Joint Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Council Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures against President Lukashenko and certain officials of Belarus
Date: 2011-06-10
Institutions: European Commission, High Representative of the Union
Subjects: Belarus, economic sanctions, international sanctions, military equipment, trade restriction

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

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

Brussels, 10.6.2011 
COM(2011) 362 final 

2011/0158 (NLE) 

Joint Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

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

 
 
  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  765/2006  provides  for  a  freezing  of  the  assets  of  President 
Lukashenko and certain officials of Belarus.  

By  Council  Decision  2011/…/CFSP  of  …  June  20111  amending  Council  Decision 
2010/639/CFSP  concerning  restrictive  measures  against  certain  officials  of  Belarus,  the 
Council  has  decided  to  take  certain  additional  restrictive  measures  in  relation  to  Belarus,  in 
particular an arms embargo and a prohibition on internal repression equipment. 

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

The  High  Representative  of  the  Union  for  Foreign  Affairs  and  Security  Policy  and  the 
European Commission propose to amend Council Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 accordingly. 

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OJ L … , … June 2011, p. … . 

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2011/0158 (NLE) 

Joint Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Council 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 thereof, 

Having  regard  to  Council  Decision  2011/…/CFSP  of  …  June  20112  amending  Council 
Decision 2010/639/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against certain officials of Belarus  

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

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

Council Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 of 18 May 20063 provides for a freezing of the 
assets of President Lukashenko and certain officials of Belarus.  

By Decision 2011/…/CFSP of … June 2011, the Council has decided to take certain 
additional  restrictive  measures  in  relation  to  Belarus,  in  particular  by  imposing  an 
arms embargo and a prohibition on internal repression equipment. 

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

Regulation (EU) No 765/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly. 

In  order  to  ensure  that  the  measures  in  this  Regulation  are  effective,  this  Regulation 
should enter into force immediately. 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

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

Article 1 

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OJ L … , … June 2011, p. … . 
OJ L 134, 20 May 2006, p.1 

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(1) 

The title of the Regulation is to be replaced by the following: 

“Regulation  (EC)  No  765/2006  concerning  restrictive  measures  in  respect  of 
Belarus” 

(2) 

(a) 

Article 1 is amended as follows: 

Point (5) is replaced by the following: 

(5) 

“territory  of  the  Community”  means  the  territories  of  the  Member  States, 
including their airspace, to which the Treaty is applicable, under the conditions 
laid down in the Treaty.” 

(b) 

The following point (6) is added: 

(6) 

'technical  assistance'  means  any 
to  repairs, 
development,  manufacture,  assembly,  testing,  maintenance,  or  any  other 
technical  service,  and  may  take  forms  such  as  instruction,  advice,  training, 
transmission of working knowledge or skills or consulting services; including 
verbal forms of assistance; 

technical  support  related 

(3) 

The following Articles are inserted: 

It shall be prohibited: 

“Article 1a 

(a) 

to sell, supply, transfer or export, directly or indirectly, equipment which might 
be used for internal repression as listed in Annex III, whether or not originating 
in the Union, to any person, entity or body in Belarus or to any other person, 
entity or body for use in Belarus; 

(b) 

to participate, knowingly and intentionally, in activities the object or effect of 
which is to circumvent the prohibitions referred to in point (a). 

1. 

It shall be prohibited: 

“Article 1b 

(a) 

to provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance related to the goods 
and  technology  listed  in  the  Common  Military  List  of  the  European 
Union  (‘Common  Military  List’)4,  or  related 
the  provision, 
manufacture, maintenance and use of  goods included in that list, to any 
person, entity or body in Belarus or for use in Belarus; 

to 

(b) 

to  provide,  directly  or  indirectly,  technical  assistance  or  brokering 
services related to equipment which might be used for internal repression 

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OJ C 69, 18.3.2010, p. 19. 

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as listed in Annex III, to any person, entity or body in Belarus or for use 
in Belarus; 

(c) 

to provide, directly or indirectly, financing or financial assistance related 
to  the  goods  and  technology  listed  in  the  Common  Military  List  or  in 
Annex III,  including  in  particular  grants,  loans  and  export  credit 
insurance,  for  any  sale,  supply,  transfer  or  export  of  such  items,  or  for 
any provision of related technical assistance to any person, entity or body 
in Belarus or for use in Belarus; 

(d) 

to  participate,  knowingly  and  intentionally,  in  activities  the  object  or 
effect of which is to circumvent the prohibitions referred to in points (a) 
to (c). 

2. 

By  way  of  derogation  from  paragraph  1,  the  prohibitions  referred  to  therein 
shall not apply to the provision of technical assistance, financing and financial 
assistance related to  

(a)  non-lethal military equipment, or equipment which might be used for internal 
repression,  intended  solely  for  humanitarian  purposes  or  protective  use  or  for 
institution building programmes of the United Nations (“UN”) and the Union, 
or for Union or UN crisis management operations; or 

(b)  non-combat  vehicles  fitted  with  materials  to  provide  ballistic  protection, 
intended solely for the protective use of personnel of the Union and its Member 
States in Belarus; 

provided that such provision  shall  first have  been approved  by  the  competent 
authority of a Member State, as identified on the websites listed in Annex II. 

3. 

Paragraph  1  shall  not  apply  to  protective  clothing,  including  flak  jackets  and 
military helmets, temporarily exported to Belarus by UN personnel, personnel 
of  the  Union  or  its  Member  States,  representatives  of  the  media  or 
humanitarian and development workers and associated persons exclusively for 
their personal use.” 

The  contents  of  the  Annex  to  this  Regulation  shall  be  inserted  as  Annex  III  to  Regulation 
(EC) No 765/2006. 

Article 2 

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Article 3 

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day 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, 

For the Council 
The President 

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ANNEX  

“ANNEX III 

List of equipment which might be used for internal repression as referred to in Article 
1a and Article 1b  

1. 

Fire-arms, ammunition and related accessories therefor, as follows: 

1.1  Firearms not controlled by ML 1 and ML 2 of the Common Military List of the 

European Union ('Common Military List')5; 

1.2  Ammunition specially designed for the firearms listed in item 1.1 and specially 

designed components therefor; 

1.3  Weapon-sights not controlled by the Common Military List. 

Bombs and grenades not controlled by the Common Military List. 

Vehicles as follows: 

2. 

3. 

3.1  Vehicles equipped with a water cannon, specially designed or modified for the 

purpose of riot control; 

3.2  Vehicles specially designed or modified to be electrified to repel borders; 

3.3  Vehicles  specially  designed  or  modified  to  remove  barricades,  including 

construction equipment with ballistic protection; 

3.4  Vehicles  specially  designed  for  the  transport  or  transfer  of  prisoners  and/or 

detainees; 

3.5  Vehicles specially designed to deploy mobile barriers; 

3.6  Components for the vehicles specified in items 3.1 to 3.5 specially designed for 

the purposes of riot control. 

Note 1  This item does not control vehicles specially designed for the purposes 

of fire-fighting. 

Note 2  For the purposes of item 3.5 the term "vehicles" includes trailers. 

4. 

Explosive substances and related equipment as follows: 

4.1  Equipment and devices specially designed to initiate explosions by electrical or 
non-electrical  means,  including  firing  sets,  detonators,  igniters,  boosters  and 
detonating  cord,  and  specially  designed  components  therefor;  except  those 
specially designed for a specific commercial use consisting of the actuation or 
operation  by  explosive  means  of  other  equipment  or  devices  the  function  of 

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OJ L 88, 29.3.2007, p. 58. 

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which is not the creation of explosions (e.g., car air-bag inflaters, electric-surge 
arresters of fire sprinkler actuators); 

4.2  Linear cutting explosive charges not controlled by the Common Military List; 

4.3  Other  explosives  not  controlled  by  the  Common  Military  List  and  related 

substances as follows: 

a. 

b. 

c. 

d. 

e. 

f. 

amatol; 

nitrocellulose (containing more than 12,5 % nitrogen); 

nitroglycol; 

pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN); 

picryl chloride; 

2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). 

5. 

Protective  equipment  not  controlled  by  ML  13  of  the  Common  Military  List  as 
follows: 

5.1  Body armour providing ballistic and/or stabbing protection; 

5.2  Helmets providing  ballistic and/or  fragmentation protection,  anti-riot  helmets, 

antiriot shields and ballistic shields. 

Note: This item does not control: 

- 

- 

equipment specially designed for sports activities; 

equipment specially designed for safety of work requirements. 

Simulators, other than those controlled by ML 14 of the Common Military List, for 
training in the use of firearms, and specially designed software therefor. 

Night  vision,  thermal  imaging  equipment  and  image  intensifier  tubes,  other  than 
those controlled by the Common Military List. 

Razor barbed wire. 

Military knives, combat knives and bayonets with blade lengths in excess of 10 cm. 

Production equipment specially designed for the items specified in this list. 

Specific technology for the development, production or use of the items specified in 
this list.” 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

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