21 Ukraine and Russia: EU restrictive
measures
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision | Cleared from scrutiny; drawn to the attention of the Foreign Affairs Committee
|
| Document details | Council decision and regulation regarding further restrictive measures targeting separatists destabilising the situation in Ukraine
|
| Legal base | (a) Article 29 TEU; unanimity, (b) Article 14 (1) and (3) of Regulation 269/2014; QMV
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| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Document numbers | (a) (36749), — (b) (36750), —
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Summary and Committee's conclusions
21.1 Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP of 17 March
2014 is concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions
undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty
and independence of Ukraine.
21.2 On 29 January 2015, at an extraordinary meeting,
the Foreign Affairs Council agreed that these restrictive measures
should be renewed for a further six months, until 15 September
2015.
21.3 On 9 February 2015 the EU Council agreed to
list, under these existing Ukraine restrictive measures, via Council
Decision 2015/241/CFSP and Council Implementing Regulation (EU)
No.240/2015, a further 19 individuals, eight armed separatist
groups and an entity named "Novorossiya"/"New Russia".[86]
Their names are set out in our most recent relevant Report.[87]
21.4 Adoption of those additional measures was postponed
until 16 February, to allow time for implementation of the agreement
negotiated by the "Normandy Quartet" on 12 February
2015 (Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany, who negotiated the
original 5 September 2015 "Minsk Agreement", and who
have met several times in this format in Minsk, the capital of
Belarus).
21.5 In the first instance, the agreement called
for an immediate and full bilateral ceasefire, to take effect
in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, from 00:00 local time
on 15 February (22:00 GMT on 14 February) and the withdrawal of
all heavy weapons by both sides to equal distances to create a
buffer zone of at least 50km (Ukrainian troops to withdraw heavy
weapons from the current frontline; separatist forces to withdraw
theirs from the line of 19 September 2014); with heavy weapons
withdrawal to start no later than day two of the ceasefire and
be completed within two weeks; the OSCE would assist in the process.[88]
21.6 The additional measures were adopted on 16 February
2015. The Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington) said then that:
"since the separatist capture of Debaltseve,
in complete contravention to the ceasefire they had agreed beforehand,
separatist-inspired ceasefire violations have dropped off; but
they have not stopped. Most of the intensive fighting recently
has been in Shyrokyne (to the east of Mariupol). This town was
taken by Ukrainian forces shortly before the ceasefire came into
effect, and the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) have
reported several attempts by the separatist forces to retake it
over the weekend of 21-22 February. This and further reports of
Russian tanks, trucks and self-propelled howitzers crossing the
Russia Ukraine border is a concern for the viability of the Minsk
package of measures."
21.7 The Minister described these additional measures
as "an appropriate and necessary response to that escalation"
and said that:
— it was vital that all parties fully implement
the ceasefire agreed in Minsk on 12 February without delay and
without further loss of life;
— it was also vital that decisive measures
are taken to de-escalate tensions and engage constructively with
the Government of Ukraine;
— the Government had been consistently
clear that it "will not lift sanctions before Russia complies
with Minsk fully and completely"; and
— that "if the situation deteriorates
further we will look at adding more sanctions".
21.8 The debate on the causes of and how best to
respond to this crisis continued, both in the House and in the
wider public domain. For our part, we cleared these
measures from scrutiny, and drew these developments to the attention
of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
21.9 On this occasion and in the circumstances described
— "the speed at which events in Ukraine have developed,
requiring a rapid response from the EU Council, and the threat
of asset flight if these measures became public" —
we did not take issue with the Minister having over-ridden scrutiny.[89]
21.10 The amendments made in this further Council
Decision and Council Implementing Regulation result from the normal
review process that is carried out after any decision to renew
the overall package. Their purpose, the Minister explains, is
to ensure that the statements of reason and identifying information
remain accurate and up to date; consequently, fifty "listed"
persons have had their details amended, and one deceased person
has been removed from the list.
21.11 The Minister also explains that, due to the
length of the discussions since 29 January, and the requirement
to pre-notify individuals where changes to their listings were
made, the first drafts of the Council Decision and Council Regulation
were circulated to Member States only on 3 March, and not finalised
until 6 March; meaning that, had he not agreed to their adoption
before 15 March, the entire package of measures would have fallen
away; the resulting scrutiny over-ride was, he says, thus regrettably
unavoidable.
21.12 We accept that, on this occasion and in
these circumstances, the Minister's explanation is reasonable.
21.13 We now clear the documents from scrutiny.
Full details of the documents:
(a) Council Decision 2015/432/CFSP of 13 March 2015 amending
Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect
of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity,
sovereignty and independence of Ukraine: (36749), —; (b)
Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 2015/427 of 13 March
2015 implementing Regulation (EU) No. 269/2014 concerning restrictive
measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the
territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine:
(36750),—.
Background
21.14 The full background to these measures, and
the wider EU role in and response to the Ukraine-Russia crisis,
and the Committee's consideration thereof, is set out in our previous
relevant Reports (which are cited at the end of this chapter of
our Report).
The Council Decision and Council Implementing
Regulation
21.15 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 18 March 2015,
the Minister says that, after having decided on 29 January 2015
to extend for a further six months these restrictive measures
in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial
integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, the individual
designations have been reviewed as part of the renewal process
and it has been decided that the entries for fifty persons should
be amended.
21.16 He explains this outcome thus:
"These amendments ensure the statements
of reason and identifying information for each individual remain
accurate and up to date. In addition, one individual, Ludmila
Shvetsova, was delisted from these measures.[90]
The attached Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 2015/427
and Council Decision 2015/432/CFSP effect these changes."
The Government's view
21.17 The Minister recalls what prompted the 29 January
2015 FAC meeting (the increase in violence in January, separatist
shelling of civilians in Mariupol, assault on and subsequent capture
of Debaltseve) and the Council's response (roll over Tier of II
sanctions until September 2015, review the existing listings of
individual and entities, list new persons and entities, and task
the Commission with preparing additional Tier III economic sanctions,
in order to sustain the pressure on Russia and the separatists
to fulfil their commitments under the September 2014 Minsk agreement),
and says:
"In February the Normandy format (Germany,
France, Russia, and the separatists) convened again in Minsk and
signed up to a new agreement, and since then we have seen a notable
decrease in the level of violence (though Minsk II remains far
from fulfilled)."
21.18 On the timing of his Explanatory Memorandum,
the Minister says:
"Unfortunately due to the length of these
discussions, and the requirement to pre-notify individuals where
changes to their listings were made, the first drafts of the Council
Decision and Council Regulation were only circulated to EU Partners
on 3 March. This meant I was unable to submit these measures for
Parliamentary scrutiny prior to their adoption."
The Minister's letter of 18 March 2015
21.19 The Minister adds the following:
"These drafts were then revised on 6 March.
I therefore found myself in the position of having to agree to
the adoption of these documents on 13 March, before your Committee
had had an opportunity to scrutinise the documents. Any delay
in adoption would have resulted in the entire package of measures
falling away.[91]
"As you know, the responsibility to keep
your Committee informed on issues concerning Ukraine sanctions
is something I take seriously but unfortunately the need for the
override of scrutiny on this occasion was regrettably unavoidable."
Previous Committee Reports
None, but see (36662), — and (36663), —:
Thirty-fifth Report HC-219-xxxiv (2014-15), chapter 18 (4 March
2015); (36546), — and (36545), —: Twenty-seventh
Report HC-219-xxvi (2014-15), chapter 11 (17 December 2014); (36573),—
and (36574), —: Twenty-seventh Report HC-219-xxvi (2014-15),
chapter 12 (17 December 2014); (36430), — and (36435), —:
Twenty-fourth Report: HC 219-xxiii (2014-15), chapter 9 (3 December
2014); (36430), — and (36435), —: Sixteenth Report
HC 219-xvi (2014-15), chapter 10 (29 October 2014); (36348), —,
(36349), —, (36350), —, (36351), — and (36352),
—: Thirteenth Report HC 219-xiii (2014-15), chapter 35
(15 October 2014), (36262), —, (36263) —, (36264)
—, and (36265), —: Eleventh Report HC 219-xi (2014-15),
chapter 1 (3 September 2014) and (36235), —, (36236), —,
(36240), —, and (36241) —: Ninth Report HC 219-ix
(2014-15), chapter 40 (3 September 2014); also see (36028) —,
(36029), — and (36030), —: First Report HC 219-i
(2014-15), chapter 28 (4 June 2014); (35905), — and (35906),
—: Forty-seventh Report HC 83-xlii (2013-14), chapter 23
(30 April 2014) and Forty-fifth Report HC 83-xl (2013-14), chapter
5 (2 April 2014); also see (35880), — and (35881), —:
Forty-fourth Report HC 83-xxxix (2013-14), chapter 3 (26 March
2014) and (35848), — and (35849), —: Fortieth Report
HC 83-xxxvii (2013-14), chapter 1 (12 March 2014).
86 Established in November 2014 in Russia, headed by
Russian officer Igor Strelkov and, according to its stated objectives,
aiming at providing all-round, effective assistance to "Novorossiya",
including by helping militia fighting in Eastern Ukraine. See
"Background" for full details of the listings. Back
87
See (36662), - and (36663), -: Thirty-fifth Report HC-219-xxxiv
(2014-15), chapter 18 (4 March 2015). Back
88
See the original 2014 12-point plan and details of the February
2015 agreement. Back
89
(36662), - and (36663), -: Thirty-fifth Report HC-219-xxxiv (2014-15),
chapter 18 (4 March 2015). Back
90
The draft Council Decision refers to her as "deceased". Back
91
The measures having previously been renewed until 15 March 2015. Back
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