Consultation on the Oil Stocks Directive (Directive
2009/119/EC)
Fields marked with * are mandatory.
Introduction
This consultation is launched to collect views and suggestions from stakeholders and citizens for the
purposes of the current evaluation of Council Directive 2009/119/EC imposing an obligation on
Member States to maintain stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products. The general objective of
the evaluation is to assess how the Oil Stocks Directive has been implemented in the Member States
and how it is functioning in practice; to identify possible problems and areas for improvement or
simplification.
Article 22 of the Directive tasked the Commission to "review" (evaluate) the functioning and
implementation of this Directive. As a first step, an independent study was carried out by an external
consultant. The final report is published on the website of the Directorate General for Energy (
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/studies ). As a part of this study, a technical survey was carried out
addressed to targeted stakeholders.
For more information about the evaluation, see the
roadmap
Who should answer?
The Commission is now seeking the views of all stakeholders and general public, with the help of a
general non-technical survey, which focusses on the basic questions of the evaluation. Stakeholders
having replied to the technical survey are encouraged to answer to this public consultation, which will
serve as a complement to the input they provided in the past. This consultation also provides experts
the opportunity to express their personal views, which might well differ from the official position of
their institutions / authorities.
What is the Oil Stocks Directive?
In view of the important role of oil for the economy and the significant import dependence, EU
Member States have to hold emergency oil stocks. This obligation was imposed first in 1968, under
Council Directive 68/414/EEC of 20 December 1968. Such stocks shall ensure the continuity of
supply of petroleum products to consumers in case of possible disruptions. In 2009 the legislation
was revised with the following main objectives in mind:
1