1999/280/EC: Council Decision of 22 April 1999 regarding a Community procedure for information and consultation on crude oil supply costs and the consumer prices of petroleum products

COUNCIL DECISION
of 22 April 1999
regarding a Community procedure for information and consultation on crude oil supply costs and the consumer prices of petroleum products
(1999/280/EC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 213 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission(1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(3),
(1) Whereas transparency of consumer prices of petroleum products and information about crude oil supply costs are necessary for the satisfactory operation of the internal market, and particularly for the free movement of goods within the Community;
(2) Whereas Council Directive 76/491/EEC of 4 May 1976 regarding a Community procedure for information and consultation on the prices of crude oil and petroleum products in the Community(4) requires Member States to communicate to the Commission information which no longer reflects the conditions prevailing on the oil markets; whereas Directive 76/491/EEC should therefore be repealed and replaced by a new Community information procedure;
(3) Whereas Council Regulation (EC) No 2964/95 of 20 December 1995 introducing registration for crude oil imports and deliveries in the Community(5) enables the Commission to be informed, in respect of each Member State, of the monthly supply cost by type of crude oil as regards imports from third countries or deliveries from another Member State but does not enable it to determine the overall crude oil supply cost in the Community;
(4) Whereas it is therefore desirable to set up a Community procedure for information and consultation on crude oil supply costs and the consumer prices of petroleum products;
(5) Whereas this procedure requires the acquisition, at regular intervals, of certain information from Member States regarding crude oil supply costs and the consumer prices of petroleum products in aggregate form;
(6) Whereas, in accordance with their current practice, Member States should continue to communicate to the Commission the consumer prices of petroleum products each Monday as they have done in the past on a voluntary basis; whereas Member States may maintain their current system or create new procedures to collect the data;
(7) Whereas the information collected should make it possible to make a comparison of the trend in costs and oil prices charged in the Community;
(8) Whereas the taxes charged on petroleum products are a component of the selling price, and it is therefore necessary, in order to ensure the transparency of the prices of those products and make a comparison of the prices charged in the Community, to indicate the consumer prices of petroleum products net of duties and taxes and inclusive of all taxes;
(9) Whereas the information collected and the results of the analyses carried out by the Commission should be published at Community level in order to ensure market transparency and should be the subject of consultation between the Member States and the Commission;
(10) Whereas, should the Commission find anomalies or inconsistencies in the figures communicated to it, it should be able to obtain further information from the Member State concerned;
(11) Whereas the precise arrangements concerning the communications to be made need to be specified in more detail,