Proposal for a Council Decision repealing Council Decision 77/706/EEC on the setting of a Community target for a reduction in the consumption of primary sources of energy in the event of difficulties in the supply of crude oil and petroleum products and Commission Decision 79/639/EEC laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Decision 77/706/EEC

Under Council Decision 77/706/EEC, the Commission may set a target of up to 10% for reducing the consumption of petroleum products in case of a disruption; Member States have to take all appropriate measures to reduce their consumption accordingly. This Decision and Commission Decision 79/639/EEC establish complex rules for reducing oil consumption in case of a disruption. They have never been used in practice. In particular, the Commission has never set a Community target for reducing the consumption of petroleum products.

In general, oil supply disruptions can be addressed by increasing supply (releasing stocks or increasing indigenous production) or reducing demand (demand restraint measures or fuel switching). Over the years, the importance of emergency stocks has increased and the release of such stocks is now generally considered as the main emergency response tool. In case of an oil supply disruption, the release of emergency oil stocks can replace the missing volumes quickly and without disturbing the economic activity of the EU and the life of its citizens. Moreover, emergency oil stocks are often financed by a levy paid by consumers who legitimately expect that those stocks are released in case of a disruption, rather than consumption is restricted.

The related Oil Stocks Directive was revised in 2009 and is applicable from 2013. It provides a strengthened framework for the establishing and the availability of emergency oil stocks and specifies the procedures under which the stocks can be used. It also requires Member States to have procedures in place "to impose general or specific restrictions on consumption in line with the estimated shortages, inter alia, by allocating petroleum products to certain groups of users on a priority basis". It is an important tool contributing to the general energy policy objective of security of supply.

Now that the revised Oil Stocks Directive has been adopted and entered into force, it appears relevant to address the lack of necessity for keeping overlapping rules in Council Decision 77/706/EEC. The Commission proposes, on this basis, that the Council repeal Council Decision 77/706/EEC and, at the same time, also Commission Decision 79/639/EEC.

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)720: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:720:FIN

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