Council Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001 of 27 December 2001 on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism

Article 1

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

(a) ‘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: (i) a claim for performance of any obligation arising under or in connection with a contract or transaction; (ii) a claim for extension or payment of a bond, financial guarantee or indemnity of whatever form; (iii) a claim for compensation in respect of a contract or transaction; (iv) a counterclaim; (v) 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;

(b) ‘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;

(c) ‘competent authorities’ means the competent authorities of the Member States as identified on the websites listed in Annex I;

(d) ‘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;

(e) ‘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;

(f) ‘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;

(g) ‘funds’ means financial assets and benefits of every kind, including, but not limited to: (i) cash, cheques, claims on money, drafts, money orders and other payment instruments; (ii) deposits with financial institutions or other entities, balances on accounts, debts and debt obligations; (iii) publicly and privately traded securities and debt instruments, including stocks and shares, certificates representing securities, bonds, notes, warrants, debentures and derivatives contracts; (iv) interest, dividends or other income on, or value accruing from, or generated by assets; (v) credit, right of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial commitments; (vi) letters of credit, bills of lading, bills of sale; (vii) documents showing evidence of an interest in funds or financial resources;

(h) ‘territory of the Union’ means the territories of the Member States to which the Treaty on European Union (TEU) applies, under the conditions laid down therein, including their airspace;

(i) ‘terrorist act’ means one of the following intentional acts, which, given its nature or its context, may seriously damage a country or an international organisation, as defined as an offence under national law, where committed with the aim of: (i) seriously intimidating a population; (ii) unduly compelling a Government or an international organisation to perform or abstain from performing any act; or (iii) seriously destabilising or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a country or an international organisation: (a) attacks upon a person’s life which may cause death; (b) attacks upon the physical integrity of a person; (c) kidnapping or hostage taking; (d) causing extensive destruction to a Government or public facility, a transport system, an infrastructure facility, including an information system, a fixed platform located on the continental shelf, a public place or private property, likely to endanger human life or result in major economic loss; (e) seizure of aircraft, ships or other means of public or goods transport; (f) manufacture, possession, acquisition, transport, supply or use of explosives or weapons, including chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons, as well as research into, and development of, chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons; (g) release of dangerous substances, or causing fires, explosions or floods, the effect of which is to endanger human life; (h) interfering with or disrupting the supply of water, power or any other fundamental natural resource, the effect of which is to endanger human life; (i) threatening to commit any of the acts listed under points (a) to (h); (j) directing a terrorist group; (k) participating in the activities of a terrorist group, including by supplying information or material resources, or by funding its activities in any way, with knowledge of the fact that such participation will contribute to the criminal activities of the group; (l) illegal system interference or threatening to commit illegal system interference, as referred to in Article 4 of Directive 2013/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹) in cases where Article 9(3) or Article 9(4), points (b) or (c), of that Directive applies, and illegal data interference or threatening to commit illegal data interference, as referred to in Article 5 of that Directive in cases where point (c) of Article 9(4) of that Directive applies;

(j) ‘terrorist group’ means a structured group of more than two persons, established over a period of time and acting in concert to commit terrorist acts. ‘Structured group’ means a group that is not randomly formed for the immediate commission of a terrorist act and that does not need to have formally defined roles for its members, continuity of its membership or a developed structure;

(k) ‘owning a legal person, group or entity’ means being in possession of 50 % or more of the proprietary rights of a legal person, group or entity, or having a majority interest therein;

(l) ‘controlling a legal person, group or entity’ means, but is not limited to: (i) having the right or exercising the power to appoint or remove a majority of the members of the administrative, management or supervisory body of such legal person, group or entity; (ii) having appointed solely as a result of the exercise of one’s voting rights a majority of the members of the administrative, management or supervisory bodies of a legal person, group or entity who have held office during the present and previous financial year; (iii) controlling alone, pursuant to an agreement with other shareholders in or members of a legal person, group or entity, a majority of shareholders’ or members’ voting rights in that legal person, group or entity; (iv) having the right to exercise a dominant influence over a legal person, group or entity, pursuant to an agreement entered into with that legal person, group or entity, or to a provision in its Memorandum or Articles of Association, where the law governing that legal person, group or entity permits its being subject to such agreement or provision; (v) having the power to, de facto, exercise the right to exercise a dominant influence referred to in point (d), without being the holder of that right; (vi) having the right to use all or part of the assets of a legal person, group or entity; (vii) managing the business of a legal person, group or entity on a unified basis, while publishing consolidated accounts; (viii) sharing jointly and severally the financial liabilities of a legal person, group or entity, or guaranteeing them.

Article 2

Annex III shall include:

(a) legal persons, groups or entities owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more natural or legal persons, groups or entities listed in Annex II;

(b) natural or legal persons, groups or entities acting on behalf of or at the direction of one or more natural or legal persons, groups or entities listed in Annex II;

(c) leading members of legal persons, groups or entities listed in Annex II;

(d) natural or legal persons, groups or entities associated with natural or legal persons, groups or entities listed in Annex II, including by: (i) participating in the financing of terrorist acts committed by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of natural or legal persons, groups or entities listed in Annex II; (ii) participating in planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating terrorist acts committed by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of natural or legal persons, groups or entities listed in Annex II; (iii) providing or receiving terrorist training, such as instruction related to arms, explosive devices or other methods or technologies, for the benefit of natural or legal persons, groups or entities listed in Annex II; or (iv) being involved in recruitment for the benefit of natural or legal persons, groups or entities for the purposes of planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating terrorist acts listed in Annex II.

Article 2a

By way of derogation from Article 2(1) and (2), the competent authorities 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:

(a) necessary to satisfy the basic needs of natural or legal persons, groups or entities listed in Annexes II and III, 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;

(b) intended exclusively for the payment of reasonable professional fees and the reimbursement of incurred expenses associated with the provision of legal services;

(c) intended exclusively for the payment of fees or service charges for the routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds or economic resources;

(d) 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 the authorisation; or

(e) to be paid into or from an account of a diplomatic or consular mission or an international organisation enjoying immunities in accordance with international law, insofar as such payments are intended to be used for official purposes of the diplomatic or consular mission or international organisation.

Article 2b

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

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

(b) 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;

(c) the decision is not for the benefit of a natural or legal person, group or entity listed in Annex II or III; and

(d) recognising the decision is not contrary to public policy in the Member State concerned.

Article 2c

By way of derogation from Article 2(1) and provided that a payment by a natural or legal person, group or entity listed in Annex II or III is due under a contract or agreement that was concluded by, or an obligation that arose for, the natural or legal person, group or entity concerned before the date on which that natural or legal person, group or entity was included in Annex II or III, the competent authorities may authorise, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, provided that the competent authority concerned has determined that:

(a) the funds or economic resources will be used for a payment by a natural or legal person, group or entity listed in Annex II or III; and

(b) the payment is not in breach of Article 2(2).

Article 3

Article 4

Natural and legal persons, group and entities shall:

(a) supply immediately any information which would facilitate compliance with this Regulation, such as information on accounts and amounts frozen in accordance with Article 2(1), to the competent authority of the Member State where they are resident or located, and transmit such information, directly or through the Member State, to the Commission; and

(b) cooperate with the competent authority in any verification of the information referred to in point (a).

Article 5

Article 2 (2) shall not apply to the addition to frozen accounts of:

(a) interest or other earnings on those accounts;

(b) payments due under contracts, agreements or obligations that were concluded or arose before the date on which the natural or legal person, group or entity referred to in Article 2 was included in Annex II or III; or

(c) payments due under judicial, administrative or arbitral decisions rendered in a Member State or enforceable in the Member State concerned,

provided that any such interest, other earnings and payments are frozen in accordance with Article 2(1).

Article 6

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:

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

(b) international organisations;

(c) humanitarian organisations having observer status with the UN General Assembly and members of those humanitarian organisations;

(d) bilaterally or multilaterally funded non-governmental organisations participating in 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;

(e) 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;

(f) Member States’ specialised agencies;

(g) 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.

Article 6a

Article 6b

No claims in connection with any contract or transaction the performance of which has been affected, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, by the measures imposed under this Regulation, including claims for indemnity or any other claim of this type, such as a claim for compensation or a claim under a guarantee, in particular a claim for extension or payment of a bond, guarantee or indemnity, in particular a financial guarantee or financial indemnity, of whatever form, shall be satisfied, if they are made by:

(a) natural or legal persons, groups or entities listed in Annex II or III;

(b) any natural or legal person, group or entity acting through or on behalf of one of the natural or legal persons, groups or entities referred to in point (a).

Article 7

Article 7a

Annexes II and III shall contain, where available, the information necessary to identify the natural or legal persons, groups or entities concerned. With regard to natural persons, such information may include: names and aliases; date and place of birth; nationality; passport and identity card numbers; gender; address, if known; and function or profession. With regard to legal persons, groups or entities, such information may include: names, place and date of registration, registration number and place of business.

Article 8

The Commission and Member States shall inform each other of the measures taken under this Regulation and share any other relevant information at their disposal in connection with this Regulation, in particular information in respect of:

(a) funds frozen under Article 2 and authorisations granted under the derogations set out in this Regulation;

(b) violation and enforcement problems and judgments handed down by national courts.

Article 8a

The Council, the Commission, and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (the ‘High Representative’) may process personal data in order to carry out their tasks under this Regulation. These tasks include:

(a) as regards the Council, preparing and making amendments to Annexes II and III;

(b) as regards the High Representative, preparing amendments to Annexes II and III; and

(c) as regards the Commission: (i) adding the contents of Annexes II and III to the electronic, consolidated list of natural and legal persons, groups and entities subject to Union financial sanctions and to the interactive sanctions map, both of which are publicly available; (ii) processing information on the impact of the measures of this Regulation such as the value of frozen funds and information on authorisations granted by the competent authorities.

Article 8b

Article 8c

Any information provided or received in accordance with this Regulation shall be used only for the purposes for which it was provided or received.

Article 9

Article 10

This Regulation shall apply:

(a) within the territory of the Union, including its airspace;

(b) on board any aircraft or vessel under the jurisdiction of a Member State;

(c) to any natural person inside or outside the territory of the Union who is a national of a Member State;

(d) to any legal person, group or entity, inside or outside the territory of the Union, which is incorporated or constituted under the law of a Member State;

(e) to any legal person, group or entity in respect of any business done in whole or in part within the Union.

Article 11

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day 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.