1.All funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by the natural or legal persons, entities and bodies listed in Annex II and IIa shall be frozen.
2.No funds or economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of the natural or legal persons, entities or bodies listed in Annex II and IIa.
3.The participation, knowingly and intentionally, in activities the object or effect of which is, directly or indirectly, to circumvent the measures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be prohibited.
1.Annexes II and IIa shall consist of the following:
(a)Annex II shall consist of a list of natural or legal persons, entities and bodies who, in accordance with Article 19(1) of Decision 2011/782/CFSP, have been identified by the Council as being persons or entities responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria, persons and entities benefiting from or supporting the regime, and natural or legal persons and entities associated with them, and to whom Article 21 of this Regulation shall not apply;
(b)Annex IIa shall consist of a list of entities which, in accordance with Article 19(1) of Decision 2011/782/CFSP, have been identified by the Council as being entities associated with the persons or entities responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria, or with persons and entities benefiting from or supporting the regime, and to which Article 21 of this Regulation shall apply.
2.Annexes II and IIa shall include the grounds for the listing of listed persons, entities and bodies concerned.
3.Annexes II and IIa shall also include, where available, information necessary to identify the natural or legal persons, entities and bodies concerned. With regard to natural persons, such information may include names including aliases, date and place of birth, nationality, passport and ID card numbers, gender, address, if known, and function or profession. With regard to legal persons, entities and bodies, such information may include names, place and date of registration, registration number and place of business.
By way of derogation from Article 14, the competent authorities in the Member States as identified on the websites listed in Annex III 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 are:
necessary to satisfy the basic needs of persons listed in Annexes II and IIa and their dependent family members, including payments for foodstuffs, rent or mortgage, medicines and medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, and public utility charges;
intended exclusively for payment of reasonable professional fees and reimbursement of incurred expenses associated with the provision of legal services;
intended exclusively for payment of fees or service charges for routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds or economic resources;
necessary for extraordinary expenses, provided that the relevant competent authority has notified the grounds on which it considers that a specific authorisation should be granted to the competent authorities of the other Member States and to the Commission at least two weeks before the authorisation;
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;
necessary for humanitarian purposes, such as delivering or facilitating the delivery of assistance, including medical supplies, food, humanitarian workers and related assistance, or evacuations from Syria.
The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation granted under this Article within four weeks following the authorisation.
By way of derogation from Article 14, the competent authorities in the Member States as identified on the websites listed in Annex III 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 provision of such funds or economic resources are necessary for the essential energy needs of the civilian population in Syria, provided that the relevant competent authority has notified for each delivery contract the grounds on which it considers that a specific authorisation should be granted to the competent authorities of the other Member States and to the Commission at least four weeks before the authorisation.
By way of derogation from Article 14, the competent authorities in the Member States as listed in Annex III may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, if the following conditions are met:
the funds or economic resources in question are the subject of a judicial, administrative or arbitral lien established prior to the date on which the person, entity or body referred to in Article 14 was included in Annex II or IIa, or of a judicial, administrative or arbitral judgment rendered prior to that date;
the funds or economic resources in question will be used exclusively to satisfy claims secured by such a lien or recognised as valid in such a judgment, within the limits set by applicable laws and regulations governing the rights of persons having such claims;
the lien or judgment is not for the benefit of a person, entity or body listed in Annex II or IIa; and
recognising the lien or judgment is not contrary to public policy in the Member State concerned.
The relevant Member State shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation granted under this Article.
1.Article 14(2) shall not apply to the addition to frozen accounts of:
(a)interest or other earnings on those accounts; or
(b)payments due under contracts, agreements or obligations that were concluded or arose before the date on which the account became subject to this Regulation,
provided that any such interest, other earnings and payments are frozen in accordance with Article 14(1).
2.Article 14(2) shall not prevent financial or credit institutions in the Union from crediting frozen accounts where they receive funds transferred to the account of a listed natural or legal person, entity or body, provided that any additions to such accounts will also be frozen. The financial or credit institution shall inform the relevant competent authority about any such transaction without delay.
By way of derogation from Article 14 and provided that a payment by a person, entity or body listed in Annex II or IIa is due under a contract or agreement that was concluded by, or an obligation that arose for the person, entity or body concerned before, the date on which that person, entity or body had been designated, the competent authorities of the Member States, as indicated on the websites listed in Annex III, may authorise, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, provided that the payment is not directly or indirectly received by a person or entity referred to in Article 14.
By way of derogation from Article 14(1), an entity listed in Annex IIa may, for a period of two months from the date on which it was designated, make a payment from frozen funds or economic resources which were received by that entity after the date on which it was designated, provided that:
such payment is due under a trade contract; and
the competent authority of the relevant Member State has determined that the payment will not directly or indirectly be received by a person or entity listed in Annex II or Annex IIa.
The freezing of funds and economic resources or the refusal to make funds or economic resources available, carried out in good faith on the basis that such action is in accordance with this Regulation, shall not give rise to liability of any kind on the part of the natural or legal person or entity or body implementing it, or its directors or employees, unless it is proved that the funds and economic resources were frozen or withheld as a result of negligence.