COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2022/1903

of 6 October 2022

amending Regulation (EU) 2022/263 concerning restrictive measures in response to the recognition of the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine and the ordering of Russian armed forces into those areas

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 215 thereof,

Having regard to Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/266 of 23 February 2022 concerning restrictive measures in response to the recognition of the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine and the ordering of Russian armed forces into those areas (1),

Having regard to the joint proposal of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and of the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) Council Regulation (EU) 2022/263 (2) gives effect to restrictive measures provided for in Decision (CFSP) 2022/266.

(2) On 6 October 2022, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2022/1908 (3) amending the title of Decision (CFSP) 2022/266 and extending the geographical scope of the restrictions contained therein to cover all the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine in the oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia. The political context and the policy reasons for extending the scope of the restrictive measures are set out in the recitals to Decision (CFSP) 2022/1908.

(3) Those amendments fall within the scope of the Treaty and therefore regulatory action at the level of the Union is necessary in order to implement them, in particular with a view to ensuring their uniform application in all Member States.

(4) Regulation (EU) 2022/263 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 Regulation (EU) 2022/263 is amended as follows: (1) The title is replaced by the following: ‘Council Regulation (EU) 2022/263 of 23 February 2022 concerning restrictive measures in response to the illegal recognition, occupation or annexation by the Russian Federation of certain non-government controlled areas of Ukraine’; (2) in Article 1, point (d) is replaced by the following: ‘(d) ‘specified territories’ means the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine in the oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia;’.

Article 2 This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 6 October 2022. For the Council The President M. BEK

(1) OJ L 42I, 23.2.2022, p. 109.

(2) Council Regulation (EU) 2022/263 of 23 February 2022 concerning restrictive measures in response to the recognition of the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine and the ordering of Russian armed forces into those areas (OJ L 042I, 23.2.2022, p. 77).

(3) Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/1908 of 6 October 2022 amending Decision (CFSP) 2022/266 concerning restrictive measures in response to the recognition of the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine and the ordering of Russian armed forces into those areas (see page 118 of this Official Journal).