Joint proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures against President Lukashenko and certain officials of Belarus
Date: 2011-01-24
Institutions: European Commission, High Representative of the Union
Subjects: Belarus, civil servant, electoral fraud, human rights, international sanctions, presidential election, restriction of liberty

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF  
THE EUROPEAN UNION FOR 
FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND 
SECURITY POLICY 

Brussels, 24.1.2011 
COM(2011) 26 final 

2011/0009 (NLE) 

Joint proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

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

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

Council Decision 2010/639/CFSP of 25 October 2010 provides for the application of 
restrictive  measures  against,  among  others,  persons  responsible  for  the  violations  of 
international  electoral  standards  in  the  presidential  elections  in  Belarus  on  19  March 
2006, and the related crackdown on civil society and democratic opposition.  

Following  similar  problems  with  the  19  December  presidential  elections,  the  High 
Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Commission 
propose to freeze the funds and economic resources of the persons responsible for the 
violations  of  international  electoral  standards  and  for  the  related  crackdown  on  civil 
society and democratic opposition, and of those natural or legal persons, entities and 
bodies associated with them. This should be done by means of a Regulation based on 
Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). To that 
end  it  is  proposed  to  amend  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  765/2006  concerning 
restrictive mesaures against President Lukakshenko and certain officials of Belarus. 

Article  291(2)  TFEU  provides  that,  where  uniform  conditions  for  implementing 
legally  binding  Union  acts  such  as  Regulations  based  on  Article  215  TFEU  are 
needed,  those  acts  shall  confer  implementing  powers  on  the  Commission  or,  in  duly 
justified specific cases, on the Council. 

The CFSP Decision provides for the Council to make available a statement of reasons 
to a listed individual, entity or body, for the opportunity to respond, and for a review 
procedure  to  be followed, when a  natural or legal person, entity or body included in 
the Annexes to that Decision submits observations or when new evidence is presented. 
This is with a view to ensuring respect, in particular, for the rights of the defence and 
the right to judicial review. These rights should also be respected by the Regulation. 

(5) 

The Court of Justice has jurisdiction to review the decisions to designate a natural or 
legal person, entity or body pursuant to both the CFSP Decision and the Regulation in 
accordance with Article 275 and 263 TFEU, respectively.  

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2011/0009 (NLE) 

Joint 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  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 215(1) thereof, 

Having regard to Council Decision 2010/639/CFSP of 25 October 2010 concerning restrictive 
measures against certain officials of Belarus1 as amended by Council Decision 2011/…/CFSP 
of … 20112, 

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

After consulting the European Data Protection Supervisor, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

Council Decision 2010/639/CFSP as amended provides for the freezing of funds and 
economic resources of, inter alia, the persons who are responsible for the violations of 
international  electoral  standards  in  the  presidential  elections  in  Belarus  on  19 
December  2010,  and  the  crackdown  on  civil  society  and  democratic  opposition,  as 
well as of those natural or legal persons, entities of bodies associated with them. 

These measures fall within the scope of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union  and,  therefore,  notably  with  a  view  to  ensuring  their  uniform  application  by 
economic operators in all Member States, regulatory action at the level of the Union is 
necessary in order to implement them. 

This Regulation respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised 
in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and notably 
the  right  to  an  effective  remedy  and  to  a  fair  trial  and  the  right  to  the  protection  of 
personal data. This Regulation should be applied in accordance with those rights and 
principles. 

Council  Decision  2010/639/CFSP  requires  the  communication  of  the  decision, 
including the grounds for listing, to a listed person, entity or body, and provides for the 
opportunity to respond, and for a review procedure to be followed, when a natural or 

1 
2 

OJ L 280, 26.10.2010, p. 18. 
OJ L …, …2011, p. … . 

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(5) 

(6) 

legal  person,  entity  or  body  included  in  the  Annexes  to  that  Decision  submits 
observations  or  when  new  evidence  is  presented.  This  is  with  a  view  to  ensuring 
respect,  in  particular,  for  the  rights  of  the  defence  and  the  right  to  judicial  review. 
These rights should also be respected by the Regulation. 

It is appropriate to empower the Commission to amend the list of persons, entities and 
bodies  whose  funds  and  economic  resources  should  be  frozen.  It  should  review  its 
listing decisions in light of the observations and information submitted by the natural 
or legal person, entity or body concerned and by the Member States. 

For  the  implementation  of  this  Regulation,  and  in  order  to  create  maximum  legal 
certainty within the Union, the names and other relevant data concerning natural and 
legal persons, entities and bodies whose funds and economic resources are to be frozen 
in  accordance  with  this  Regulation,  should  be  made  public.  Any  processing  of 
personal data 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 data3 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 data4. 

(7) 

In order to ensure that the measures provided for in this Regulation are effective, this 
Regulation must enter into force immediately, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

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

(1) 

Article 2 is replaced by the following: 

“Article 2 

1.  All funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by 
the natural or legal persons, entities and bodies listed in Annex I or in Annex 
IA shall be frozen.  

2.  No funds or economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly, 
to or for the benefit of the natural or legal persons, entities or bodies listed in 
Annex I or in Annex IA. 

3. 

The participation, knowingly and intentionally, in activities the object or effect 
of  which  is,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  circumvent  the  measures  referred  to  in 
paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be prohibited. 

3 
4 

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

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4.  Annex  I  shall  consist  of  the  natural  or  legal  persons,  entities  and  bodies 
referred to in Article 2(1)(a) of Council Decision 2010/639/CFSP as amended. 

5.  Annex  IA  shall  consist  of  the  natural  or  legal  persons,  entities  and  bodies 
referred  to  in  Article  2(1)(b)  of  Council  Decision  2010/639/CFSP  as 
amended.” 

(2) 

The following Article is inserted: 

“Article 2b 

1.  Annexes I and IA shall include only the following information on listed natural 

persons: 

(a) 

for  identification  purposes:  surname  and  given  names  (including  alias 
names and titles, if any); date and place of birth; nationality; passport and 
identity  card  numbers;  tax  and  social  security  numbers;  sex;  address  or 
other information on whereabouts; function held or profession;  

(b) 

the date referred to in Article 4(1)(b); 

(c) 

the grounds for listing. 

2.  Annexes  I  and  IA  may  also  include  information  on  family  members  of  the 
persons listed, provided that the inclusion of this information is considered to 
be necessary in a specific case for the sole purpose of verifying the identity of 
the listed natural person in question.” 

(3) 

Article 3 is replaced by the following: 

“Article 3 

1. 

By way of derogation from Article 2, 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 are: 

(a) 

necessary  to  satisfy  the  basic  needs  of  persons  listed  in  Annex  I  or  in 
Annex IA 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; or 

(c) 

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

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2. 

By way of derogation from Article 2, 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 are 
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. 

3.  Member  States  shall  inform  the  other  Member  States  and  the  Commission  of 

any authorisation granted under paragraph 1 or 2.” 

(6) 

Article 8 is replaced by the following: 

1. 

The Commission shall be empowered to: 

“Article 8 

(a) 

amend  Annexes  I  and  IA  on  the  basis  of  decisions  taken  in  respect  of 
Annexes  IV  and  V  to  Council  Decision  2010/639/CFSP,  respectively; 
and 

(b) 

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

2. 

The Commission shall communicate its decision to the natural or legal person, 
entity  or  body  included  in  Annex  I  or  in  Annex  IA,  either  directly,  if  the 
address is known, or through the publication of a notice, providing such natural 
or legal person, entity or body with an opportunity to present observations. 

3.  Where  observations  are  submitted  or  where  substantial  new  evidence  is 
presented,  the  Commission  shall  forward  the  observations  or  evidence 
submitted  to  the  Working  Party  on  Eastern  Europe  and  Central  Asia  of  the 
Council  requesting  each  Member  State  to  submit  its  observations  and,  where 
appropriate, further information. The period for submission of observations and 
further information shall not exceed three months. 

4. 

The  Commission  shall  review  its  decision  in  light  of  the  observations  and 
information submitted by the natural or legal person, entity or body included in 
Annex I or Annex IA and the Member States. 

The  Commission  shall  inform  the  natural  or  legal  person,  entity  or  body  of  the 
outcome of the review. 

5. 

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

(a) 

preparing  and  making  amendments  of  Annex  I  and  Annex  IA  to  this 
Regulation;  

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(b) 

(c) 

including the contents of these annexes in the electronic, consolidated list 
of persons, groups and entities subject to EU financial sanctions available 
on the Commission website5;  

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. 

6. 

7. 

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  Annex  I  or  of  Annex  IA  to  this  Regulation 
concerned. Such data shall not be made public or exchanged. 

For the purposes of this Regulation, the Commission unit listed in Annex II is 
designated  as  “controller”  for  the  Commission  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.” 

(7) 

The following Article is inserted: 

“Article 9b 

Where  there  is,  in  this  Regulation,  a  requirement  to  notify,  inform  or  otherwise 
communicate with the Commission, the address and other contact details to be used 
for such communication shall be those indicated in Annex II.” 

(9) 

The text set out in Annex I is inserted into Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 as Annex 
IA. 

(10) 

Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 is amended as set out in Annex II. 

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day 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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http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/cfsp/sanctions/consol-list_en.htm 

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ANNEX I 

“ANNEX IA 

List of natural and legal persons, entities or bodies referred to in Article 2(1), 2(2) and 
2(5) 

(To be completed by Council)” 

ANNEX II 

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

(1) 

The Annex heading is replaced by the following: 

“Websites for information on the competent authorities referred to in Articles 3, 4(2), 5 and 
8(7), and address for notifications to the European Commission” 

(2) 

The section ‘Address for notifications to the European Commission’ is replaced by 
the following: 

“Address for notifications to or other communication with the European Commission: 

European Commission 

Foreign Policy Instruments Service 

Unit FPIS.2 

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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