“Today the Commission has formally requested Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Romania to take action to ensure full compliance with their obligations under EU legislation on oil stocks. The directive (2009/119/EC) requires that Member States maintain minimum stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products to ensure security of oil supply in case of possible disruptions,” the EC said in a press release.
The Commission sent a reasoned opinion to the five countries, which have not yet informed it of any measures to transpose the directive into their national legislation.
If they do not comply with their legal obligation within two months, the Commission may decide to refer them to the Court of Justice, the press release reads.
“Given the importance of oil in the EU’s energy mix, the EU’s strong external dependence for supply of crude oil and petroleum products and the geopolitical uncertainty in many producer regions, it is vital to guarantee consumers’ access to petroleum products at all times,” the EC explained.
The directive should have been transposed by EU member states by December 31, 2012. In January 2013, the EC opened infringement procedures against 17 member states that failed to comply with their obligations. A letter of formal notice was sent to Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and the United Kingdom.
The Commission is examining the situation in the other EU states against which infringement procedures were opened and the present action could be complemented with further reasoned opinions in the forthcoming infringement cycles, the press release reads.