This Directive lays down rules aimed at ensuring a high level of security of oil supply in the Community through reliable and transparent mechanisms based on solidarity amongst Member States, maintaining minimum stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products and putting in place the necessary procedural means to deal with a serious shortage.
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
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
Article 1 Objective
Article 2 Definitions
For the purposes of this Directive:
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‘reference year’ means the calendar year of the consumption or of the net import data used to calculate either the stocks to be held or the stocks actually held at a given time;
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‘additives’ means non-hydrocarbon compounds added to or blended with a product to modify its properties;
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‘biofuel’ means liquid or gaseous fuel for transport produced from biomass, ‘biomass’ being the biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues from agriculture (including vegetable and animal substances), forestry and related industries, as well as the biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal waste;
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‘inland consumption’ means the total quantities, calculated according to Annex II, delivered within a country for both energy and non-energy use; this aggregate includes deliveries to the transformation sector and deliveries to industry, transport, households and other sectors for ‘final’ consumption; it also includes the own consumption of the energy sector (except refinery fuel);
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‘effective international decision to release stocks’ means any decision in force taken by the Governing Board of the International Energy Agency to make crude oil or petroleum products available to the market by a release of its members 'stocks and/or additional measures;
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‘central stockholding entity’ (CSE) means the body or service upon which powers may be conferred to act to acquire, maintain or sell oil stocks, including emergency stocks and specific stocks;
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‘major supply disruption’ means a substantial and sudden drop in the supply of crude oil or petroleum products to the Community or to a Member State, irrespective of whether or not it has led to an effective international decision to release stocks;
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‘international marine bunkers’ has the meaning given in Section 2.1 of Annex A to Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008;
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‘oil stocks’ means stocks of the energy products listed in Chapter 3.4 of Annex A to Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008;
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‘emergency stocks’ means the oil stocks that each Member State is required to maintain pursuant to Article 3;
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‘commercial stocks’ means those oil stocks held by economic operators which are not a requirement under this Directive;
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‘specific stocks’ means oil stocks that meet the criteria set out in Article 9;
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‘physical accessibility’ means arrangements for locating and transporting stocks to ensure their release or effective delivery to end users and markets within time frames and conditions conducive to alleviating the supply problems which may have arisen.
The definitions set out in this Article may be clarified or amended in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 23(2).
Article 3 Emergency stocks — Calculating stockholding obligations
1.
Member States shall adopt such laws, regulations or administrative provisions as may be appropriate in order to ensure, by 31 December 2012, that the total oil stocks maintained at all times within the Community for their benefit correspond, at the very least, to 90 days of average daily net imports or 61 days of average daily inland consumption, whichever of the two quantities is greater.
2.
The average daily net imports to be taken into account shall be calculated on the basis of the crude oil equivalent of imports during the previous calendar year, determined in accordance with the method and procedures set out in Annex I.
The average daily inland consumption to be taken into account shall be calculated on the basis of the crude oil equivalent of inland consumption during the previous calendar year, established and calculated in accordance with the method and procedures set out in Annex II.
3.
However, notwithstanding paragraph 2, the daily averages of net imports and inland consumption, as referred to in that paragraph, shall be determined, as regards the period from 1 January to 30 June of each calendar year, on the basis of the quantities imported or consumed during the last year but one before the calendar year in question.
4.
The methods and procedures for calculating stockholding obligations, as referred to in this Article, may be amended in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 23(2).
Article 4 Calculating stock levels
1.
The levels of stocks held shall be calculated using the methods set out in Annex III. When calculating stock levels for each category held pursuant to Article 9, those methods shall apply only to the products in the category in question.
2.
The levels of stocks held at a given time shall be calculated using data from the reference year determined in accordance with the rules set out in Article 3.
3.
Any oil stocks may be included simultaneously in both the calculation of a Member State’s emergency stocks and the calculation of its specific stocks provided that those oil stocks satisfy all the conditions laid down in this Directive for both types of stocks.
4.
The methods and procedures for calculating stock levels, as referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, may be amended in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 23(2). In particular, it may prove necessary and beneficial to amend those methods and procedures, including the application of the reduction provided for in Annex III, in order to ensure coherence with IEA practice.
Article 5 Availability of stocks
1.
At all times, Member States shall ensure that emergency stocks and specific stocks are available and physically accessible for the purposes of this Directive. They shall establish arrangements for the identification, accounting and control of those stocks so as to allow them to be verified at any time. This requirement also applies to any emergency stocks and specific stocks that are commingled with other stocks held by economic operators.
Member States shall take all necessary measures to prevent all obstacles and encumbrances that could hamper the availability of emergency stocks and specific stocks. Each Member State may set limits or additional conditions on the possibility of its emergency stocks and specific stocks being held outside its territory.
2.
Where there is reason to implement the emergency procedures provided for in Article 20, Member States shall prohibit, and refrain from taking, any measure hindering the transfer, use or release of emergency stocks or specific stocks held within their territory on behalf of another Member State.