Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2488/2000 maintaining a freeze of funds in relation to Mr Milosevic and those persons associated with him (presented jointly by the Commission and the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy)
Date: 2010-05-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Yugoslavia, economic sanctions, foreign capital, head of State, international sanctions, minister

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 12.5.2010 
COM(2010)217 final 

2010/0116 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 2488/2000 maintaining a freeze of funds in relation to Mr 
Milosevic and those persons associated with him 

(presented jointly by the Commission and the High Representative of the EU  
for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

(1) 

(2) 

Council Regulation (EC) No 2488/2000, as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) 
No 1791/2006, confirmed certain restrictive measures in relation to former President 
Milosevic and persons associated with him.  

It is appropriate to align Regulation (EC) No 2488/2000 with recent developments in 
sanctions  practice  regarding  the  identification  of  competent  authorities,  liability  for 
certain infringements, protection of personal data and drafting of the article on Union 
jurisdiction. 

(3) 

For the sake of clarity, those Articles to which amendments need to be made should be 
republished in full. 

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2010/0116 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 2488/2000 maintaining a freeze of funds in relation to Mr 
Milosevic and those persons associated with him 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 215 (2) thereof, 

Having regard to Council Common Position 2000/599/CFSP of 9 October 2000 on support to 
a democratic FRY and the immediate lifting of certain restrictive measures1, and to Council 
Common  Position  2000/696/CFSP  of  10  November  2000  on  the  maintenance  of  specific 
restrictive measures directed against Mr Milosevic and persons associated with him2, 

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

After consulting the European Data Protection Supervisor, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Council Regulation (EC) No 2488/2000 of 10 November 2000 maintaining a freeze of 
funds in relation to Mr Milosevic and those persons associated with him and repealing 
Regulations (EC) Nos 1294/1999 and 607/2000 and Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 
926/983 confirmed certain restrictive measures in accordance with Common Positions 
2000/599/CFSP and 2000/696/CFSP. 

It is appropriate to align Regulation (EC) No 2488/2000 with recent developments in 
sanctions  practice  regarding  the  drafting  of  provisions  on  freezing  of  funds,  the 
identification of competent authorities, liability for certain infringements, protection of 
personal  data  and  drafting  of  the  article  on  Union  jurisdiction.  The  wording  of  the 
Regulation  should  also  be  adapted  to  take  into  account  the  death  of  Slobodan 
Milosevic.  For  the  sake  of  clarity,  those  Articles  to  which  amendments  need  to  be 
made should be republished in full. 

(3) 

This Regulation respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised 
in  particular  by  the  Charter  of  Fundamental  Rights  of  the  European  Union4  and 
notably the right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial, the right to property and the 

1 
2 
3 
4 

OJ L 261, 14.10.2000, p. 1. 
OJ L 287, 14.11.2000, p. 1. 
OJ L 287, 14.11.2000, p. 19. 
OJ C 364, 18.12.2000, p. 1. 

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right to protection of personal data. This Regulation should be applied in accordance 
with those rights and principles. 

(4) 

Any  processing  of  personal  data  of  natural  persons  under  this  Regulation  should 
respect Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
18  December  2000  on  the  protection  of  individuals  with  regard  to  the  processing  of 
personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of 
such data5 and Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
24  October  1995  on  the  protection  of  individuals  with  regard  to  the  processing  of 
personal data and on the free movement of such data6. 

(5) 

Regulation (EC) No 2488/2000 should be amended accordingly, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EC) No 2488/2000 is amended as follows: 

(1) 

The title is replaced by the following: 

“Council Regulation (EC) No 2488/2000 of 10 November 2000 maintaining a freeze of funds 
in relation to Slobodan Milosevic and persons associated with him” 

(2) 

Article 1 is replaced by the following: 

“Article 1 

1. 

2. 

3. 

All  funds  belonging  to,  or  owned,  held  or  controlled  by  Slobodan  Milosevic  or 
natural persons associated with him, as listed in Annex I, shall be frozen. 

No funds shall be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of any 
natural person listed in Annex I. 

For the purpose of this Regulation: 

(a)  ‘funds’  means  financial  assets  and  benefits  of  every  kind,  including  but  not 

limited to:  

(i) 

cash, cheques, claims on money, drafts, money orders and other payment 
instruments; 

(ii)  deposits with financial institutions or other entities, balances on accounts, 

debts and debt obligations; 

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OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1. 
OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31. 

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(iii)  publicly  and  privately  traded  securities  and  debt  instruments,  including 
stocks  and  shares,  certificates  representing  securities,  bonds,  notes, 
warrants, debentures and derivatives contracts; 

(iv) 

interest,  dividends  or  other  income  on  or  value  accruing  from  or 
generated by assets; 

(v) 

credit, right of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial 
commitments; 

(vi) 

letters of credit, bills of lading, bills of sale; 

(vii)  documents evidencing an interest in funds or financial resources; 

(b) 

‘freezing  of  funds’  means  preventing  any  move,  transfer,  alteration,  use  of, 
access to, or dealing with funds in any way that would result in any change in 
their volume, amount, location, ownership, possession, character, destination or 
other  change  that  would  enable  the  funds  to  be  used,  including  portfolio 
management. 

4. 

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

(3) 

Article 2 is replaced by the following: 

“Article 2 

The participation,  knowingly and intentionally, in activities  the object or effect  of  which  is, 
directly  or  indirectly,  to  circumvent  the  measures  set  out  in  Article  1(1)  and  (2)  shall  be 
prohibited.” 

(4) 

The following Article 2a is inserted: 

“Article 2a 

1. 

2. 

3. 

Article  1(2)  shall  not  apply  to  the  addition  to  frozen  accounts  of  interest  or  other 
earnings  on  those  accounts,  provided  that  any  such  interest,  other  earnings  and 
payments continue to be subject to Article 1(1). 

Article  1(2)  shall  not  prevent  financial  or  credit  institutions  in  the  Union  from 
crediting  frozen  accounts  where  they  receive  funds  transferred  to  the  account  of  a 
listed  natural  or  legal  person,  entity  or  body,  provided  that  any  additions  to  such 
accounts  will  also  be  frozen.  The  financial  or  credit  institution  shall  inform  the 
competent authorities about such transactions without delay. 

The freezing of funds or the refusal to make funds available, carried out in good faith 
on the basis that such action is in accordance with this Regulation, shall not give rise 
to  liability  of  any  kind  on  the  part  of  the  natural  or  legal  person,  entity  or  body 

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implementing it, or its directors or employees, unless it is proved that the funds were 
frozen as result of negligence.” 

(5) 

Article 3 is replaced by the following: 

“Article 3 

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  1,  and,  directly  or 
indirectly, supply such information to the Commission; and 

(b) 

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

2. 

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

(6) 

Article 4 is replaced by the following: 

“Article 4 

1. 

The  measures  necessary  for  the  implementation  of  this  Regulation  relating  to  the 
matters referred to in paragraph 2(a) and (b) shall be adopted in accordance with the 
management procedure referred to in Article 5(2). 

2. 

The Commission shall be empowered:  

(a) 

to  amend  Annex  I,  taking  into  account  decisions  implementing  Common 
Position 2000/696/CFSP, 

(b)  on  an  exceptional  basis,  to  grant  exemptions  to  Articles  1  and  2  for  strictly 

humanitarian purposes, 

(c) 

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

3. 

Any request by, on behalf of or for the benefit of a listed person, such as a request for 
an exemption referred to in paragraph 2 (b) or for an amendment of Annex I, shall be 
made through the competent authorities indicated in the websites listed in Annex II.  

When  a  competent  authority  receives  such  a  request,  it  shall  verify,  to  the  fullest 
extent  possible,  the  information  provided  by  the  natural  or  legal  person,  entity  or 
body making a request. 

4. 

The  competent  authority  shall  send  the  request  and  its  findings  on  it  to  the 
Commission.” 

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(7) 

The following Article 4a is inserted: 

“Article 4a 

1. 

The Commission shall process personal data in order to carry out its tasks under this 
Regulation. These tasks shall include:  

(a) 

preparing amendments of Annex I to this Regulation;  

(b) 

consolidating  the  contents  of  Annex  I  in  the  electronic,  consolidated  list  of 
persons, groups and entities subject to EU financial sanctions available on the 
Commission website7;  

(c) 

processing of information concerning the grounds for listing; and  

(d)  processing  of  information  on  the  impact  of  the  measures  of  this  Regulation 
such as the value of frozen funds and information on authorisations granted by 
the competent authorities. 

2. 

Annex I shall only include the following information on listed natural persons: 

(a) 

surname and given names, including alias names and titles, if any; 

(b)  date and place of birth; 

(c) 

nationality; 

(d)  passport and ID card numbers; 

(e) 

fiscal and social security numbers; 

(f) 

sex; 

(g) 

address or other information on whereabouts; 

(h) 

function or profession;  

(i) 

the grounds for listing if the function does not qualify as such. 

3. 

4. 

Annex  I  may  also  include  information  on  family  members  of  the  persons  listed, 
provided that the inclusion of this information is necessary in a specific case for the 
sole purpose of verifying the identity of the listed natural person in question. 

The Commission may process relevant data relating to criminal offences committed 
by  listed  natural  persons,  and  to  criminal  convictions  or  security  measures 
concerning such persons, only to the extent that such processing is necessary for the 
preparation of a statement of reasons and review of the views on it expressed by the 
natural person concerned, subject to appropriate specific safeguards. Such data shall 
not be made public or exchanged. 

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http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/cfsp/sanctions/list/consol-list.htm 

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5. 

For  the  purposes  of  this  Regulation,  the  Commission  unit  listed  in  Annex  II  is 
designated as “controller” within the meaning of Article 2(d) of Regulation (EC) No 
45/2001,  in  order  to  ensure  that  the  natural  persons  concerned  can  exercise  their 
rights under Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.” 

(8) 

The following Article 8a is inserted: 

“Article 8a 

1. 

2. 

Member States shall designate the competent authorities referred to in Articles 3 and 
4 and identify them in the websites as listed in Annex II. Member States shall notify 
the Commission of any changes to the addresses of their websites listed in Annex II 
before such changes take effect. 

Member States shall notify the Commission of their competent authorities, including 
their  contact  details,  by  15  July  2010  and  shall  notify  it  without  delay  of  any 
subsequent amendment.” 

(9) 

Article 10 is replaced by the following: 

This Regulation shall apply: 

“Article 10 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

within the territory of the Union, including its airspace; 

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

to  any  person  inside  or  outside  the  territory  of  the  Union  who  is  a  national  of  a 
Member State; 

to any legal person, entity or body which is incorporated or constituted under the law 
of a Member State; 

to any legal person, entity or body in respect of any business done in whole or in part 
within the Union.” 

(10) 

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

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

Article 2 

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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 and 4, 
and address for notifications and requests to the European Commission 

(to be completed by Member States) 

BELGIUM 

BULGARIA 

CZECH REPUBLIC 

DENMARK 

GERMANY 

ESTONIA 

IRELAND 

GREECE 

SPAIN 

FRANCE 

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 and requests 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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