Joint Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EU) No 961/2010 on restrictive measures against Iran
Date: 2012-01-20
Institutions: European Commission, High Representative of the Union
Subjects: Iran, capital transfer, economic sanctions, international sanctions

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF THE_ 
EUROPEAN UNION FOR _FOREIGN AFFAIRS
AND _SECURITY POLICY

Brussels, 20.1.2012 
COM(2012) 23 final 

2012/0005 (NLE) 

Joint Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EU) No 961/2010 on restrictive measures against Iran 

 
 
  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

On 25 October 2010, the Council adopted Regulation (EU) No 961/2010 confirming 
the  restrictive  measures  taken  since  2007  and  providing  for  additional  restrictive 
measures against Iran in order to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 1929 
(2010)  and  accompanying  measures  as  requested  by  the  European  Council  in  its 
Declaration of 17 June 2010. 

These restrictive measures included the freezing of the assets of certain persons and 
entities.  

The Council now proposes to add to the list of targeted persons or entities a financial 
institution, in relation to which it proposes to introduce specific derogations. 

It is therefore necessary to amend Regulation (EU) No 961/2010 of 25 October 2010 
concerning  restrictive  measures  against  Iran,  in  order  to  incorporate  these 
derogations. 

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2012/0005 (NLE) 

Joint Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EU) No 961/2010 on restrictive measures against Iran 

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  2012/…/CFSP  of  …1  amending  Council  Decision 
2010/413/CFSP of 26 July 2010 concerning restrictive measures against Iran2, 

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

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

On 25 October 2010, the Council adopted Regulation (EU) No 961/2010 confirming 
the  restrictive  measures  taken  since  2007  and  providing  for  additional  restrictive 
measures against Iran in order to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 1929 
(2010)  and  accompanying  measures  as  requested  by  the  European  Council  in  its 
Declaration of 17 June 2010. 

These  restrictive  measures  included  the  freezing  of  the  assets  of  certain  persons  and 
entities.  

On 23 January 2012 the Council adopted Decision 2012/…/CFSP by which it added to 
the  list  of  targeted  persons  or  entities  a  financial  institution,  in  relation  to  which  it 
proposes to introduce specific derogations. 

Some of those 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. 

It  is  therefore  necessary  to  amend  Regulation  (EU)  No  961/2010,  in  order  to 
incorporate these derogations.  

In order to ensure that the measures provided for in this Regulation are effective, the 
latter should enter into force on the day of its publication, 

1 
2 

OJ 
OJ L 195, 27.7.2010, p. 39. 

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EU) No 961/2010 is amended as follows: 

The following Article is inserted: 

“Article 19a 

By way of derogation from Article 16, the prohibitions in Article 16 shall not apply to:  

(a) 

a  transfer  by  or  through  [Confidential  entity]  of  funds  or  economic  resources 

(i) 
received and frozen after the date of its designation, or 

(ii) 
a  transfer  of  funds  or  economic  resources  to  or  through  [Confidential  entity] 
where the transfer is related to a payment by a person or entity not listed in Annex 
VII or VIII due in connection with a specific trade contract,  

provided that the competent authority of the relevant Member State has determined, 
on a case by case basis, that the payment will not directly or indirectly be received by 
any other person or entity listed in Annex VII or VIII; or 

(b) 

a  transfer  made  by  or  through  [Confidential  entity]  of  frozen  funds  or  economic 
resources  in  order  to  provide  financial  institutions  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Member States with liquidity for the financing of trade, provided that the transfer has 
been authorised by the competent authority of the relevant Member State." 

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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