Council Regulation (EU) 2025/392 of 24 February 2025 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 (CFSP) 2025/391 of 24 February 2025 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 (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 Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP (3).

(3) On 24 February 2025, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2025/391.

(4) Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 strengthens the prohibition on the export of dual-use goods and technology listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), and of goods and technology which might contribute to the technological enhancement of Belarus’s defence and security sector, as listed in Annex Va to Regulation (EC) No 765/2006, to entities on the list of legal persons, entities or bodies in Annex II to Decision 2012/642/CFSP.

(5) Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 expands the list of items which might contribute to Belarus’s military and technological enhancement or to the development of its defence and security sector by listing items which have been used by Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine and items which contribute to the development or production of Belarus’s military systems, including chemical precursors to riot control agents, software related to computer numerical control (CNC) machines, chromium ores and compounds and controllers used to guide unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

(6) Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 imposes further restrictions on exports of goods which could contribute to the enhancement of Belarusian industrial capacities, such as chemical elements, pyrotechnic articles and combustible materials.

(7) Furthermore, in order to minimise the risk of circumvention of restrictive measures, Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 further extends the list of goods and technology subject to the prohibition on transit via the territory of Belarus of machinery and of goods which could contribute, in particular, to the enhancement of Belarusian industrial capacities.

(8) Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 establishes derogations for the provision of certain goods and machinery necessary for civilian non-publicly available electronic communications networks.

(9) Additionally, Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 introduces further restrictions on the import of primary aluminium, which allows Belarus to diversify its sources of revenue, thereby enabling its involvement in the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

(10) Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 imposes a restriction on the sale, supply, transfer, export or provision of software related to oil and gas exploration in order to further restrict the oil and gas exploration and production capacities of Belarus and minimise the risk of circumvention of restrictive measures via the territory of Belarus.

(11) In order to prevent Union operators from contributing to the development of Belarus’s infrastructure, Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 introduces a prohibition on the provision of construction services, including civil engineering works.

(12) It is prohibited to sell, supply, transfer, export, or provide, directly or indirectly, software for the management of enterprises and software for industrial design and manufacture to the Republic of Belarus, its Government, its public bodies, corporations or agencies or to any natural or legal person, entity or body acting on their behalf or at their direction. Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 clarifies that the sale, license or transfer in any other way of intellectual property rights or trade secrets related to that software is prohibited.

(13) Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 introduces a derogation from the prohibition on the provision of construction, architectural and engineering services, legal advisory services and IT consultancy services where those services are strictly necessary for the functioning of a consular or diplomatic representation of Belarus located in a Member State.

(14) Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 expands the scope of the prohibition on accepting deposits to include those from legal persons, entities or bodies established in third countries and majority-owned by Belarusian nationals or natural persons residing in Belarus. Additionally, it subjects the acceptance of deposits for non-prohibited cross-border trade to a prior authorisation by the national competent authorities.

(15) Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 prohibits the provision of crypto-asset wallet, account or custody services to Belarusian persons and residents and, in order to limit circumvention of this prohibition, it includes a prohibition on Belarusian nationals or natural persons residing in Belarus owning or controlling, or holding any posts on the governing bodies of, the legal persons, entities or bodies providing such services.

(16) In order to facilitate the work of civil society and media, Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 also introduces an exemption from the prohibition on the sale, supply, transfer or export of banknotes denominated in any official currency of a Member State to or for use in Belarus, where it is necessary for use in civil society and media activities that directly promote democracy, human rights or the rule of law in Belarus, under certain conditions.

(17) In order to minimise the risk of circumvention of restrictive measures, Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 amends the prohibition on the transport of goods by road within the territory of the Union, including in transit, by operators that are owned for 25 % or more by a Belarusian natural or legal person. Entities established in the Union before 8 April 2022 and already operating as road transport undertakings should be prohibited from making any changes to their capital structure that would increase the percentage share owned by a Belarusian natural or legal person, entity or body, unless that percentage share remains below 25 % following such a change.

(18) Decision 2012/642/CFSP provides for the freezing of funds and economic resources of, and prohibits making funds or economic resources available to, designated persons, entities and bodies. Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 introduces an additional designation criterion which applies to those forming part of, supporting, materially or financially, or benefiting from the military and industrial complex of Belarus.

(19) Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 introduces a derogation allowing the release of funds that were frozen due to the involvement of a listed intermediary bank in their transfer, under the conditions that the transfer is between two non-listed natural or legal persons, entities or bodies and is carried out using accounts at non-listed credit institutions. Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 also introduces a derogation allowing the release of funds that were frozen due to the involvement of a listed issuing bank in their transfer under the condition that the transfer is between two non-listed natural or legal persons, entities or bodies.

(20) Where necessary to combat the circumvention of the prohibitions set out in Regulation (EC) No 765/2006, the Commission should be able to exchange information concerning third-country trade, transactions and operators with the competent authorities of countries that apply similar restrictive measures.

(21) Pursuant to Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5), certain types of entities, namely obliged entities as set out in Article 2(1) thereof, are required to report suspicious transactions to Member States’ Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). Pursuant to Directive (EU) 2024/1226 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6), the violation of Union restrictive measures was added to the list of predicate offences set out in Article 2, point (1), of Directive (EU) 2018/1673 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7). As a result of that addition, and pursuant to Article 33 of Directive (EU) 2015/849 as of May 2025, obliged entities will be required to report to FIUs all suspicious transactions related to suspected criminal activity linked to the violation of Union restrictive measures. Furthermore, Article 8j of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 requires natural and legal persons, entities and bodies to supply any information which would facilitate the implementation of that Regulation to the competent authority of the Member State in which they are resident or located within 2 weeks of acquiring that information and to cooperate with that competent authority in any verification of such information. To avoid double reporting, Member States can decide that those persons, entities and bodies are not required to report the same information to competent authorities other than FIUs.

(22) In order to ensure the correct implementation of restrictive measures and the adequate protection of Union operators, it is appropriate that, pursuant to Article 8h of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006, Union operators be entitled to seek, in judicial proceedings before the competent courts of a Member State, compensation in respect of certain direct or indirect damages incurred as result of claims lodged by the entities or persons referred to in Article 8d(1) of that Regulation, including damages incurred by legal persons, entities or bodies that those Union operators own or control, subject to national rules on the prohibition of double recovery. In addition, Union operators should be able to seek damages from persons, entities or bodies that own or control the entities or bodies referred to in Article 8d(1) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006. In situations where Belarus or another third country takes measures to frustrate compliance with Regulation (EC) No 765/2006, Union operators can be regarded as being de facto deprived of having effective access to the remedies under those domestic jurisdictions.

(23) In order to ensure the effective implementation of restrictive measures and to remedy possible situations of denial of justice, it is appropriate to provide for a forum necessitatis to allow a court of a Member State, on an exceptional basis, to rule on a claim for damages brought pursuant to Article 8h of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 where Union law or the law of a Member State does not establish the jurisdiction of a court of any Member State in particular. Jurisdiction based on forum necessitatis should, however, only be exercised where a case has a sufficient connection with the Member State of the court seised, for example where the claimant is domiciled in, or incorporated under, the law of that Member State.

(24) It is appropriate to increase cooperation between national competent authorities, including by reinforcing the role of FIUs in the exchange of information that is relevant for the purposes of the implementation and enforcement of the restrictive measures set out in Regulation (EC) No 765/2006.

(25) Given that the compliance of Union operators is essential for the effectiveness of restrictive measures, the Commission should provide them with assistance to facilitate their compliance, especially where such compliance would require significant resources and where centralised support could improve efficiency. That is particularly so in relation to the due diligence required from Union operators in respect of potential business partners. The Commission should be able to process personal data necessary for that purpose.

(26) To help combat the re-exportation of certain goods, pursuant to Decision (CFSP) 2025/391, Union operators that are selling, supplying, transferring or exporting such goods to third countries, other than countries listed in Annex Vba to Regulation (EC) No 765/2006, are required to implement due diligence mechanisms capable of identifying and assessing the risks of such re-exportation to Belarus and mitigating such risks. Moreover, pursuant to Decision (CFSP) 2025/391, Union operators are required to ensure that legal persons, entities and bodies established outside the Union that they own or control also implement those requirements.

(27) Finally, Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 makes certain amendments to the exemptions and derogations from the prohibition on the export of dual-use goods and advanced technologies. In addition, in Decision (CFSP) 2025/391 references to transition periods which have expired and other references that are not necessary for compliance with certain provisions of Decision 2012/642/CFSP are deleted. The deletion of references to transition periods which have already expired is not intended to have any legal effect on past or ongoing contracts or on the applicability of those transition periods. It is also appropriate to include in this Regulation certain technical amendments to improve the accuracy and linguistic clarity of certain provisions of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006, including those concerning personal data and documents held by the institutions of the Union.

(28) These measures fall within the scope of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and therefore, in particular with a view to ensuring their uniform application in all Member States, regulatory action at the level of the Union is necessary.

(29) 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:

(5) in Article 1fc, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1.   The competent authorities shall, without delay, exchange information on the application of Articles 1e, 1f and 1fa with the other Member States and the Commission, including on any authorisation granted or denied and, in the event of suspected forum shopping or other cases as appropriate, on requests for authorisation received. The competent authorities shall exchange information on the enforcement of Articles 1e, 1f and 1fa with the other Member States and the Commission, including on related infringements and penalties, as well as best practices of national enforcement authorities and the detection and prosecution of unauthorised exports. The exchange of information shall be carried out using the electronic system provided for in Article 23(6) of Regulation (EU) 2021/821.’

(6) in Article 1gc, paragraph 3 is deleted;

(8) in Article 1h, paragraph 4 is deleted;

(10) in Article 1o, paragraph 2 is deleted;

(11) in Article 1p, paragraph 2 is deleted;

(12) in Article 1q, paragraph 2 is deleted;

(13) in Article 1r, paragraph 2 is deleted;

(16) in Article 1sa, paragraph 5 is deleted;

(18) Article 1u is replaced by the following: ‘Article 1u

(28) Article 8h is relaced by the following: ‘Article 8h Any person referred to in the third or fourth indent of Article 10 shall be entitled to recover, in judicial proceedings before the competent courts of a Member State, any direct or indirect damages, including legal costs, incurred by that person, or by a legal person, entity or body that the person referred to in the fourth indent of Article 10 owns or controls, as a consequence of claims lodged with courts in third countries by persons, entities and bodies referred to in Article 8d(1), point (a), (b), (c) or (d), 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, provided that the person concerned does not have effective access to the remedies under the relevant jurisdiction. Such damages may be recovered from the persons, entities or bodies referred to in Article 8d(1), point (a), (b),(c) or (d) that lodged the claims with the courts in the third country, or from persons, entities or bodies that own or control those entities or bodies.’

(29) the following article is inserted: ‘Article 8k Where no court of a Member State has jurisdiction pursuant to other provisions of Union or Member State law, a court of a Member State may, on an exceptional basis, hear a claim for damages brought pursuant to Article 8h, provided that the case has a sufficient connection with the Member State of the court seised.’

(30) the Annexes are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.

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, 24 February 2025.

For the Council The President K. KALLAS

(1) OJ L, 2025/391, 24.2.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/391/oj.

(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, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2006/765/oj).

(3) 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 (OJ L 285, 17.10.2012, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2012/642/oj).

(4) Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 setting up a Union regime for the control of exports, brokering, technical assistance, transit and transfer of dual-use items (OJ L 206 11.6.2021, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/821/oj).

(5) Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC (OJ L 141, 5.6.2015, p. 73, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2015/849/oj).