraph, third indent

Article 2, first subparagraph, point (c)

Article 2, second paragraph

Article 2, second subparagraph

Article 3

Article 4, first paragraph

Article 4, second paragraph

Article 4, third paragraph

Article 5, first paragraph

Article 3

Article 4(1)

Article 4(2)

Article 4(3)

Article 5(1)

Article 5, second paragraph, introductory wording, first
part of sentence

Article 5(2), introductory wording

Article 5, second paragraph, introductory wording, second
part of sentence

Article 5(2)(a)

Article 5, second paragraph, introductory wording, third
part of sentence

Article 5(2)(b) introductory wording

Article 5, second paragraph, first indent

Article 5(2)(b)(i)

Article 5, second paragraph, second indent

Article 5(2)(b)(ii)

Article 5, second paragraph, third indent

Article 5(2)(b)(iii)

Article 5, third paragraph

Article 6(1)

Article 5(3)

Article 6(1)

Article 6(2), first subparagraph

Article 7(1), first subparagraph

Article 6(2), second subparagraph

Article 7(1), second subparagraph

Article 6(2), third subparagraph

Article 7(1), third subparagraph

Article 6(2), fourth subparagraph

Article 7(2), first subparagraph

Article 6(2), fifth subparagraph, introductory wording

Article 7(2), second subparagraph, introductory wording

Article 6(2), fifth subparagraph, first indent

Article 7(2), second subparagraph, point (a)

Article 6(2), fifth subparagraph, second indent

Article 7(2), second subparagraph, point (b)

Article 6(2), fifth subparagraph, third indent

Article 7(2), second subparagraph, point (c)

Article 6(2), fifth subparagraph, fourth indent

Article 7(2), second subparagraph, point (d)

Article 6(2), fifth subparagraph, fifth indent

Article 7(2), second subparagraph, point (e)

Article 6(2), sixth subparagraph, introductory wording

Article 7(3), introductory wording

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Directive 68/414/EEC

This Directive

Article 6(2), sixth subparagraph, first indent

Article 7(3)(a)

Article 6(2), sixth subparagraph, second indent

Article 7(3)(b)

Article 6(2), sixth subparagraph, third indent

Article 7(3)(c)

Article 6(2), sixth subparagraph, fourth indent

Article 7(3)(d)

Article 6(2), sixth subparagraph, fifth indent

Article 7(3)(e)

Article 6(3), first subparagraph, introductory wording

Article 6(2), introductory wording

Article 6(3), first subparagraph, first indent

Article 6(2)(a)

Article 6(3), first subparagraph, second indent

Article 6(2)(b)

Article 6(3), first subparagraph, third indent

Article 6(2)(c)

Article 6(3), first subparagraph, fourth indent

Article 6(2)(d)

Article 6(3), first subparagraph, fifth indent

Article 6(3), first subparagraph, sixth indent

Article 6(2)(e)

Article 6(2)(f)

Article 6(3), first subparagraph, seventh indent

Article 6(2)(g)

Article 6(3), second subparagraph, first sentence

Article 6(3), first subparagraph

Article 6(3), second subparagraph, second sentence

Article 6(3), second subparagraph

Article 6a

Article 6b

Article 7, first paragraph

Article 7, second paragraph

Article 8

Article 9

Article 10(1)

Article 10(2)

Article 7, third paragraph, introductory wording

Article 10(3), introductory wording

Article 7, third paragraph, first indent

Article 7, third paragraph, second indent

Article 7, third paragraph, third indent

Article 7, third paragraph, fourth indent

Article 8

—

—

—

Article 9

—

—

Article 10(3)(a)

Article 10(3)(b)

Article 10(3)(c)

Article 10(3)(d)

—

Article 11

Article 12

Article 13

Article 14

Annex I

Annex II