Council Regulation (EU) 2023/1594 of 3 August 2023 amending Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 215 thereof,

Having regard to Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP of 15 October 2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine (1),

Having regard to the joint proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) On 18 May 2006, the Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 (2).

(2) Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 gives effect to the measures provided for in Decision 2012/642/CFSP.

(3) Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/1601 (3) prohibits the sale, supply, transfer or export of firearms, their parts and essential components and ammunition to Belarus. Goods subject to that prohibition are also covered by Regulation (EU) No 258/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4). In that context, Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 is to be treated as lex specialis and therefore, in the event of a conflict, takes precedence over Regulation (EU) No 258/2012.

(4) Decision (CFSP) 2023/1601 expands the list of items which contribute to Belarus’s military and technological enhancement or to the development of its defence and security sector by adding items which have been used by Russia for its war of aggression against Ukraine and items which contribute to the development or production of Belarus’s military systems, including semiconductor devices, electronic integrated circuits, manufacturing and testing equipment, photographic cameras and optical components, other electrical/magnetic components, and electronic devices, modules and assemblies.

(5) It is appropriate to impose an export ban on goods and technology suited for use in aviation and the space industry, including aircraft engines and their parts, for both manned and unmanned aircraft. In addition, Decision (CFSP) 2023/1601 introduces a possibility for the national competent authorities to grant derogations to allow for certain aviation goods that are also widely used in the medical field to be exported for medical, pharmaceutical or humanitarian purposes.

(6) On 26 January 2023, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (the ‘High Representative’) presented a proposal for a Council Decision to amend Decision 2012/642/CFSP and the High Representative and the Commission presented a joint proposal for a Council Regulation to amend Regulation (EC) No 765/2006. In view of the urgency linked to the fight against circumvention regarding certain sensitive goods, the adoption of provisions regarding those goods is being fast-tracked, without prejudice to the remainder of those proposals.

(7) Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 is amended as follows:

(4) Annex Va to Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation;

(5) the text set out in Annex II to this Regulation is added as Annexes XVI and XVII to Regulation (EC) No 765/2006.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that 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.

Done at Brussels, 3 August 2023.

For the Council The President P. NAVARRO RÍOS

(1) OJ L 285, 17.10.2012, p. 1.

(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 of 18 May 2006 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine (OJ L 134, 20.5.2006, p. 1).

(3) Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/1601 of 3 August 2023 amending Decision 2012/642/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine (see page 37 of this Official Journal).

(4) Regulation (EU) No 258/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012 implementing Article 10 of the United Nations’ Protocol against the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UN Firearms Protocol), and establishing export authorisation, and import and transit measures for firearms, their parts and components and ammunition (OJ L 94, 30.3.2012, p. 1).