Oil and Petroleum Products

HC Deb 23 March 1979 vol 964 cc321-2W

Mr. Sever

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what progress has been made in negotiations in Brussels on EEC document R/2311/78 dealing with a Commission proposal for a Council decision amending decision 77/186/EEC on the exporting of crude oil and petroleum products from one member State to another in the event of supply difficulties.

Mr. Benn

Last October, when my Explanatory Memorandum on this document was deposited in Parliament, the Commission considered that the Council should be able to act on its proposal by the end of 1978; but in fact discussions are still continuing on a number of points which remain to be settled.

We are not satisfied with the Commission's proposal which would require a member State to obtain prior authorisation from the Commission before it could revoke export licences, no matter how sudden or serious the crisis.

Under this arrangement the Commission would need to consult the crisis group before issuing an authorisation. Apart from the inevitable delay that such a procedure would entail, we regard this requirement as an unnecessary extension of the Commission's competence. In discussions, therefore, we have put forward an alternative proposal designed to ensure that member States have powers to revoke licenses unilaterally in a sudden or serious crisis, but in less critical circumstances only after prior consultations with the Commission. In this respect we are advocating the same procedures for revocation as are already provided in the Council decision for the suspension of the issue of new licenses.

We have had encouraging support for this from other member States, but some oil importing countries have expressed reservations about member States having powers to act unilaterally. We have pointed out that our proposal would impose the same strict limits on the unilateral power of revocation as the importing countries have already accepted as sufficient to protect their interests in relation to the unilateral power to impose selective licensing. Moreover, the absence of comprehensive powers of revocation similar to those available for suspending the issue of licences would incur the risk that member States, to avoid being caught out, would implement revocation measures much earlier than might otherwise be necessary.

Good progress has been made in the discussions but the remaining difficulties, whilst not insurmountable, should not be underestimated.