Joined Cases C-395/22 and C-428/22, Trade Express-L and Others: Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 30 April 2024 (requests for a preliminary ruling from the Administrativen sad – Varna – Bulgaria) – Trade Express-L OOD (C-395/22), DEVNIA TSIMENT AD (C-428/22) v Zamestnik-predsedatel na Darzhavna agentsia Darzhaven rezerv i voennovremenni zapasi (References for a preliminary ruling – Energy – Directive 2009/119/EC – Supply of stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products – Article 3 – Obligation for Member States to maintain emergency stocks – Article 8 – Economic operators – Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 – Energy statistics – National legislation making it possible to impose an obligation on an economic operator to build up and maintain emergency stocks of a petroleum product, including where that product is unrelated to the economic activity of that operator – Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Article 16 – Freedom to conduct a business – Article 17 – Right to property)
Date: 2024-04-30
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EU energy policy, energy law, energy statistics, gas, import (EU), minimum stock, petroleum, petroleum product, principle of proportionality, storage of hydrocarbons








C_202403722EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/3722


24.6.2024






Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 30 April 2024 (requests for a preliminary ruling from the Administrativen sad – Varna – Bulgaria) – ‘Trade Express-L’ OOD (C-395/22), ‘DEVNIA TSIMENT’ AD (C-428/22) v Zamestnik-predsedatel na Darzhavna agentsia ‘Darzhaven rezerv i voennovremenni zapasi’
               


(Joined Cases C-395/22 and C-428/22,
                (1)

                  ‘Trade Express-L’ and Others)

(References for a preliminary ruling - Energy - Directive 2009/119/EC - Supply of stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products - Article 3 - Obligation for Member States to maintain emergency stocks - Article 8 - Economic operators - Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 - Energy statistics - National legislation making it possible to impose an obligation on an economic operator to build up and maintain emergency stocks of a petroleum product, including where that product is unrelated to the economic activity of that operator - Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - Article 16 - Freedom to conduct a business - Article 17 - Right to property)
(C/2024/3722)
Language of the case: Bulgarian

Referring court

Administrativen sad – Varna

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicants:
            ‘Trade Express-L’ OOD (C-395/22), ‘DEVNIA TSIMENT’ AD (C-428/22)

Defendant: Zamestnik-predsedatel na Darzhavna agentsia ‘Darzhaven rezerv i voennovremenni zapasi’
         

Operative part of the judgment









1.


Article 3 of Council Directive 2009/119/EC of 14 September 2009 imposing an obligation on Member States to maintain minimum stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products, as amended by Commission Implementing Directive (EU) 2018/1581 of 19 October 2018, read in conjunction with Article 1 and points (i) and (j) of the first paragraph of Article 2 of Directive 2009/119, as amended, must be interpreted as meaning that
Member States are not required to maintain emergency stocks for all the categories of energy products referred to in Chapter 3.4 of Annex A to Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 on energy statistics, as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2146 of 26 November 2019. On the contrary, they may fulfil their obligation under Article 3 of that directive to maintain emergency stocks by maintaining emergency stocks of only some of those categories.












2.


Articles 3 and 8 of Directive 2009/119, as amended by Implementing Directive 2018/1581, must be interpreted as
not precluding national legislation under which an obligation to build up and maintain emergency stocks may be imposed on an economic operator who has imported energy products falling within Chapter 3.4 of Annex A to Regulation No 1099/2008, as amended by Regulation 2019/2146.












3.


The provisions of Directive 2009/119, as amended by Implementing Directive 2018/1581, read in the light of Articles 16 and 17, and of Article 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as meaning that
they do not preclude the importation, by an economic operator, of energy products falling within a category of products covered by Chapter 3.4 of Annex A to Regulation No 1099/2008, as amended by Regulation 2019/2146, from giving rise to the obligation, for that operator, to build up and maintain an emergency stock of an energy product falling within another category of products referred to in that chapter, even where that operator does not use that product in the course of its economic activity, which is unrelated to that product, and that obligation constitutes a significant financial burden for that operator, provided that that obligation is proportionate.






(1)  
            OJ C 359, 19.9.2022.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/3722/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)