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Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1485 of 27 May 2024 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Russia

Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1485 of 27 May 2024 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Russia

Article 1

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

  1. ‘brokering services’ means:

    1. the negotiation or arrangement of transactions for the purchase, sale or supply of goods and technology or of financial and technical services, including from a third country to any other third country; or

    2. the selling or buying of goods and technology or of financial and technical services, including where they are located in third countries for their transfer to another third country;

  2. ‘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 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;

  3. ‘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 that 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;

  4. ‘competent authorities’ means the competent authorities of the Member States as identified on the websites listed in Annex III;

  5. ‘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;

  6. ‘financing or financial assistance’ means any action, irrespective of the particular means chosen, whereby the natural or legal person, entity or body concerned, conditionally or unconditionally, disburses or commits to disburse its own funds or economic resources, including but not limited to grants, loans, guarantees, suretyships, bonds, letters of credit, supplier credits, buyer credits, import or export advances and all types of insurance and reinsurance, including export credit insurance; payment as well as terms and conditions of payment of the agreed price for a good or a service, made in line with normal business practice, do not constitute financing or financial assistance;

  7. ‘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;

  8. ‘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;

  9. ‘funds’ means financial assets and benefit 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 showing evidence of an interest in funds or financial resources;

  10. ‘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;

  11. ‘territory of the Union’ means the territories of the Member States to which the Treaty on European Union applies, under the conditions laid down therein, including their airspace.

Article 2

1.

It shall be prohibited:

  1. to sell, supply, transfer or export, directly or indirectly, equipment which might be used for internal repression as listed in Annex I, whether or not originating in the Union, to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia;

  2. to provide technical assistance or brokering services related to the equipment referred to in point (a), directly or indirectly to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia;

  3. to provide financing or financial assistance, including in particular grants, loans and export credit insurance, as well as insurance and reinsurance, related to the equipment referred to in point (a), directly or indirectly to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia.

2.

Paragraph 1 shall not apply to protective equipment temporarily exported to Russia by UN personnel, personnel of the Union or its Member States, representatives of the media, and humanitarian and development workers and associated personnel for their personal use only.

3.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the competent authorities may authorise, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, the sale, supply, transfer or export of equipment which might be used for internal repression as listed in Annex I, and associated financing and financial and technical assistance, intended solely for humanitarian or protective use, for institution-building programmes of the UN or the Union, or for crisis-management operations of the UN and of the Union or of regional and subregional organisations.

4.

The authorisations referred to in paragraph 3 may be granted only prior to the activity for which they are requested. The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation granted under this Article within 4 weeks of the authorisation.

5.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the competent authorities may authorise the sale, supply, transfer, export or provision of the assistance or services referred to therein after having determined that this is necessary for:

  1. the functioning of diplomatic and consular representations of the Union and of the Member States or partner countries in Russia, including delegations, embassies and missions, or international organisations in Russia enjoying immunities in accordance with international law;

  2. the provision of electronic communication services by Union telecommunication operators, for the provision of associated facilities and services necessary for the operation, maintenance and security of such electronic communication services, in Russia, in Ukraine, in the Union, between Russia and the Union, and between Ukraine and the Union, and for data centre services in the Union.

Article 3

1.

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

2.

The competent authorities 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 internal repression by Russia’s government, public bodies, corporations or agencies, or any person or entity acting on their behalf or at their direction.

3.

Annex II shall include information security and telecommunications equipment, technology or software that could be misused for internal repression.

4.

By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, the competent authorities may authorise the sale, supply, transfer, export, or provision of the services referred to therein, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, after having determined that this is necessary for:

  1. the functioning of diplomatic and consular representations of the Union and of the Member States or partner countries in Russia, including delegations, embassies and missions, or international organisations in Russia enjoying immunities in accordance with international law;

  2. the provision of electronic communication services by Union telecommunication operators necessary for the operation, maintenance and security, including cybersecurity, of electronic communication services, in Russia, in Ukraine, in the Union, between Russia and the Union, and between Ukraine and the Union, and for data centre services in the Union.

5.

The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation granted under this Article within 4 weeks of the authorisation.

6.

The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation denied under this Article within 4 weeks of that denial.

7.

This Article is without prejudice to Article 2a of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014.

Article 4

1.

Unless the competent authority of the relevant Member State has given prior authorisation in accordance with Article 3(1), it shall be prohibited to:

  1. provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance or brokering services related to the equipment, technology and software listed in Annex II, related to the installation, provision, manufacture, maintenance, repair and use of the equipment and technology listed in Annex II, or related to the provision, installation, operation or updating of any software listed in Annex II to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia;

  2. provide, directly or indirectly, financing or financial assistance related to the equipment, technology and software listed in Annex II to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia;

  3. provide any telecommunication or internet monitoring or interception services to, or for the direct or indirect benefit of, Russia’s government, public bodies, corporations and agencies or any person or entity acting on their behalf or at their direction.

2.

For the purposes of point (a) of paragraph 1, the prohibition on maintenance and repair of the relevant equipment includes a prohibition on the maintenance, update and repair of any embedded software that is incorporated into the equipment.

3.

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 listed in Annex II, access to and delivery of a subject’s incoming and outgoing telecommunications and call-associated data for the purposes of its extraction, decoding, recording, processing, analysis or storing, or any other related activity.

Article 5

1.

The prohibitions in Articles 2(1) and 3(1) shall apply where equipment, technology or software not listed in Annexes I and II, are intended, in their entirety or in part, for use in connection with internal repression in Russia. Where the operator becomes aware of this, it shall immediately notify the competent authorities.

2.

The prohibitions in Articles 2(1) and 3(1) shall not apply where the operator had no reason to suspect that the equipment, technology or software not listed in Annexes I and II are intended, in their entirety or in part, for use in connection with internal repression in Russia.

Article 6

Article 7

Article 8

Article 9

Article 10

Article 11

Article 12

Article 13

Article 14

Article 15

Article 16

Article 17

Article 18

Article 19

Article 20

Article 21

Article 22

Article 23

Article 24

ANNEX IList of equipment which might be used for internal repression as referred to in Article 2

ANNEX IIList of equipment, technology and software referred to in Article 3

ANNEX IIIWebsites for information on the competent authorities and address for notifications to the Commission

ANNEX IVList of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies referred to in Article 6