Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures against President Lukashenko and certain officials of Belarus
Date: 2008-04-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Belarus, civil servant, economic sanctions, electoral fraud, president of an institution, presidential election, restriction of liberty

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 30.4.2008 
COM(2008) 230 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures against 
President Lukashenko and certain officials of Belarus 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

(1) 

(2) 

Council Regulation (EC) No 765/2006, as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) 
No  1791/2006,  imposes  certain  restrictive  measures  in  relation  to  Belarus  in 
accordance with Common Position 2006/276/CFSP, as amended by Common Position 
2006/362/CFSP. 

It  is  appropriate  to  align  Regulation  (EC)  No  765/2006  with  recent  developments  in 
sanctions  practice  regarding  the  identification  of  competent  authorities,  liability  for 
certain  infringements  and  public  notice  regarding  modalities  for  maintenance  of 
certain lists. 

(3) 

For the sake of clarity, the Commission proposes to republish in full those Articles to 
which amendments need to be made. 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures against 
President Lukashenko and certain officials of Belarus 

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 2006/276/CFSP concerning  restrictive measures against 
certain officials of Belarus1, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  765/2006  concerning  restrictive  measures  against 
President Lukashenko and certain officials of Belarus2 imposed restrictive measures in 
accordance with Common Position 2006/276/CFSP. 

It  is  appropriate  to  align  Regulation  (EC)  No  765/2006  with  recent  developments  in 
sanctions  practice  regarding  the  identification  of  competent  authorities,  liability  for 
certain  infringements  and  public  notice  regarding  modalities  for  maintenance  of 
certain  lists.  For  the  sake  of  clarity,  those  Articles  to  which  amendments  need  to  be 
made, should be republished in full, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 is amended as follows: 

(1) 

The following Article 2a is inserted: 

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2 

OJ L 101, 11.4.2006, p. 5. Common Position as last amended by Common Position 2008/…/CFSP (OJ 
L .., .. 4.2008, p. ..). 
OJ L 134, 20.5.2006, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1791/2006 (OJ L 363, 
20.12.2006, p. 1). 

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“Article 2a 

The prohibition set out in Article 2(2) shall not give rise to liability of any kind on the part of 
the natural or legal persons or entities concerned, if they did not know, and had no reasonable 
cause to suspect, that their actions would infringe this prohibition.” 

(2) 

Article 3 is replaced by the following: 

“Article 3 

1. 

The competent authorities in the Member States, as indicated in the websites listed in 
Annex II, may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources or 
the making available of certain funds or economic resources, under such conditions 
as  they  deem  appropriate,  after  having  determined  that  the  funds  or  economic 
resources concerned are: 

(a) 

necessary  to  satisfy  the  basic  needs  of  persons  listed  in  Annex  I  and  their 
dependent  family  members,  including  payments  for  foodstuffs,  rent  or 
mortgage,  medicines  and  medical  treatment,  taxes,  insurance  premiums  and 
public utility charges; 

(b) 

intended  exclusively  for  payment  of  reasonable  professional  fees  and 
reimbursement  of  incurred  expenses  associated  with  the  provision  of  legal 
services; 

(c) 

intended exclusively for payment of fees or service charges for routine holding 
or maintenance of frozen funds or economic resources; or 

(d)  necessary  for  extraordinary  expenses,  provided  that  the  Member  State 
concerned  has  notified  the  other  Member  States  and  the  Commission  of  the 
grounds on which it considers that a specific authorisation should be granted, at 
least two weeks before the authorisation. 

2. 

Member  States  shall  inform  the  other  Member  States  and  the  Commission  of  any 
authorisation granted under paragraph 1.” 

(3) 

Article 5 is replaced by the following: 

“Article 5 

1. 

Without  prejudice  to  the  applicable  rules  concerning  reporting,  confidentiality  and 
professional secrecy, natural and legal persons, entities and bodies shall: 

(a) 

supply immediately the competent authorities indicated in the websites listed in 
Annex  II,  in  the  country  where  they  are  resident  or  located,  with  any 
information  which  would  facilitate  compliance  with  this  Regulation,  such  as 
accounts  and  amounts  frozen  in  accordance  with  Article  2,  and,  directly  or 
indirectly, supply such information to the Commission; and 

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(b) 

cooperate  with  the  competent  authorities  indicated  in  the  websites  listed  in 
Annex II in any verification of this information. 

Any information provided or received in accordance with this Article shall be used 
only for the purposes for which it was provided or received.” 

Article 8 is replaced by the following: 

The Commission shall be empowered to: 

2. 

(4) 

“1. 

(a) 

amend Annex I on the basis of decisions taken in respect of the Annex IV to 
Common Position 2006/276/CFSP; and 

(b) 

amend Annex II on the basis of information supplied by Member States. 

2. 

A  notice  shall  be  published  regarding  the  modalities  for  submitting  information  in 
relation to Annex I.” 

(5) 

The following Article 9a shall be inserted: 

“Article 9a 

1. 

2. 

Member  States  shall  designate  the  competent  authorities  referred  to  in  Articles  3, 
4(2) and 5 and identify them in the websites as listed in the Annex. 

Member States shall notify the Commission of their competent authorities, including 
their  contact  details,  by  30  May  2008  and  shall  notify  it  without  delay  of  any 
subsequent amendment.” 

(6) 

Annex II is replaced by the text in the Annex to this Regulation. 

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

Article 2 

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

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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ANNEX  

“ANNEX II 

Websites for information on the competent authorities referred to in Articles 3, 4(2) and 
5, and address for notifications to the European Commission 

(to be completed by Member States) 

BELGIUM 

BULGARIA 

CZECH REPUBLIC 

DENMARK 

GERMANY 

ESTONIA 

GREECE 

SPAIN 

FRANCE 

IRELAND 

ITALY 

CYPRUS 

LATVIA 

LITHUANIA 

LUXEMBOURG 

HUNGARY 

MALTA 

NETHERLANDS 

AUSTRIA 

POLAND 

PORTUGAL 

ROMANIA 

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SLOVENIA 

SLOVAKIA 

FINLAND 

SWEDEN 

UNITED KINGDOM 

Address for notifications to the European Commission: 

European Commission 

DG External Relations 

Directorate  A.  Crisis  Platform  and  Policy  Coordination  in  Common  Foreign  and  Security 
Policy 

Unit A2. Crisis Response and Peace Building 

CHAR 12/106 

B-1049 Bruxelles/Brussel (Belgium) 

E-mail: relex-sanctions@ec.europa.eu 

Tel. (32 2) 295 55 85 

Fax: (32 2) 299 08 73” 

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