EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

(1) Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 of 18 January 2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria gave effect to Council Decision 2011/782/CFSP[1]. Council Decision 2012/739/CFSP[2] repealed and replaced Decision 2011/782/CFSP. On 1 June 2013 Decision 2012/739/CFSP expired. It was succeeded by Decision 2013/255/CFSP which applies until 1 June 2014.

(2) It is necessary to clarify that derogation from the freezing of funds or economic resources necessary for humanitarian assistance should only be granted if funds or economic resources are released to the United Nations for the purpose of delivering such assistance in accordance with the UN Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan. When considering requests for authorisation, competent authorities should take into account the humanitarian principles as set out in the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid.

(3) It is also necessary to provide for derogation from the prohibition of financing and financial assistance related to activities undertaken by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in accordance with paragraph 10 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2118(2013).

(4) It is also necessary to provide for a prohibition with regard to goods constituting Syrian cultural heritage which have been illegally removed from Syria with the objective of facilitating the safe return of these goods to their legitimate owners.

(5) Further action by the Union is needed in order to implement these measures. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Europan Commission propose to amend Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 accordingly.

2013/0417 (NLE)

Joint Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria

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 2013/255/CFSP of 31 May 2013 concerning restrictive measures against Syria[3],

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

Whereas:

(1)       On …December 2013 the Council adopted Decision 2013/…/CFSP amending Decision 2013/255/CFSP.

(2)       Derogation from the prohibition of financing and financial assistance relating to certain goods and technology should be provided with regard to activities undertaken by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in accordance with paragraph 10 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2118(2013).

(3)       It is necessary to provide for additional restrictive measures in order to facilitate the safe return to their legitimate owners of goods constituting Syrian cultural heritage which have been illegally removed from Syria.

(4)       Derogation from the freezing of funds or economic resources necessary for humanitarian assistance should only be granted if funds or economic resources are released to the United Nations for the purpose of delivering such assistance in accordance with the UN Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan. When considering requests for authorisation, competent authorities should take into account the humanitarian principles as set out in the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid.             

(5)       Those measures fall within the scope of the Treaty and, therefore, in particular with a view to ensuring their uniform application by economic operators in all Member States, action at the level of the Union is necessary in order to implement them.

(6)       Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 is amended as follows:

(1)        The following Article 3b is inserted:

“Article 3b

Article 3a shall not apply to the provision of financing or financial assistance related to the import or transport of chemical weapons identified by the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), consistent with the objective of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention), undertaken in accordance with paragraph 10 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2118(2013).”

(2)        The following Article 11c is inserted:

“Article 11c

1. It shall be prohibited to import, export, transfer, or provide brokering services related to import, export or transfer of, Syrian cultural property goods and other goods of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific or religious importance, including those listed in Annex XI, if they have been illegally removed from Syria, in particular, if:

(i) the goods form an integral part of either the public collections listed in the inventories of Syrian museums, archives or libraries' conservation collection, or the inventories of Syrian religious institutions, or

(ii) there exist reasonable grounds to suspect that the goods have been removed from Syria without the consent of their legitimate owner or have been removed in breach of Syrian law or UN Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

2. The prohibition in paragraph 1 shall not apply if it is demonstrated that the goods are being returned to Syria with the objective of safe return to their legitimate owners.”

(3)        In Article 16, paragraph (f) is replaced by the following:

“(f) necessary for humanitarian purposes, such as delivering or facilitating the delivery of assistance, including medical supplies, food, humanitarian workers and related assistance, and provided that the funds or economic resources are released to the United Nations for the purpose of delivering or facilitating the delivery of assistance in Syria in accordance with the UN Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan, or evacuations from Syria;”

(4)        The Annex to this Regulation is added as Annex XI.

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]           Council Decision 2011/782/CFSP of 1 December 2011 concerning restrictive measures against Syria and repealing Decision 2011/273/CFSP (OJ L 319, 2.12.2011, p. 56).

[2]               Council Decision 2012/739/CFSP of 29 November 2012 concerning restrictive measures against Syria and repealing Decision 2011/782/CFSP (OJ L 330, 30.11.2012, p. 21).

[3]               OJ L 147, 1.6.2013, p. 14.

ANNEX

to the

Joint proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EU) No 36/2013 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria

“ANNEX XI

List of goods referred to in Article 11c

ex CN code || Product description

9705 00 00 9706 00 00 || Archaeological objects more than 100 years old which are the products of: — excavations and finds on land or under water — archaeological sites — archaeological collections

9705 00 00 9706 00 00 || Elements forming an integral part of artistic, historical or religious monuments which have been dismembered, of an age exceeding 100 years

9701 || Pictures and paintings, other than those included in category 3A or 4, executed entirely by hand in any medium and on any material, which are more than 50 years old and do not belong to their originators

9701 || 3A. Water-colours, gouaches and pastels executed entirely by hand on any material, which are more than 50 years old and do not belong to their originators

6914 9701 || Mosaics in any material executed entirely by hand, other than those falling in categories 1 or 2, and drawings in any medium executed entirely by hand on any material, which are more than 50 years old and do not belong to their originators

Chapter 49 9702 00 00 8442 50 80 || Original engravings, prints, serigraphs and lithographs with their respective plates and original posters, which are more than 50 years old and do not belong to their originators

9703 00 00 || Original sculptures or statuary and copies produced by the same process as the original, which are more than 50 years old and do not belong to their originators, excluding those in category 1

3704 3705 3706 4911 91 00 || Photographs, films and negatives thereof, which are more than 50 years old and do not belong to their originators

9702 00 00 9706 00 00 4901 10 00 4901 99 00 4904 00 00 4905 91 00 4905 99 00 4906 00 00 || Incunabula and manuscripts, including maps and musical scores, singly or in collections, which are more than 50 years old and do not belong to their originators

9705 00 00 9706 00 00 || Books more than 100 years old, singly or in collections

9706 00 00 || Printed maps more than 200 years old

3704 3705 3706 4901 4906 9705 00 00 9706 00 00 || Archives, and any elements thereof, of any kind or any medium which are more than 50 years old

9705 00 00 9705 00 00 || (a) Collections, as defined by the Court of Justice in its judgment in Case 252/84 ([1]), and specimens from zoological, botanical, mineralogical or anatomical collections; (b) Collections, as defined by the Court of Justice in its judgment in Case 252/84, of historical, palaeontological, ethnographic or numismatic interest

9705 00 00 Chapters 86-89 || Means of transport more than 75 years old

Chapter 95 7013 7114 Chapter 94 Chapter 90 Chapter 92 Chapter 91 Chapter 44 Chapter 69 5805 00 00 Chapter 57 4814 Chapter 93 9706 00 00 || Any other antique items not included in categories 1 to 13 (a) between 50 and 100 years old: — toys, games — glassware — articles of goldsmiths' or silversmiths' wares — furniture — optical, photographic or cinematographic apparatus — musical instruments — clocks and watches and parts thereof — articles of wood — pottery — tapestries — carpets — wallpaper — arms (b) more than 100 years old”

[1]           Collectors' pieces within the meaning of heading No 97.05 of the Common Customs Tariff are articles which possess the requisite characteristics for inclusion in a collection, that is to say, articles which are relatively rare, are not normally used for their original purpose, are the subject of special transactions outside the normal trade in similar utility articles and are of high value.