‘1a.   The list in Annex II shall also consist of natural or legal persons, entities and bodies who, in accordance with Article 28(2) of Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP (*1), have been identified by the Council as falling within one of the following categories:

(a)	leading businesspersons operating in Syria;

(b)	members of the Assad or Makhlouf families;

(c)	Syrian Government Ministers in power after May 2011;

(d)	members of the Syrian Armed Forces of the rank of “colonel” or the equivalent or higher in post after May 2011;

(e)	members of the Syrian security and intelligence services in post after May 2011;

(f)	members of the regime-affiliated militias;

(g)	persons, entities, units, agencies, bodies or institutions operating in the chemical weapons proliferation sector;

and natural or legal persons and entities associated with them, and to whom Article 21 of this Regulation does not apply.

1b.   Persons, entities and bodies within one of the categories referred to in paragraph 1a shall not be included or retained on the list of persons, entities and bodies in Annex II if there is sufficient information that they are not, or are no longer, associated with the regime or do not exercise influence over it or do not pose a real risk of circumvention.

‘2.   The Council shall communicate its decision on the listing referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, including the grounds therefor, to the person, entity or body concerned, either directly, if the address is known, or through the publication of a notice, providing such person, entity or body with an opportunity to present its observations. In particular, where a person, entity or body is listed in Annex II on the basis that they fall within one of the categories of persons, entities or bodies set out in Article 15(1a), the person, entity or body may present evidence and observations as to why, although they fall within such a category, they consider that their designation is not justified.’.