15 Further amendments to EU restrictive
measures against the Syrian regime
| (a)
(33515)
—
—
(b)
(33516)
—
—
|
Council Decision amending Decision 2011/273/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria
Council Regulation amending Regulation (EU) No.442/2011 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria
|
| Legal base | (a) Article 29 TEU; unanimity
(b) Article 215 TFEU; QMV
|
| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
|
| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 1 December 2011 and EM of 9 December 2011
|
| Previous Committee Report | None; but see (33213) — and (33214) —: HC 428-xxxviii (2010-12), chapter 19 (19 October 2011); (33160) 14410/11 and (33168) —: HC 428-xxxvii (2010-12), chapter 20 (12 October 2011); (33072) 13474/11 and (33073) 13475/11: HC 428-xxxv (2010-12), chapter 16 (7 September 2011); (33101) — (33102) 13640/11 (33103) 13643/11: HC 428-xxxv (2010-12), chapter 19 (7 September 2011); (32933-36) —: HC 428-xxxi (2010-12), chapter 11 (29 June 2011); and (32747) — and (32748) —: HC 428-xxvi (2010-12), chapter 11 (11 May 2011)
|
| Discussion in Council | 1 December 2011
|
| Committee's assessment | Politically important
|
| Committee's decision | Cleared
|
Background
15.1 On 29 April 2011, via a Declaration by the High Representative
of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR), the
European Union expressed its grave concern about the situation
unfolding in Syria and the deployment of military and security
forces in a number of Syrian cities.[109]
15.2 The measures adopted under Council Decision
2011/273/CFSP and Council Regulation (EU) No.442/2011 of 9 May
include an arms embargo, a ban on equipment which might be used
for internal repression, restrictions on admission and the freezing
of funds and economic resources of persons responsible for violent
repression against the civilian population, and persons and entities
associated with them.
15.3 Thereafter, the EU implemented an asset freeze
and travel ban measures against 54 individuals either responsible
for the violent repression of civilians in Syria, or who were
associated with them. The EU also froze the assets of 12 entities.
15.4 Further measures that the Committee cleared
on 7 September:
— added
more individuals who have been identified as responsible for,
or associated with the persons responsible for, the violent repression
of the civilian population;
— prohibited the purchase, import or transport
from Syria of crude oil and petroleum products and the provision
of financing or financial assistance including financial derivatives
and futures, as well as insurance and reinsurance in relation
to these activities (with a derogation, making provision for Member
States to execute pre-existing contractual obligations in place
until 15 November);
— partially suspended the EEC/Syria Cooperation
Agreement, limited to crude oil and petroleum products, in order
to target the Syrian authorities and not the people of Syria.
15.5 The Committee's consideration of these measures
is set out in our previous reports[110]
and in the Report of our meeting on 7 September.[111]
15.6 At its meeting on 12 October, the Committee
considered further restrictive measures targeting additional persons
and entities, and imposing a prohibition on new investment in
key sectors in the oil industry in Syria and on the delivery of
Syrian denominated banknotes and coinage to the Central Bank of
Syria. The Syrian authorities, the Minister for Europe explained,
continued to ignore urgent appeals made by a number of parties,
including the United Nations Security Council in a Presidential
statement, numerous States, the Gulf Cooperation Council and by
the Secretaries-General of the League of Arab States and of the
Organization of Islamic Conference to cease the violent repression
of civilians. He noted that:
— Ministers
had agreed that officials should continue to explore, with EU
partners, options for increasing the pressure on the Syrian regime,
including through the use of targeted sanctions;
— the UK's overarching policy on sanctions
was that they should be: targeted in support of a specific policy;
proportionate, avoiding as far as possible any negative impact
on the civilian population; and form part of a wider strategy
and mix of measures in relation to a particular country —
principles that have been used to guide assessment of the suggested
EU sanctions;
— these further sanctions aimed to increase
economic pressure on the regime, denying it of crucial sources
of funding and putting pressure on the Assad regime to make tough
decisions;
— sanctions alone would not elicit political
change, and the Government would continue to pursue other activities,
with international players as appropriate, to help realise change
in Syria;
— the Government continued to engage with
Security Council partners on the adoption of a UN Security Council
resolution.
15.7 These measures were adopted by written procedure
on 23 September 2011 and published in the Official Journal of
the European Union on the following day.
15.8 On 4 October 2011, China and Russia vetoed a
draft Security Council resolution that had strongly condemned
Syrian authorities for their violent crackdown against pro-democracy
protesters and called for an immediate end to human rights abuses.
Nine of the Council's 15 members voted in favour of the draft
text, and four countries abstained.
15.9 The draft resolution had voiced deep concern
over the recent violence in Syria and strongly condemned "the
continued grave and systematic human rights violations and the
use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities."
Urging "all sides to reject violence and extremism,"
the text called for "an inclusive Syrian-led political process
conducted in an environment free from violence, fear, intimidation
and extremism, and aimed at effectively addressing the legitimate
aspirations and concerns of Syria's population."
15.10 The UN noted that an estimated 2,700 people
had been killed in Syria since mid-March when the protest movement
began, part of a wider uprising across North Africa and the Middle
East this year, and that senior UN officials, including Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon, had repeatedly voiced concern about the situation.
15.11 Speaking after the vote, the Russian Ambassador
at the UN said that his country did not support the regime of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but the draft resolution would
not promote a peaceful resolution of the crisis; and that the
issue was not a question of wording, but "a conflict of political
approaches" on how to end the crisis. [112]
15.12 On 10 October 2011, the Foreign Affairs Council
adopted conclusions in which the EU:
— condemned
in the strongest terms the ongoing brutal repression led by the
Syrian regime against its population as well as the widespread
human rights violations, including killing, mass arrest and torture
of civilians, peaceful protestors and their relatives, that may
amount to crimes against humanity;
— called again for a credible political
process and for President Assad to step aside;
— called on the Syrian authorities to immediately
alleviate the suffering of the populations living in crisis areas,
including by allowing unhindered and sustained access for humanitarian
agencies and workers, restoring basic services, granting access
to fact-finding missions and allowing independent and international
media to operate in Syria without restrictions;
— called on Syria to abide by its international
commitments, in particular its obligations under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
— strongly condemned attacks on diplomatic
personnel and reminded the Syrian authorities of their international
obligation to ensure the protection of diplomatic missions;
— reiterated its determination to pursue
actively its current policy, including through its targeted sanctions
against the Syrian regime and those supporting it, until there
is an end to the unacceptable violence and decisive progress towards
a genuine, peaceful and democratic transition addressing the legitimate
demands of the Syrian people;
— reiterated its commitment to assisting
the Syrian people in achieving their legitimate aspirations;
— welcomed the efforts of the political
opposition to establish a united platform, and noted the creation
of the Syrian National Council as a positive step forward;
— expressed its deep disappointment that
the UN Security Council had not yet been able to adopt a resolution
on the current developments in Syria even after months of ongoing
brutal abuses by President Assad and his regime;
— expressed its determination to continue
to press for strong UN action to increase international pressure,
urged all members of the Security Council to assume their responsibilities
in relation to the situation in Syria, and stated that it will
pursue efforts with regional partners, to address the situation
in Syria;
— expressed its readiness, as soon as a
genuine democratic transition begins, to develop a new and ambitious
partnership with Syria across all areas of mutual interest.[113]
Our assessment
15.13 We continued to appreciate the circumstances
under which these measures were having to be considered and did
not object to the Minister having agreed to their adoption prior
to scrutiny in these circumstances and on this occasion.
15.14 We cleared the documents, and again drew them
to the attention of the Foreign Affairs Committee.[114]
The most recent changes to the sanctions regime
15.15 In a further Explanatory Memorandum of 13 October
2011, the Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington) explained that:
— a
further amendment to the Syria Council Decision and Council Regulation
was necessary to reflect the inclusion in the Council Regulation
of an additional entity to be subject to the asset freeze;
— it had been necessary to agree a temporary
derogation from the asset freezing requirement in respect of that
additional entity;
— following discussions with UK authorities,
an exemption from the import ban to allow EU airline operators
to refuel in Syria had also been agreed.
15.16 The Minister noted that the Syrian authorities
continued to ignore the urgent appeals made by a number of parties,
including the United Nations Security Council in a Presidential
statement, numerous States, the Gulf Cooperation Council and by
the Secretaries-General of the League of Arab States and of the
Organization of Islamic Conference to cease the violent repression
of civilians.
15.17 He then recalled the prohibition on new investment
in key sectors in the oil industry in Syria and on the delivery
of Syrian denominated banknotes and coinage to the Central Bank
of Syria, adopted on 23 September 2011, and went on to explain
that:
— at
that time, it was not possible to agree a method for freezing
the funds of one entity, in order to deny the regime access to
funds, whilst allowing legitimate trade between Syria and the
EU to continue and avoid unintended impact upon the Syrian people;
— following
protracted discussions in September, and early October, the UK
proposal to include a limited derogation to the asset freeze of
this entity had been agreed, the effect of which was to place
additional pressure on the Syrian regime whilst allowing legitimate
trade through this entity, providing monies were not made available
for the direct benefit of a listed person or entity, to continue;
— this derogation would be in place for
two months to allow a period of grace for operators to find an
alternative means of facilitating legitimate trade, and thus avoid
any unintended impact on the Syrian people;
— an exemption for the import ban on Syrian
crude oil and petroleum products, specifically targeted at jet
fuel, was agreed to allow EU airline operators to continue refuel
in Syria and provide air services between the EU and Syria was
agreed, so as to ensure that persons wishing to travel between
the EU and Syria would not be impeded from doing so, and provide
a contingency for the evacuation of persons should the situation
in Syria warrant it.
15.18 After reiterating the UK's overarching policy
on sanctions (compare with paragraph 15.6 above), the Minister
said that these principles had guided his assessment on the suggested
EU sanctions, which aimed to increase economic pressure on the
regime, denying it crucial sources of funding and "putting
pressure on the Assad regime to make tough decisions."
15.19 The Minister also noted that, in addition to
sanctions, he would go on working with other international players
and nations as appropriate, and pursue other activities to intensify
the pressure on the regime and to help realise change in Syria,
notwithstanding the veto by Russia and China of the proposed UN
Security Council Resolution on Syria.
15.20 The Minister concluded by noting that Council
Decision and Council Regulation was to be adopted by written procedure
on 13 October 2011 and published in the Official Journal of the
European Union on the following day.
Our assessment
15.21 We appreciated why, at the time at which he
wrote his Explanatory Memorandum, the Minister was unable to specify
the entity concerned; and also noted that this inevitably limited
the scrutiny of any such measures.
15.22 We also noted that we had subsequently been
given to understand that:
— the
entity in question is the 100% government-owned Commercial Bank
of Syria (CBS), which accounted for 80% of bank accounts, between
half and two-thirds of total banking assets in Syria, and the
majority of the market in international trade finance;
— a full asset freeze on all CBS assets
currently in Europe would prevent CBS gaining access to this money;
— CBS would be allowed to put new money
into its European accounts to pay for new legitimate trade, but
only for two months, so that businesses could continue to trade
with Syria through CBS and in this time find new avenues to finance
trade;
— then, all CBS assets in Europe would
be frozen and no trade through the bank would be allowed.
15.23 We continued to appreciate the circumstances
under which these measures were having to be considered and again
did not object to the Minister having agreed to their adoption
prior to scrutiny in these circumstances and on this occasion.
15.24 We also cleared the measures.[115]
The Minister's letter of 1 December 2011
15.25 The Minister wrote to the Committee on 1 December
2011 to :
— express
his regret that, due to the urgency of the need to adopt further
EU restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria at the
1 December Foreign Affairs Council, he found himself having to
agree to the adoption of a Council Decision before the Committee
had had an opportunity to scrutinise the documents;
— explain that, given that he could not
share the full detail with the Committee until after the adoption
of the sanctions, he would provide an Explanatory Memorandum and
the final documents that were adopted for the Committee to consider
in due course.
15.26 The Minister then noted his continued belief
that further EU action would increase the pressure on the Assad
regime to put an end to the violence; and that these measures
complemented actions taken by the Arab League, notably the agreement
by the majority of its members to adopt sanctions against Syria.
15.27 The Minister went on to explain that the proposed
measures are targeted at denying the regime sources of funds and
economic resources; will focus on the finance, banking, insurance
and oil sectors; and include subjecting further individuals to
the extant asset freeze and travel ban, and further entities to
the asset freeze.
The 1 December 2011 Foreign Affairs Council
15.28 On 1 December, the Council issued a statement
announcing that it had reinforced the EU's restrictive measures
against the Syrian regime as follows. Trade in Syrian public bonds
and the provision of insurance and re-insurance to the Syrian
government would be prohibited in the EU. Syrian banks would no
more be allowed to open new branches in the Union or establish
joint ventures or correspondent banking relations with European
financial institutions. The Council also stopped new commitments
for grants and concessional loans by member states to the Syrian
government, except for humanitarian purposes. In addition, the
Council banned exports of key equipment and technology to the
Syrian oil and gas sectors, i.e. refining, liquefaction of gas,
exploration and production. Moreover, participation in the construction
of new power plants in Syria would be prohibited; this included
technical assistance, project finance and investments in companies
engaged in such construction activities. Exports of equipment
and software intended for use in the monitoring of internet and
telephone communications by the Syrian regime would also be banned.
Member States would exercise restraint when committing financial
support for trade with Syria, such as export credits, guarantees
or insurance; long term commitments would be prohibited. Finally,
the Council added 12 persons responsible for human rights violations
and 11 entities supporting the regime to the list of those targeted
by an asset freeze and a visa ban.[116]
15.29 The Council also issued Conclusions in which
it:
— backed
the Arab League position;
— reiterated its own condemnation in the
strongest terms of the brutal crackdown by the Syrian government;
— welcomed the resolution on human rights
in Syria approved on 22 November in the UN General Assembly's
Third Committee and welcomed in particular the Arab support for
its adoption;
— encouraged the Syrian opposition to establish
a united platform and to continue to engage with the Arab League
towards a successful transition;
— said that the EU will continue to actively
engage with representative members of the Syrian opposition which
adhere to non violence, inclusiveness and democratic values;
— welcomed the Syrian National Council's
commitments in this regard.[117]
15.30 In its response of 7 December 2011, the Committee
said that all of this would no doubt be included in the Explanatory
Memorandum that the Minister said would be provided "in due
course", and asked for it to be submitted in time for consideration
at its meeting on 14 December, together with information on any
subsequent political developments and any further measures that
the Minister anticipated being taken during the Christmas recess.
Council Decision 2011/782/CFSP of 1 December 2011
and Council Implementing Regulation
(EU) No.1244/2011 of 1 December 2011
15.31 Council Decision 2011/782 repeals Council Decision
2011/273 as amended, and replaces the original Decision and amendments
with a single new Decision.
15.32 Council Implementing
Regulation (EU) No.1244/2011 of 1 December 2011, implementing
Regulation (EU) No.442/2011 concerning restrictive measures in
view of the situation in Syria, gives
effect to an asset freeze against additional persons and entities
to be subject to the measures.
15.33 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 9 December
2011, the Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington) explains that
the measures adopted under the Council Decision:
— prohibit
EU investment/construction of new electricity power stations in
Syria, including financing or offering technical support;
— prohibit Member States offering long
term (more than seven years), public or private, financial support
for trade: including through export credits, guarantees and insurance;
— require Member States to act with restraint
in the short and medium term;
— prohibit selling or purchasing Syrian
or Syrian guaranteed public bonds;
— prohibit giving support to the regime
to monitor the internet and communications, including a ban on
selling, supplying, transferring or exporting equipment or software
that could be used by the regime for monitoring;
— prohibit European credit and financial
institutions opening new branches of subsidiaries in Syria and
Syrian institutions doing the same in Europe, including new investments
in financial institutions within the EU;
— prohibit the provision of insurance/reinsurance
to the Syrian Government or its public bodies, with exemptions
for health, travel and vehicle insurance;
— prohibit the sale of key equipment to
the Syrian oil industry.
15.34 The Minister also says that:
—
a number of additional persons have been made subject to an asset
freeze and visa ban including military personnel responsible for
the military action in Homs and the Syrian Ministers of Finance
and Economy and trade;
— a number of additional entities will
also be subject to the asset freeze, notably the Syrian General
Petroleum Company (GPC), Sytrol, Al Furat Oil, the Scientific
Studies and Research Centre (SSRC) and five related entities.
15.35 The Minister goes on to explain that adoption
of the Council Regulation is necessary to give direct effect to
the measures which fall within the competence of the EU; although
the Regulation is directly applicable in UK law, domestic legislation
is required for enforcement measures, and to create penalties,
in each EU Member State; and that it will be necessary to amend
the existing enforcement measures so that activities that fall
within the scope of the derogation referred to above are not prohibited
under UK law.
15.36 With regards to the impact on Fundamental
Rights, the Minister notes that:
— the
procedures for designating individuals and entities are compliant
with fundamental rights;
— provision is made for competent authorities
of Member States to authorise the release of frozen funds where
necessary in certain circumstances, for example, to satisfy the
basic needs of listed persons or their dependents and where necessary
for extraordinary expenses;
— decisions by competent authorities of
Member States in this regard would be subject to challenge in
Member States' courts;
— prohibitions on transfer of funds and
economic resources are exempted where necessary for humanitarian
purposes, including the supply of food and medicines, and provision
is also made for exemptions to the travel ban on grounds of urgent
humanitarian need;
— the Council Decision respects the fundamental
rights and observe the principles recognised in particular by
the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and notably
the right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial and the right
to the protection of personal data;
— it stipulates that the Council shall
provide designated persons and entities an opportunity to present
observations to the Council on the reasons for their listing;
and that, where observations are submitted, the Council will review
its decision in the light of those observations and inform the
person or entity concerned accordingly;
— in addition, the measures will kept under
review.
The Government's view
15.37 The Minister says that the Syrian authorities
continue to ignore the urgent appeals made by a number of parties,
including the United Nations Security Council in a Presidential
statement, numerous States, the Gulf Cooperation Council and by
the Secretaries-General of the League of Arab States and of the
Organization of Islamic Conference to cease the violent repression
of civilians.
15.38 The Minister also notes that the UK strongly
supported the European Council Conclusions in October "to
impose further and more comprehensive measures against the regime
as long as the repression of the civilian population continues".
However, the Minister says, "sanctions alone will not elicit
political change, and we will need to continue to pursue other
activities, with international players as appropriate, to help
realise change in Syria."
Conclusion
15.39 We continue to appreciate the circumstances
under which these measures were having to be considered and again
do not object to the Minister having agreed to their adoption
prior to scrutiny in these circumstances and on this occasion.
15.40 We now clear the documents, and again draw
them to the attention of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
109 Available at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/cfsp/121684.pdf. Back
110
See headnote: (32933-36) -: HC 428-xxxi (2010-12), chapter 11
(29 June 2011); and (32747) - and (32748) -: HC 428-xxvi (2010-12),
chapter 11 (11 May 2011). Back
111
See headnote: (33072) 13474/11 and (33073) 13475/11: HC 428-xxxv
(2010-12), chapter 16 (7 September 2011). Back
112
For further details, see http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39935&Cr=syria&Cr1=. Back
113
Available at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/125011.pdf. Back
114
See headnote: (33160) 14410/11 and (33168) -: HC 428-xxxvii (2010-12),
chapter 20 (12 October 2011). Back
115
See headnote: (33213) - and (33214) -: HC 428-xxxviii (2010-12),
chapter 19 (19 October 2011) Back
116
See http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/126501.pdf
for the full text of the statement. Back
117
See http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/126498.pdf
for the Council Conclusions on Syria. Back
| 
