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Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1755 of 1 October 2015 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Burundi

Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1755 of 1 October 2015 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Burundi

Article 1

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

  1. ‘claim’ means any claim, whether asserted by legal proceedings or not, made before or after the date of entry into force of this Regulation, under or in connection with a contract or transaction, and includes in particular:

    1. a claim for performance of any obligation arising under or in connection with a contract or transaction;

    2. a claim for extension or payment of a bond, financial guarantee or indemnity of whatever form;

    3. a claim for compensation in respect of a contract or transaction;

    4. a counterclaim;

    5. a claim for the recognition or enforcement, including by the procedure of exequatur, of a judgment, an arbitration award or an equivalent decision, wherever made or given;

  2. ‘contract or transaction’ means any transaction of whatever form and whatever the applicable law, whether comprising one or more contracts or similar obligations made between the same or different parties; for this purpose ‘contract’ includes a bond, guarantee or indemnity, particularly a financial guarantee or financial indemnity, and credit, whether legally independent or not, as well as any related provision arising under, or in connection with, the transaction;

  3. ‘competent authorities’ refers to the competent authorities of the Member States as identified on the websites listed in Annex II;

  4. ‘economic resources’ means assets of every kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, which are not funds, but may be used to obtain funds, goods or services;

  5. ‘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;

  6. ‘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 funds to be used, including portfolio management;

  7. ‘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; and

    7. documents showing evidence of an interest in funds or financial resources;

  8. ‘territory of the Union’ means the territories of the Member States to which the Treaty is applicable, under the conditions laid down in the Treaty, including their airspace.

Article 2

1.

All funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by any natural or legal person, entity or body as listed in Annex I shall be frozen.

2.

No funds or economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of natural or legal persons, entities or bodies listed in Annex I.

3.

Annex I shall include natural or legal persons, entities and bodies which, in accordance with Article 2(1) of Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/1763, have been identified by the Council as:

  1. undermining democracy or obstructing the search for a political solution in Burundi, including by acts of violence, repression or inciting violence;

  2. being involved in planning, directing, or committing acts that violate international human rights law or international humanitarian law, as applicable, or that constitute serious human rights abuses, in Burundi; and

  3. associated with the persons, entities or bodies referred to in points (a) and (b).

Article 3

1.

By way of derogation from Article 2, the competent authorities of the Member States may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, or the making available of certain funds or economic resources, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, after having determined that the funds or economic resources concerned are:

  1. necessary to satisfy the basic needs of natural or legal persons listed in Annex I and dependent family members of such natural persons, including payments for foodstuffs, rent or mortgage, medicines and medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, and public utility charges;

  2. intended exclusively for payment of reasonable professional fees or reimbursement of incurred expenses associated with the provision of legal services;

  3. intended exclusively for payment of fees or service charges for routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds or economic resources; or

  4. necessary for extraordinary expenses, provided that the relevant competent authority has notified the competent authorities of the other Member States and the Commission of the grounds on which it considers that a specific authorisation should be granted, at least two weeks prior to authorisation.

2.

The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation granted under paragraph 1.

Article 4

1.

By way of derogation from Article 2(1), the competent authorities of the Member States may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, if the following conditions are met:

  1. the funds or economic resources are subject to an arbitral decision rendered prior to the date on which the natural or legal person, entity or body referred to in Article 2 was listed in Annex I, or of a judicial or administrative decision rendered in the Union, or a judicial decision enforceable in the Member State concerned, prior to or after that date;

  2. the funds or economic resources will be used exclusively to satisfy claims secured by such a decision or recognised as valid in such a decision, within the limits set by applicable laws and regulations governing the rights of persons having such claims;

  3. the decision is not for the benefit of a natural or legal person, entity or body listed in Annex I; and

  4. recognising the decision is not contrary to public policy in the Member State concerned.

2.

The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation granted under paragraph 1.

Article 4a

1.

Article 2(1) and (2) shall not apply to the making available of funds or economic resources necessary to ensure the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance or to support other activities that support basic human needs where such assistance and other activities are carried out by:

  1. the United Nations (UN), including its programmes, funds and other entities and bodies, as well as its specialised agencies and related organisations;

  2. international organisations;

  3. humanitarian organisations having observer status with the UN General Assembly and members of those humanitarian organisations;

  4. bilaterally or multilaterally funded non-governmental organisations participating in the UN Humanitarian Response Plans, UN Refugee Response Plans, other UN appeals or humanitarian clusters coordinated by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs;

  5. organisations and agencies to which the Union has granted the Humanitarian Partnership Certificate or which are certified or recognised by a Member State in accordance with national procedures;

  6. Member States’ specialised agencies; or

  7. the employees, grantees, subsidiaries or implementing partners of the entities referred to in points (a) to (f) while and to the extent that they are acting in those capacities.

2.

Without prejudice to paragraph 1, and by way of derogation from Article 2(1) and (2), the competent authorities of the Member States may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, or the making available of certain funds or economic resources, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, after having determined that the provision of such funds or economic resources is necessary to ensure the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance or to support other activities that support basic human needs.

3.

In the absence of a negative decision, a request for information or a notification for additional time from the relevant competent authority within five working days of the date of receipt of a request for authorisation under paragraph 2, that authorisation shall be considered granted.

4.

The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisations granted under paragraphs 2 and 3 within four weeks of such authorisation.

Article 5

Article 6

Article 7

Article 8

Article 9

Article 10

Article 11

Article 12

Article 13

Article 14

Article 15

Article 15a

Article 16

Article 17

Article 18

ANNEX I

ANNEX II