Article 1 
For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply: 1. ‘Sanctions Committee’ means: the Committee of the Security Council of the United Nations which was established pursuant to paragraph 6 of Resolution 661 (1990); 2. ‘funds’ means financial assets and economic benefits of every kind, including but not limited to: (a) cash, cheques, claims on money, drafts, money orders and other payment instruments; (b) deposits with financial institutions or other entities, balances on accounts, debts and debt obligations; (c) publicly- and privately-traded securities and debt instruments, including stocks and shares, certificates representing securities, bonds, notes, warrants, debentures and derivatives contracts; (d) interest, dividends or other income on or value accruing from or generated by assets; (e) credit, right of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial commitments; (f) letters of credit, bills of lading, bills of sale; (g) documents evidencing an interest in funds or financial resources, (h) any other instrument of export-financing; 2. ‘funds’ means financial assets and economic benefits of every kind, including but not limited to: (a) cash, cheques, claims on money, drafts, money orders and other payment instruments; (b) deposits with financial institutions or other entities, balances on accounts, debts and debt obligations; (c) publicly- and privately-traded securities and debt instruments, including stocks and shares, certificates representing securities, bonds, notes, warrants, debentures and derivatives contracts; (d) interest, dividends or other income on or value accruing from or generated by assets; (e) credit, right of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial commitments; (f) letters of credit, bills of lading, bills of sale; (g) documents evidencing an interest in funds or financial resources, (h) any other instrument of export-financing; 3. ‘economic resources’ means assets of every kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, which are not funds but can be used to obtain funds, goods or services; 4. ‘freezing of funds’ means preventing any move, transfer, alteration, use of 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 use of the funds, including portfolio management; 5. ‘freezing of economic resources’ means preventing their use to obtain funds, goods or services in any way, including, but not limited to, by selling, hiring or mortgaging them; 6. ‘Development Fund for Iraq’ means the Development Fund for Iraq held by the Central Bank of Iraq.
Article 2 
All proceeds from all export sales of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas from Iraq, as listed in Annex I, as of 22 May 2003 shall be deposited into the Development Fund for Iraq under the conditions set out in UNSC Resolution 1483 (2003) and in particular paragraphs 20 and 21 thereof.
Article 3 
1. The following shall be prohibited: (a) the import of or the introduction into the territory of the Community of, (b) the export of or removal from the territory of the Community of, and (c) the dealing in, Iraqi cultural property and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific and religious importance including those items listed in Annex II, if they have been illegally removed from locations in Iraq, in particular, if: (i) the items form an integral part of either the public collections listed in the inventories of Iraqi museums, archives or libraries' conservation collection, or the inventories of Iraqi religious institutions, or (ii) there exists reasonable suspicion that the goods have been removed from Iraq without the consent of their legitimate owner or have been removed in breach of Iraq's laws and regulations. (c) the dealing in, Iraqi cultural property and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific and religious importance including those items listed in Annex II, if they have been illegally removed from locations in Iraq, in particular, if: (i) the items form an integral part of either the public collections listed in the inventories of Iraqi museums, archives or libraries' conservation collection, or the inventories of Iraqi religious institutions, or (ii) there exists reasonable suspicion that the goods have been removed from Iraq without the consent of their legitimate owner or have been removed in breach of Iraq's laws and regulations. 2. These prohibitions shall not apply if it is shown that either: (a) the cultural items were exported from Iraq prior to 6 August 1990; or (b) the cultural items are being returned to Iraqi institutions in accordance with the objective of safe return as set out in paragraph 7 of UNSC Resolution 1483 (2003).
Article 4 
1. All funds and economic resources of the previous Government of Iraq, or of any of the public bodies, corporations, including companies established under private law in which the public authorities have a majority or controlling stake, or agencies of that Government, identified by the Sanctions Committee and listed in Annex III, shall be frozen, if they were located outside Iraq on the date of 22 May 2003. 2. All funds and economic resources belonging to, or owned or held by the following persons, identified by the Sanctions Committee and listed in Annex IV, shall be frozen: (a) former President Saddam Hussein; (b) senior officials of his regime; (c) immediate members of their families; or (d) legal persons, bodies or entities owned or controlled directly or indirectly by the persons referred to in (a), (b) and (c) or by any natural or legal person acting on their behalf or at their direction. 3. No funds shall be made available, directly or indirectly to, or for the benefit of, a natural or legal person, body or entity listed in Annex IV. 4. No economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly to, or for the benefit of, a natural or legal person, body or entity listed in Annex IV, so as to enable that person, body or entity to obtain funds, goods or services.
Article 4a 
The prohibition set out in Article 4(3) and 4(4) shall not give rise to liability of any kind on the part of the natural or legal persons or entities concerned, if they did not know, and had no reasonable cause to suspect, that their actions would infringe this prohibition.
Article 5 
1. The crediting of frozen accounts shall be allowed on the condition that any additions shall be frozen.
Article 6 
1. By way of derogation from Article 4, the competent authorities indicated in the websites listed in Annex V, may authorise the release of frozen funds or economic resources, if all of the following conditions are met: (a) the funds or economic resources are the subject of a judicial, administrative or arbitral lien established prior to 22 May 2003 or of a judicial, administrative or arbitral judgment rendered prior to that date; (b) the funds or economic resources will be used exclusively to satisfy claims secured by such a lien or recognised as valid in such a judgment, within the limits set by applicable laws and regulations governing the rights of persons having such claims; (c) satisfying the claim is not in breach of Regulation (EEC) No 3541/92; and (d) recognising the lien or judgment is not contrary to public policy in the Member State concerned. 2. In all other circumstances, funds, economic resources and proceeds of economic resources frozen pursuant to Article 4 shall only be unfrozen for the purpose of their transfer to the Development Fund for Iraq held by the Central Bank of Iraq, under the conditions set out in UNSC Resolution 1483 (2003).
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL The proposal for a Council Regulation is necessitated by the upcoming accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union. The Treaty concerning the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union[1] was signed by all Member States of the European Union and the Republic of Croatia at Brussels on 9 December 2011. Article 3 (3) of the Treaty of Accession provides that it shall enter into force on 1 July 2013 provided that all the instruments of ratification have been deposited before that date. Article 3(4) of the Treaty of Accession enables the institutions of the Union to adopt before accession measures referred to, inter alia, in Article 50 of the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Croatia[2]. These measures shall enter into force only subject to and on the date of the entry into force of the Treaty of Accession. Article 50 of the Act of Accession provides that where acts of the institutions adopted prior to accession require adaptation by reason of accession, and the necessary adaptations have not been provided for in this Act or its Annexes, the Council or the Commission (if the original acts were adopted by the Commission) shall adopt the necessary acts. Point 2 of the Final Act[3] refers to the political agreement on a set of adaptations to acts adopted by the institutions which was reached between the Member States and Croatia in the context of the approval of the Treaty of Accession; the High Contracting Parties of the Treaty of Accession invited the Council and the Commission to adopt these adaptations before accession in accordance with Article 50 of the Act of Accession, completed and updated where necessary to take account of the evolution of the law of the Union. The present proposal regroups the technical adaptations to all Council regulations and decisions as well as to all European Parliament and Council regulations and decisions which require technical adaptation by reason of the accession of Croatia, into a single Council regulation. Alongside this proposal for a Council Regulation, the Commission transmits a series of separate proposals for several Council directives to the Council which cover technical adaptations to Council directives as well as to European Parliament and Council directives which also need technical adaptation by reason of the accession of Croatia. Each of these separate proposals for Council directives regroups the technical adaptations which correspond to different negotiation chapters. This structure is designed to facilitate the transposition of the directives by Member States into their respective legal orders, and is in line with the approach which was taken in view of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania[4]. It is foreseen that all the legal acts included in this package will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union at the same date. The present proposal and the other proposals included in this package will take into account technical adaptations to the acquis which were published in the Official Journal of the European Union until 1 September 2012. The reasons for this are to provide sufficient time for the legislative processes involved on the one hand, and for the fulfilment of the ensuing transposition and notification obligations by Member States as regards directives on the other hand. Adaptations which may be necessary to the acquis published in the Official Journal of the European Union after 1 September 2012 will be foreseen in the relevant acts themselves or done at a later stage through the appropriate procedure. In addition, the Commission intends to informally provide a list of such legislation to Member States in early July 2013.
Revised version (Article 6 ):
1. By way of derogation from Article 4, the competent authorities indicated in the websites listed in Annex V, may authorise the release of frozen funds or economic resources, if all of the following conditions are met: (a) the funds or economic resources are the subject of a judicial, administrative or arbitral lien established prior to 22 May 2003 or of a judicial, administrative or arbitral judgment rendered prior to that date; (b) the funds or economic resources will be used exclusively to satisfy claims secured by such a lien or recognised as valid in such a judgment, within the limits set by applicable laws and regulations governing the rights of persons having such claims; (c) satisfying the claim is not in breach of Regulation (EEC) No 3541/92; and (d) recognising the lien or judgment is not contrary to public policy in the Member State concerned. 2. In all other circumstances, funds, economic resources and proceeds of economic resources frozen pursuant to Article 4 shall only be unfrozen for the purpose of their transfer to the successor arrangements to the Development Fund for Iraq put in place by the Government of Iraq under the conditions set out in UNSC Resolutions 1483 (2003) and 1956 (2010).
Article 7 
1. The participation, knowingly and intentionally, in activities, the object or effect of which is, directly or indirectly, to circumvent Article 4 or to promote the transactions referred to in Articles 2 and 3, shall be prohibited. 2. Any information that the provisions of this Regulation are being, or have been, circumvented shall be notified to the competent authorities indicated in the websites listed in Annex V, and, directly or through these competent authorities, to the Commission.
Article 8 
1. Without prejudice to the applicable rules concerning reporting, confidentiality and professional secrecy and to the provisions of Article 284 of the Treaty, natural and legal persons, entities and bodies shall: (a) provide immediately any information which would facilitate compliance with this Regulation, such as accounts and amounts frozen in accordance with Article 4, to the competent authorities indicated in the websites listed in Annex V, in the Member State where they are resident or located, and, directly or through these competent authorities, to the Commission; (b) cooperate with the competent authorities indicated in the websites listed in Annex V, 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.
Article 9 
The freezing of funds and economic resources, carried out in good faith 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 or entity implementing it, or its directors or employees, unless it is proved that the funds and economic resources were frozen as result of negligence.
Article 10 
1. The following shall be immune from legal proceedings and shall not be subjected to any form of attachment, garnishment or execution: (a) petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas originating in Iraq, until title to such goods has been passed to a purchaser; (b) proceeds and obligations arising from the sale of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas originating in Iraq, including payments for such goods deposited into the Development Fund for Iraq held by the Central Bank of Iraq; (c) funds and economic resources frozen pursuant to Article 4; (d) the Development Fund for Iraq held by the Central Bank of Iraq. 2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the proceeds and obligations arising from the sale of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas originating in Iraq, and the Development Fund for Iraq shall not be immune from claims made on the basis of Iraq's liability for damages in connection with any ecological accident occurring after 22 May 2003. 3. Paragraph 1(a), (b) and (d) shall not apply to legal proceedings concerning any contractual obligation entered into by Iraq, including in particular its Interim Government, the Central Bank of Iraq and the Development Fund for Iraq, after 30 June 2004 nor to any final judgement arising out of such a contractual obligation.
Article 11 
The Commission shall be empowered to: (a) amend Annex II as necessary; (b) amend or supplement Annexes III and IV on the basis of determinations made by either the United Nations Security Council or the Sanctions Committee; and (c) amend Annex V on the basis of information supplied by Member States.
Article 12 
Without prejudice to the rights and obligations of the Member States under the Charter of the United Nations, the Commission shall maintain all necessary contacts with the Sanctions Committee for the purpose of the effective implementation of this Regulation.
Article 13 
The Commission and the Member States shall immediately inform each other of any measures taken pursuant to this Regulation. They shall supply each other with relevant information at their disposal in connection with this Regulation, in particular information received in accordance with Article 8 and information relating to breaches of the provisions of this Regulation, enforcement problems and judgements handed down by national courts.
Article 14 
This Regulation shall apply notwithstanding any rights conferred or obligations imposed by any international agreement signed or any contract entered into or any licence or permit granted before the entry into force of this Regulation.
Article 15 
1. The Member States shall lay down the rules on sanctions applicable to infringements of the provisions of this Regulation and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are implemented. The sanctions provided for must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. 2. Pending the adoption, where necessary, of any legislation to that end, the sanctions to be imposed where the provisions of this Regulation are infringed shall, where relevant, be those determined by the Member States in order to give effect to Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2465/96. 3. Each Member State shall be responsible for bringing proceedings against any natural or legal person, group or entity under its jurisdiction, in cases of breach of any of the restrictive measures laid down in this Regulation by any such person, group or entity.
Article 15a 
1. Member States shall designate the competent authorities referred to in Articles 6, 7 and 8 of this Regulation and identify them in, or through, the websites listed in Annex V. 2. Member States shall notify the Commission of their competent authorities before 15 March 2008 and shall notify it of any subsequent changes.
Article 16 
This Regulation shall apply: (a) within the territory of the Community, including its airspace; (b) on board any aircraft or any vessel under the jurisdiction of a Member State; (c) to any person inside or outside the territory of the Community who is a national of a Member State; (d) to any legal person, entity or body which is incorporated or constituted under the law of a Member State; and (e) to any legal person, entity or body in respect of any business done in whole or in part within the Community.
Article 18 
1. This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . 2. Save for Articles 4 and 6, it shall apply from 23 May 2003. 3. Articles 2 and 10 shall apply until 30 June 2011. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.