Joint Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine
Date: 2022-12-07
Institutions: Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, European Commission
Subjects: EU restrictive measure, Russia, Ukraine, economic sanctions, food security, international sanctions, legal person, natural person, territorial dispute, trade restriction

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNION FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND SECURITY POLICY Brussels, 7.12.2022  JOIN(2022) 56 final/2          DOWNGRADED on 06.02.2023 2022/0423 (NLE)  Joint Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine  
 
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

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2022/0423 (NLE) 

Joint Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of 
actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and 
independence of Ukraine 

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 2014/145/CFSP of 17 March 2014 concerning restrictive 
measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty 
and independence of Ukraine1, 

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

Whereas:  

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

Council  Regulation  (EU)  No 269/20142 gives  effect  to  restrictive  measures  provided 
for in Decision 2014/145/CFSP. 

[XXX]  2022, 

the  Council  adopted  Decision 

On 
[XXX] amending 
Decision 2014/145/CFSP.  Decision  (CFSP)  [XXX]  reopened  the  deadline  for  the 
derogation  allowing  the  divestment  by  a  specific  listed  entity.  It  also  added 
derogations  from  the  asset  freeze  and  the  prohibition  to  make  funds  and  economic 
resources available to certain newly listed entities, in order to allow the termination of 
operations,  contracts,  or  other  agreements,  previously  concluded  with  those  entities, 
and to allow the purchase, import or transport of agricultural and food products. 

(CFSP) 

In order to ensure uniform application of the asset freeze provisions, it is appropriate 
to  clarify  that  the  information  exchange  between  the  Member  States  and  the 
Commmision  includes  information  relating  to  any  authorisation  granted  under  the 
derogations set out in Regulation (EU) No 269/2014. 

It is also appropriate to clarify that the information gathered by the Member States and 
subsequently  exchanged  with  the Commission  can only  be used for the purposes for 
which it was received or provided. It is also appropriate to clarify that any information 
provided  to  or  received  by  the  Commission  in  accordance  with  Council  Regulation 
(EU) No 269/2014 must be used by the Commission only for the purposes for which it 
was  provided  or  received.  It  is  moreover  appropriate,  in  order  to  ensure  the  uniform 
application  of  the  asset  freeze  provisions,  to  clarify  the  limits  of  the  use  of  the 
information  provided  to  and  received  by  the  Member  States  and  the  Commission 
respectively, in different provisions.  

1 
2 

OJ L 078, 17.3.2014, p. 16. 
Council Regulation  (EU)  No 269/2014  of  17 March 2014 concerning  restrictive  measures  in  respect  of  actions  undermining  or 
threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ L 78, 17.3.2014, p. 6). 

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(5) 

These amendments fall within the scope of the Treaty and therefore regulatory action 
at the level of the Union is necessary in order to implement them, in particular with a 
view to ensuring their uniform application in all Member States.  

(6) 

Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Council Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 is amended as follows: 

(1) 

in Article 6b, paragraph 2b is replaced by the following: 

Article 1 

‘2b.   By way of derogation from Article 2, the competent authorities of a Member State may, 
under such conditions as they deem appropriate, authorise the release of certain frozen funds 
or economic resources, or the making available of certain funds or economic resources to the 
entity  listed  under  entry  number  108  in  Annex  I,  after  having  determined  that  the  funds  or 
economic resources are necessary for the completion, by [OJ: please insert the date 6 months 
after  the  entry  into  force  of  this  Regulation],  of an  ongoing  sale  and  transfer  of  proprietary 
rights directly or indirectly owned by that entity in a legal person, entity or body established 
in the Union.’ 

(2) 

the following paragraph is inserted in Article 6b: 

‘2c. By way of derogation from Article 2, the competent authorities of a Member State may 
authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources belonging to the entities 
listed  under  entry  numbers  [OJ:  please  insert  the  numbers  identifying  the  newly  adopted 
listings concerning the banking entities], or the making available of certain funds or economic 
resources  to  those  entities,  under  such  conditions  as  the  competent  authorities  deem 
appropriate and after having determined that such funds or economic resources are necessary 
for the termination by [OJ: please insert the date 6 months after the entry into force of this 
Regulation],  of  operations,  contracts,  or  other  agreements,  including  correspondent  banking 
relations,  concluded  with  those  entities  before  [OJ:  please  insert  the  date  of  the  entry  into 
force of this  Regulation].’  

(3) 

in Article 6e, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: 

‘1.  By  way  of  derogation  from  Article 2,  the  competent  authorities  of  a  Member State  may 
authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic  resources belonging to the entities 
listed under entry numbers 53, 54, 55, 79, 80, 81, 82, 108, [OJ: please insert the numbers of 
the  newly  adopted  listings  concerning  the  banking  entities]  in  Annex  I,  or  the  making 
available of certain funds or economic resources to those entities, under such conditions as the 
competent  authorities  deem  appropriate  and  after  having  determined  that  such  funds  or 
economic  resources  are  necessary  for  the  purchase,  import  or  transport  of  agricultural  and 
food products, including wheat and fertilisers.’  

(4) 

in Article 8, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: 

‘3.  Any  information  provided  to  or  received  by  the  competent  authorities  of  the 
Member States in accordance with this Article shall be used by those authorities only for the 
purposes for which it was provided or received.’ 

(5) 

in Article 9, paragraph 6 is replaced by the following: 

‘6.  Any  information  provided  to  or  received  by  the  competent  authorities  of  the 
Member States in accordance with this Article shall be used by those authorities only for the 
purposes for which it was provided or received.’ 

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(6) 

in Article 12, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: 

‘1.  The  Commission  and  the  Member  States  shall  inform  each  other  of  the  measures  taken 
under this Regulation and share any other relevant information at their disposal in connection 
with this Regulation, in particular information: 

(a) in respect of funds frozen under Article 2 and authorisations granted under the derogations 
set out in this Regulation; 

(b) in respect of violation and enforcement problems and judgments handed down by national 
courts.’ 

(7) 

the following Article is inserted: 

Article 16a 

Any  information  provided  to  or  received  by  the  Commission  in  accordance  with  this 
Regulation shall be used by the Commission only for the purposes for which it was provided 
or received.’ 

This Regulation shall enter into force on the date 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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