Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION suspending, for an additional limited period of time, Council Regulation (EC) No 2151/1999 imposing a ban on flights between the territories of the Community and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia other than the Republic of Montenegro or the Province of Kosovo, and modifying Council Regulation (EC) No 607/2000

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

(1) By means of Council Regulation (EC) No 2151/1999 of 11 October 1999 the Council confirmed the ban on flights between the territories of the Community and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), first imposed in May 1999, granting exemptions for flights to the Republic of Montenegro and the Province of Kosovo.

(2) Further to Common Position 2000/176/CFSP of 28 February 2000, the ban on flights was suspended by means of Council Regulation (EC) No 607/2000 of 20 March 2000. This suspension is effective until 28 August 2000.

(3) The attached proposal is for an extension of this suspension, under the conditions defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 607/2000, for an additional period of seven months, as foreseen in Common Position 2000/... /CFSP of ...July 2000.

Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION suspending, for an additional limited period of time, Council Regulation (EC) No 2151/1999 imposing a ban on flights between the territories of the Community and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia other than the Republic of Montenegro or the Province of Kosovo, and modifying Council Regulation (EC) No 607/2000

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 60 and 301 thereof,

Having regard to Common Position 2000/.../CFSP of .. July 2000, adopted by the Council on the basis of Article 15 of the Treaty on European Union, concerning a suspension, for an additional limited period of time, of Article 4 of Common Position 1999/318/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia [1],

[1] OJ L ...., ..., p. .. .

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission [2],

[2] OJ C , , p. .

Whereas:

(1) The Council determined that the ban on flights between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the European Community, should be suspended for an additional limited period of time, while maintaining its overall policy framework of applying maximum pressure on President Milosevic and his regime;

(2) The ban on flights, laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 2151/1999, was suspended until 28 August 2000 by means of Council Regulation (EC) No 607/2000 under a number of specific conditions;

(3) Monitoring of the implementation of that suspension has not shown that these conditions need to be amended;

(4) Therefore, it is appropriate to extend the validity of Council Regulation (EC) No 607/2000 until the end of March 2001.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Article 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 607/2000 shall be replaced by the following:

"1. This Regulation shall apply

- within the territory of the Community including its airspace,

- on board any aircraft or any vessel under the jurisdiction of a Member State,

- to any person elsewhere who is a national of a Member State,

- to any body which is incorporated or constituted under the law of a Member State

2. It shall apply until 31 March 2001."

Article 2

In Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 607/2000, the following paragraph 3 is inserted:

"3. In case of any direct or indirect action by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which negatively affects the normal commercial operational and business activities of Community air carriers operating under this Regulation, the Council shall, on the basis of a Commission proposal, take proportional and effective measures by putting additional conditions on the operation of Yugoslav air carriers (as defined in Article 1(a) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2151/1999) to the Community, or by limiting or prohibiting such operations, where necessary."

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President