Council Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 of 18 May 2006 concerning restrictive measures in respect of Belarus

Article 1

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

‘funds’ means financial assets and benefits of every kind, including but not limited to:
1. cash, cheques, claims on money, drafts, money orders and other payment instruments;
2. deposits with financial institutions or other entities, balances on accounts, debts and debt obligations;
3. publicly- and privately-traded securities and debt instruments, including stocks and shares, certificates representing securities, bonds, notes, warrants, debentures and derivatives contracts;
4. interest, dividends or other income on or value accruing from or generated by assets;
5. credit, right of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial commitments;
6. letters of credit, bills of lading, bills of sale;
7. documents evidencing an interest in funds or financial resources.
‘freezing of funds’ means preventing any move, transfer, alteration, use of, access to, 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.
‘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.
‘freezing of economic resources’ means preventing the use of economic resources to obtain funds, goods or services in any way, including, but not limited to, by selling, hiring or mortgaging them.
‘territory of the Community’ means the territories of the Member States, including their airspace, to which the Treaty is applicable, under the conditions laid down in the Treaty.
‘technical assistance’ means any technical support related to repairs, development, manufacture, assembly, testing, maintenance, or any other technical service, and may take forms such as instruction, advice, training, transmission of working knowledge or skills or consulting services; including verbal forms of assistance.
"dual-use goods and technology" means the items listed in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009⁽¹⁾.
"investment services" means the following services and activities:
1. reception and transmission of orders in relation to one or more financial instruments;
2. execution of orders on behalf of clients;
3. dealing on own account;
4. portfolio management;
5. investment advice;
6. underwriting of financial instruments and/or placing of financial instruments on a firm commitment basis;
7. placing of financial instruments without a firm commitment basis;
8. any service in relation to the admission to trading on a regulated market or trading on a multilateral trading facility.
"transferable securities" means the following classes of securities which are negotiable on the capital market, with the exception of instruments of payment:
1. shares in companies and other securities equivalent to shares in companies, partnerships or other entities, and depositary receipts in respect of shares;
2. bonds or other forms of securitised debt, including depositary receipts in respect of such securities;
3. any other securities giving the right to acquire or sell any such transferable securities.
"money-market instruments" means those classes of instruments which are normally dealt in on the money market, such as treasury bills, certificates of deposit and commercial papers and excluding instruments of payment.
"credit institution" means an undertaking the business of which is to take deposits or other repayable funds from the public and to grant credit for its own account.

Article 1a

It shall be prohibited:

to sell, supply, transfer or export, directly or indirectly, equipment which might be used for internal repression as listed in Annex III, whether or not originating in the Union, to any person, entity or body in Belarus or for use in Belarus;
to participate, knowingly and intentionally, in activities the object or effect of which is to circumvent the prohibitions referred to in point (a).

Paragraph 1 shall not apply to protective clothing, including flak jackets and helmets, temporarily exported to Belarus by United Nations (UN) personnel, personnel of the Union or its Member States, representatives of the media or humanitarian and development workers and associated persons exclusively for their personal use.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the competent authorities in the Member States as listed in Annex II may authorise the sale, supply, transfer or export of equipment which might be used for internal repression, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, if they determine that such equipment is intended solely for humanitarian or protective use.

Paragraph 1 shall not apply to the rifles and their ammunition and sights that are listed in Annex IV and which also comply with the specifications for biathlon equipment as defined in the event and competition rules of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) and are intended exclusively for use in biathlon events and training.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the competent authorities in the Member States as listed in Annex II may authorise the sale, supply, transfer or export of sporting rifles, sporting pistols and their ammunition, as listed in Annex V, which also comply with the specifications defined in the equipment control guide of International Shooting Sport Federation, under such conditions as those authorities deem appropriate, if they determine that such equipment is intended exclusively for use in sports events and sports training recognised by the International Shooting Sport Federation.

The Member State concerned shall notify the other Member States and the Commission of its intention to grant an authorisation pursuant to paragraph 5 at least 10 days prior to the authorisation, including the type and quantity of the equipment concerned and the purpose for which it is intended.

Article 1b

It shall be prohibited:

to provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance related to the goods and technology listed in the Common Military List of the European Union⁽²⁾ (‘Common Military List’), or related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance and use of goods included in that list, to any person, entity or body in Belarus or for use in Belarus;
to provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance or brokering services related to equipment which might be used for internal repression as listed in Annex III, to any person, entity or body in Belarus or for use in Belarus;
to provide, directly or indirectly, financing or financial assistance related to the goods and technology listed in the Common Military List or in Annex III, including in particular grants, loans and export credit insurance, for any sale, supply, transfer or export of such items, or for any provision of related technical assistance to any person, entity or body in Belarus or for use in Belarus;
to participate, knowingly and intentionally, in activities the object or effect of which is to circumvent the prohibitions referred to in points (a) to (c).

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the prohibitions referred to therein shall not apply to:

non-lethal military equipment, or equipment which might be used for internal repression, intended solely for humanitarian purposes or protective use or for institution building programmes of the UN and the Union, or for EU or UN crisis management operations; or
non-combat vehicles fitted with materials to provide ballistic protection, intended solely for the protective use of personnel of the Union and its Member States in Belarus,

provided that the provision thereof has first been approved by the competent authority of a Member State, as identified on the websites listed in Annex II.

Paragraph 1 shall not apply to protective clothing, including flak jackets and military helmets, temporarily exported to Belarus by UN personnel, personnel of the Union or its Member States, representatives of the media or humanitarian and development workers and associated persons exclusively for their personal use.

Paragraph 1 shall not apply to the rifles and their ammunition and sights that are listed in Annex IV and which also comply with the specifications for biathlon equipment as defined in the event and competition rules of the IBU and are intended exclusively for use in biathlon events and training.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the competent authorities in the Member States as listed in Annex II may authorise the provision, directly or indirectly, of technical assistance or brokering services, financing or financial assistance related to sporting rifles, sporting pistols and their ammunition, as listed in Annex V, which also comply with the specifications defined in the equipment control guide of International Shooting Sport Federation, under such conditions as those authorities deem appropriate, if they determine that such equipment is intended exclusively for use in sports events and sports training recognised by the International Shooting Sport Federation.

The Member State concerned shall notify the other Member States and the Commission of its intention to grant an authorisation pursuant to paragraph 5 at least 10 days prior to the authorisation, including on the nature of the assistance or services related thereto.

Article 1c

It shall be prohibited to sell, supply, transfer or export, directly or indirectly, equipment, technology or software identified in Annex IV, whether or not originating in the Union, to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Belarus or for use in Belarus, unless the competent authority of the relevant Member State, as identified on the websites listed in Annex II, has given prior authorisation.

The competent authorities of the Member States, as identified on the websites listed in Annex II, shall not grant any authorisation under paragraph 1 if they have reasonable grounds to determine that the equipment, technology or software in question would be used for repression by the Belarusian Government, public bodies, corporations or agencies, or any natural or legal person or entity acting on their behalf or at their direction.

Annex IV shall include equipment, technology or software intended primarily for use in the monitoring or interception of internet or telephone communications.

The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation granted under this Article within two weeks of the authorisation.

Article 1d

Unless the competent authority of the relevant Member State, as identified on the websites listed in Annex II, has given prior authorisation in accordance with Article 1c(2), it shall be prohibited to:

provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance or brokering services related to the equipment, technology and software identified in Annex IV, or related to the installation, provision, manufacture, maintenance and use of the equipment and technology identified in Annex IV or to the provision, installation, operation or updating of any software identified in Annex IV, to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Belarus or for use in Belarus;
provide, directly or indirectly, financing or financial assistance related to the equipment, technology and software identified in Annex IV to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Belarus or for use in Belarus;
provide any telecommunication or internet monitoring or interception services of any kind to, or for the direct or indirect benefit of, the Belarusian Government, public bodies, corporations and agencies or any natural or legal person or entity acting on their behalf or at their direction.

For the purposes of point (c) of paragraph 1, "telecommunication or internet monitoring or interception services" means those services that provide, in particular using equipment, technology or software as identified in Annex IV, access to and delivery of a subject's incoming and outgoing telecommunications and call-associated data for the purpose of its extraction, decoding, recording, processing, analysis or storing, or any other related activity.