Joint Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EC) No 194/2008 renewing and strengthening the restrictive measures in respect of Burma/Myanmar /* COM/2011/0565 final - 2011/0241 (NLE) */
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM Council Regulation (EC) No 194/2008 provides
for certain measures to be taken in relation to Burma/Myanmar, including
restrictions on certain exports from Burma/Myanmar and a freezing of the assets
of certain individuals and entities. By Council Decision 2011/239/CFSP of 12
April 2011[1]
amending Council Decision 2010/232/CFSP renewing restrictive measures against
Burma/Myanmar, the Council has agreed on certain amendments. The High Representative of the EU for
Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Commission propose to amend Council
Regulation (EC) No 194/2008 accordingly. Additionally, the provisions in
Regulation (EC) No 194/2008 relating to amendment to the lists of targeted
persons and entities should be amended to take account of the requirement for
legal safeguards provided for in Art 215(3) TFEU and the jurisprudence of the
European Court of Justice. 2011/0241 (NLE) Joint Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EC) No 194/2008
renewing and strengthening the restrictive measures in respect of Burma/Myanmar 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
2011/239/CFSP of 12 April 2011[2]
amending Decision 2010/232/CFSP renewing restrictive measures against
Burma/Myanmar, Having regard to the joint proposal from
the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
and the Commission, Whereas: (1)
Council Regulation (EC) No 194/2008 of 25
February 2008 renewing and strengthening the restrictive measures in respect of
Burma/Myanmar and repealing Regulation (EC) No 817/2006[3] provides for certain measures
to be taken in relation to Burma/Myanmar, including restrictions on certain
exports from Burma/Myanmar and a freezing of the assets of certain individuals
and entities. (2)
By Decision 2011/239/CFSP, the Council has made
amendments to Decision 2010/232/CFSP[4].
Certain of the amendments, in particular those relating to the freezing of
funds of certain individuals and entities, require further action by the Union. (3)
Council Regulation (EC) No 194/2008 should be
amended accordingly. HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EC) No 194/2008 is amended as
follows: (1) Article 11 is replaced by the
following: “Article
11 1. All funds and
economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by the natural or
legal persons, entities and bodies listed in Annex VI 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 VI. 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. 4. The prohibition set out in paragraph 2
shall not give rise to liability of any kind on the part of the natural or
legal persons or entities concerned, if the did not know, and had no reasonable
cause to suspect, that their actions would infringe this prohibition.” (2) The following Article 11a is
inserted: “Article
11a 1. Annex VI shall include (a) senior members
of the former State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Burmese authorities
in the tourism sector, senior
members of the military, the Government or the security forces who formulate, implement or benefit from
policies that impede Burma/Myanmar's transition to democracy, and members of
their families; (b) senior serving members of the Burmese
military and members of their families; (c) natural or legal persons, entities or
bodies associated with persons referred to in point (a) and (b). 2. Annex VI shall include only the
following information on listed natural or legal persons, entities or bodies: (a) for identification purposes: in the
case of natural persons, 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; in the case of legal
persons, entities or bodies, name, place and date of registration, registration
number and place of business. (b) the date on which the natural or legal
person, entity or body has been included in Annex; (c) the grounds for listing. 3. Annex VI 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 18 is replaced by the
following: “Article
18 1. The Commission shall be empowered to: (a) amend Annex IV on the basis of
information supplied by Member States; and (b) amend Annexes V, VI and VII on the
basis of decisions taken in respect of Annex I, II and III to Council Decision
2010/232/CFSP. 2. The Commission shall state, in Annex
VI, the grounds for its decision to include an entry in that Annex, and shall draw
its decisions to the attention of the listed persons, entities and bodies
through the publication of a notice, providing such person, entitity or body as
has been listed with an opportunity to submit observations. 3. Where such observations are submitted,
the Commission shall review its decision in light of the observations and any
other relevant information and inform the person, entity or body accordingly. 4. 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 V, VI and VII to this Regulation; (b) 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 website[5]; (c) 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. 5. 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 VI to
this Regulation. Such data shall not be made public or
exchanged. 6. For the purposes of this Regulation,
the Commission unit listed in Annex IV 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.” Article 2 This Regulation shall enter into force on
the day following that 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 [1] OJ L 101 , 15 April 2011, p. 24 . [2] OJ L 101, 15 April 2011, p. 24 [3] OJ L 66, 10.3.2008, p. 1. [4] OJ L 105, 27.4.2010, p. 32. [5] http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/cfsp/sanctions/consol-list_en.htm