Article 20 Emergency procedures
1 Member States shall ensure that they have procedures in place and take such measures as may be necessary, in order to enable their competent authorities to release quickly, effectively and transparently some or all of their emergency stocks and specific stocks in the event of a major supply disruption, and 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.
2 Member States shall at all times have contingency plans to be implemented in the event of a major supply disruption and shall provide for organisational measures to be taken to allow those plans to be implemented. Upon request, Member States shall inform the Commission of their contingency plans and the corresponding organisational arrangements.
3 In the event of an effective international decision to release stocks affecting one or more Member States:
(a) the Member States concerned may use their emergency stocks and specific stocks to fulfil their international obligations under that decision. Any Member State so doing shall notify the Commission immediately, so that the Commission can call a meeting of the Coordination Group or consult its members by electronic means to assess, in particular, the impact of that release;
(b) the Commission should recommend to Member States to release some or all of their emergency stocks and specific stocks or to take other measures of equivalent effect as considered appropriate. The Commission may act only after consulting the Coordination Group.
4 In the absence of an effective international decision to release stocks but when difficulties arise in the supply of crude oil or petroleum products to the Community or to a Member State, the Commission shall inform the IEA where applicable, and coordinate with it as appropriate, and arrange a consultation of the Coordination Group as soon as possible, either at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative. When a consultation of the Coordination Group is requested by a Member State, it shall be arranged within 4 days of the request at most, unless the Member State agrees to a longer period. On the basis of the results of the examination of the situation by the Coordination Group, the Commission shall determine whether a major supply disruption has occurred.
If a major supply disruption is deemed to have occurred, the Commission shall authorise the release of some or all of the quantities of emergency stocks and specific stocks that have been put forward for that purpose by the Member States concerned.
5 Member States may release emergency and specific stocks below the compulsory minimum level set by this Directive in amounts immediately necessary for an initial response in cases of particular urgency or in order to meet local crises. In the event of such release, Member States shall inform the Commission immediately of the amount released. The Commission shall transmit this information to the members of the Coordination Group.
6 Where paragraphs 3, 4 or 5 are applied, Member States may temporarily hold stocks at levels lower than those stipulated in this Directive. In that case, the Commission shall determine, on the basis of the results of the consultation of the Coordination Group and, where applicable, in coordination with the IEA, and notably by taking into account the situation on the international oil and petroleum products markets, a reasonable time frame within which Member States must bring their stocks back up to the minimum required levels.
7 Decisions taken by the Commission by virtue of this Article shall be without prejudice to any other international obligations on the Member States concerned.