20 Further amendments to EU restrictive
measures against the Syrian regime
| (a)
(33711)
—
—
(b)
(33712)
—
—
(c)
(33705)
6604/12
COM(12) 78
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Council Decision amending Council Decision 2011/782/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria
Council Regulation (EU) amending Regulation (EU) No.36/2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria
Council Decision amending Council Decision of 2 September 2011 partially suspending the application of the Cooperation Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Syrian Arab Republic
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| Legal base | (a) Article 29 TEU; unanimity
(b) Article 215 TFEU; QMV
(c) Article 207 and 218(9)TFEU; QMV
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| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration | EM and Minister's letter of 24 February 2012
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| Previous Committee Reports | None; but see (33635-7) —: HC 428-l (2010-12), chapter 12 (8 February 2012); (33515) — and (33516) —: HC 428-lxiv (2010-12), chapter 15 (14 December 2011); (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)
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| Discussion in Council | 27 February 2012
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
20.1 In response to what the UN now estimates as several thousand
deaths and associated repression since March 2011, the EU has
thus far implemented 11 rounds of restrictive measures against
the Assad regime (the details of which are set out in our previous
Reports).[135]
20.2 Last December, measures adopted under Council
Decision 2011/782/CFSP prohibited:
— EU
investment/construction of new electricity power stations in Syria,
including financing or offering technical support;
— Member States offering long term (7+
years), public or private, financial support for trade: including
through export credits, guarantees and insurance. And a call that
MS act with restraint in the short and medium term;
— selling or purchasing Syrian or Syrian
guaranteed public bonds;
— 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;
— 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;
— supplying insurance / reinsurance to
the Syrian Government or its public bodies, with exemptions for
health, travel and vehicle insurance;
— the sale of key equipment to the Syrian
oil industry.
20.3 Additional persons were subjected 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 were also
subjected 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.
20.4 The means to implement these measures (a Council
Regulation, Council Implementing Decision and Council Implementing
Regulation) took some time to be finalised, leading to a scrutiny
over-ride. The Committee was not minded to take issue with this,
but asked the Minister, when he submitted them for scrutiny, to
provide the House with his assessment of where matters stood with:
the Arab League's endeavours to broker a solution to the violence
and instability; at the UN Security Council; and at the UN Human
Rights Council — these all being highlighted in the Conclusions
adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council when it adopted the main
Council Decision in December.
The Minister's letter of 6 February 2012
20.5 The Minister explained that:
— on
22 January the Arab League agreed that that Arab League Plan should
be implemented in full, including an immediate end to all violence
and President Assad to delegate full powers to his first deputy
and allow a political transition in Syria;
— the Government fully supported the Arab
League's plan and were seeking a strong UN resolution which backs
the Arab League;
— on 28 January the work of the Arab League
observer mission was suspended due to an escalation of violence
in Syria, which he described as a damning indication of President
Assad's failure to halt the violence;
— on 27 January Morocco introduced a draft
Security Council resolution, which would support the Arab League's
peace plan, followed on 31 January by a briefing to the Security
Council on the situation in Syria and the Arab League initiative
by the Prime Minister of Qatar and the Arab League Secretary-General;
— the Foreign Secretary made a strong
intervention in support of tough action by the UN, a theme echoed
by US Secretary of State Clinton and French foreign minister Juppé;[136]
— the UK had been clear that the UNSC needed
to take firm action to stop the continuing repression in Syria
and would continue to work closely with its international partners
to this end.
20.6 The UN Department of Public Information announced
that on 4 February the Russian Federation and China vetoed a Security
Council draft resolution that would have demanded that all parties
in Syria — both Government forces and armed opposition groups
— stop all violence and reprisals. As they reported, "supported
by the 13 other Council members, the text would have expressed
grave concern at the deteriorating situation in Syria and profound
concern over the deaths of thousands of people. It would have
condemned widespread gross violations of human rights and 'all
violence, irrespective of where it comes from', while demanding
that the Syrian Government implement, 'without delay', the elements
of a plan set out by the League of Arab States on 22 January."
20.7 The UN News Centre and Department of Public
Information also reported that:
— UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced deep regret at the Security
Council's failure to agree on a resolution, calling it "a
great disappointment to the people of Syria and the Middle East,
and to all supporters of democracy and human rights", which
"undermines the role of the United Nations and the international
community in this period when the Syrian authorities must hear
a unified voice calling for an immediate end to its violence against
the Syrian people"; noted that it had "become even more
urgent" for the international community to redouble its efforts
to seek a Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural
political system; and pledged the UN's willingness to step up
efforts to "find a peaceful and durable solution which will
bring the violence and the killing in Syria to a halt";
— UN General Assembly President Nassir
Abdulaziz Al-Nasser urged the Arab League to continue its efforts
to find a solution and called on President Bashar al-Assad to
"listen to the voices and aspirations of his people";
— Russia's Ambassador said the text as
it stood "sent an unbalanced signal to the Syrian parties",
with no call on the Syrian opposition to distance itself from
extremist groups; a solution to the Syrian crisis must be "objective"
and said some Council members had actively undermined opportunities
for a settlement and pressed for "regime change"; Russia
was actively involved in diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis
and, to that end, the country's Foreign Minister would lead a
delegation to Damascus on 7 February for talks with President
Bashar al-Assad;
— China's Ambassador voiced disappointment
that the draft resolution did not incorporate amendments proposed
by Russia, which China supported; said that an "undue emphasis"
on pressuring Syria's authorities would prejudice the result of
dialogue and only complicate the issue rather than ending the
fighting; and that the sovereignty, independence and territorial
integrity of Syria must be fully respected;
— the Councils' three other permanent members
— France, the United Kingdom and the United States —
were outraged by the rejection of the text, believing it represented
the best compromise position.[137]
20.8 On 4 February, the High Representative of the
European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice
President of the Commission issued the following statement:
"We deeply regret that due to the renewed veto
of the Russian Federation and China the Security Council was unable
to support the call of the League of Arab States for an inclusive,
Syrian-led political process conducted in an environment free
from violence. The EU continues to support all efforts of the
League of Arab States and calls once more on all members of the
UNSC to assume their responsibilities. The time has come to speak
with one voice and demand an end to the bloodshed and speak out
for a democratic future for Syria. We condemn the ongoing bloodshed
and stand by the Syrian people against the repressive regime.
We call on President Assad to end immediately the killing of civilians,
withdraw the Syrian army from besieged towns and cities and step
aside in order to make room for a peaceful transition for the
sake of his country."[138]
20.9 On 6 February the Foreign Secretary made a statement
to the House in which he noted that the Government would:
— continue
its strong support for the Arab League;
— seek to widen the international coalition
of nations seeking a peaceful and lasting resolution in Syria,
via a new Arab-led group of Friends of Syria;
— intensify contact with members of the
Syrian opposition;
— maintain its strong focus at the United
Nations;
— increase pressure through the European
Union, with a view to agreeing further measures, beyond the 11
rounds of EU sanctions already agreed, at the 27 February Foreign
Affairs Council;
— work with others to ensure that those
responsible for crimes in Syria are held to account, including
at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva in March;
— use its remaining channels to the Syrian
regime to make clear its abhorrence of violence "that is
utterly unacceptable to the civilised world." [139]
20.10 We reported all this in an endeavour to set
the EU's actions in the wider context, looked forward to receiving
details of any further proposed EU measures in due course, and
in the meantime cleared the Council Regulation, Council Implementing
Regulation and Council Implementing Decision.
20.11 We also again drew these latest measures to
the attention of the Foreign Affairs Committee.[140]
The further draft Council Decision and Council
Regulation and the Council Decision
20.12 The draft Council Decision imposes further
restrictive measures against Syria; the draft Council Regulation
implements the elements of the draft Council Decision that fall
under EU competence; and the Council Decision extends the partial
suspension of the application the Cooperation Agreement between
the European Economic Community and the Syrian Arab Republic embodied
in the Council Decision of 2 September 2011.
20.13 The measures imposed by the Council Decision
include:
— a
prohibition on the trade and transportation of gold and precious
metals, as well as of diamonds, to, from, or for the Government
of Syria, the Central Bank of Syria, and persons and entities
acting for them;
— a ban on cargo flights operated by Syrian
carriers;
— an asset freeze on the Central Bank of
Syria.
20.14 The Council Decision also designates more individuals
under the asset freeze and travel ban, and removes one individual
who no longer meets the grounds for designation.
20.15 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 24 February
2012, Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington) explains that:
— the
newly designated individuals and entities include military and
security personnel responsible for giving orders authorising the
use of lethal force against Syrian protestors, a businessman facilitating
the repression, and entities providing financial support to the
regime;
— the extension of the partial suspension
of EEC/Syria is in order to implement the ban on gold, precious
metals and diamonds.
The Government's view
20.16 The Minister goes on to note that the Syrian
authorities continue to ignore the urgent appeals made by a number
of parties, including the United Nations General Assembly resolution
of 16 February, which supported the Arab League's plan for a Syrian-led
solution to the crisis, the United Nations Security Council in
a Presidential statement, numerous States, the Gulf Cooperation
Council and the Secretaries-General of the League of Arab States
and of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, to cease the violent
repression of civilians.
20.17 He also reiterates the long-established elements
of the Government's approach, viz:
— strong
UK support for the October European Council Conclusions "to
impose further and more comprehensive measures against the regime
as long as the repression of the civilian population continues";
— sanctions should be targeted in support
of a specific policy; be 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;
— as sanctions alone will not elicit political
change, the Government will continue to pursue other activities,
with international players as appropriate, to help realise change
in Syria.
The Minister's letter of 24 February 2012
20.18 The Minister says that, given the fast moving
and serious nature of events in Syria, it is important to adopt
the texts giving these measures legal effect with the utmost speed.
He also expresses his regret that, due to the length of the negotiations,
final texts emerged so late that he finds himself having to agree
to the their adoption before the Committee has had an opportunity
to scrutinise the documents.
20.19 The Minister goes on to express his continuing
belief that these further actions by the EU will increase the
pressure on President Assad's regime to put an end to the violence
in Syria. He also notes that on 16 February UN General Assembly
voted overwhelmingly in favour of supporting the Arab League's
plan for a Syrian-led solution to the crisis, pointing out that
the resolution was co-sponsored by 72 countries and supported
by 137 members of the Assembly, "clearly demonstrating the
international community's condemnation of the Syrian regime's
actions and its intention to hold to account those responsible
for the ongoing atrocities."
20.20 The Minister also recalls that the Prime Minister
and others have stated that President Assad has lost legitimacy
and should now step aside, and says that the Foreign Secretary
continues to make clear that he is appalled by the continuing
violence being perpetrated against civilians who have been protesting
peacefully.
20.21 On 27 February:
— the
Council said that, given the Syrian regime's continued use of
violence against civilians, it had reinforced restrictive measures
against the Syrian regime. It confirmed that: trade in gold, precious
metals and diamonds with Syrian public bodies and the central
bank will no longer be permitted; cargo flights operated by Syrian
carriers will not have access to EU airports, with the exception
of mixed passenger and cargo flights; the assets of the Syrian
central bank within the EU have been frozen, while ensuring that
legitimate trade can continue under strict conditions; and seven
Syrian government ministers who are associated with the human
rights violations have been subjected to an asset freeze and a
visa ban;
— the
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,
Catherine Ashton, said:
"Today's decisions will put further pressure
on those who are responsible for the ruthless campaign of repression
in Syria. The measures target the regime and its ability to conduct
the appalling violence against civilians. As long as the repression
continues, the EU will keep imposing sanctions."[141]
20.22 On 27 February, the Council also adopted conclusions,
in which it:
— said
it was increasingly appalled by the regime's ruthless campaign
of repression against the civilian population and its systematic
and widespread violation of human rights, the reports of the brutal
attacks by the Syrian armed forces in Homs and the numerous civilian
fatalities;
— underlined that those responsible will
be held accountable for their actions;
— reiterated its call for President Assad
to end immediately the killing of civilians, withdraw the Syrian
army from besieged towns and cities and step aside;
— condemned all killings of unarmed civilians,
including three journalists in Homs, and reiterated the Syrian
authorities' responsibility to guarantee the safety, and allow
unimpeded access, of journalists to carry out their vital role
without fear of violence or repression;
— called on the Syrian authorities immediately
to alleviate the suffering of the population, respect and protect
the wounded and sick, guarantee unhindered access to the medical
care and refrain from intimidation of those providing medical
assistance;
— welcomed the first meeting of the Group
of Friends of the Syrian people and the outcome as reflected in
the Chair's conclusions;
— welcomed the appointment of former UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan, as the Joint Special Envoy of the
United Nations and Arab League on the Syrian crisis;
— professed the EU's readiness to step
up its engagement with all representative members of Syrian opposition
that adhere to non violence, inclusiveness and democratic values;
— urged the Syrian opposition to set up
a representative coordination mechanism under the auspices of
the Arab League for working towards an orderly and peaceful transition
to a Syria based on these principles;
— deeply regretted that the UN Security
Council was unable to support the call of the Arab League for
an inclusive, Syrian-led political process conducted in an environment
free from fear and violence, and calls once more on all members
of the UNSC to assume their responsibilities;
— welcomed the 16 February UN General
Assembly resolution on Syria;
— looked forward to the next debate of
the UN Human Rights Council on Syria on 12 March;
— professsed itself appalled by the main
findings of the report of the Independent International Commission
of Inquiry on Syria and reaffirmed that there should be no impunity
for the perpetrators of such alleged crimes against humanity and
other gross violations of human rights;
— called on the international community
to join its efforts to target those responsible for or associated
with the violent repression and those who support or benefit from
the regime;
— welcomed the important decisions taken
by the Arab League on 12 February to resolve the crisis in Syria,
its strong commitment and leadership and its decision to increase
economic pressure on the Syrian regime, and the commitment of
the participants of the Friends of Syria Group to take steps to
apply and enforce restrictive measures and sanctions on the Syrian
regime and its supporters;
— reaffirmed its support to the Syrian
people and their aspirations for a democratic Syria that is open,
pluralistic and respectful of the rights of all its communities.[142]
20.23 Speaking after the Council meeting, Catherine
Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy (HR) said that more than 8,300 people have
now been killed in the terrible circumstances in Syria. She declared
that there was strong support for the humanitarian work being
undertaken, the work of the EU institutions and the Member States,
real support for the Arab League plan and "especially a recognition
that in Kofi Annan as the envoy for the United Nations and the
Arab League, we have somebody of enormous ability who we hope
will be able to swiftly make a significant difference to finding
a ceasefire and a political way through." She went on to
say:
"We need to get the Assad regime to stop killing
the population, and we need to find ways to ensure that comes
about as swiftly as possible. Our view is very straightforward:
you cannot lead your people, murder them and remain in leadership."
20.24 In terms of the wording in the conclusions,
the HR said that the EU was very clear that it recognizes the
Syrian National Council as an interlocutor, and continued thus:
"The discussion was around how to phrase and
word that so to give maximum effect to what we meant. And it links
very much back to the discussions that took place in Tunis on
Friday, so you'll find that there is a common view. It's important
that we're able to talk with opposition groups. We urge as much
as possible the coordination and the consolidation of opposition
groups. Other groups have come to talk to us in Brussels and we'll
continue to talk to them, but it was extremely important to hear
the views of the National Council, which is an interlocutor for
us."[143]
Conclusion
20.25 We continue to report these measures in
an endeavour to set the EU's actions in the wider context, and
again draw them to the attention of the Foreign Affairs Committee
20.26 We also clear the draft Council Decision,
draft Council Regulation and Council Decision, and do not object
to the Minister having agreed to their adoption prior to scrutiny
on this occasion and in these circumstances.
135 See headnote. Back
136
The Minister enclosed a copy of the Foreign Secretary's intervention,
which we reproduced at the Annex to chapter 12 of our most recent
Report, and is available at http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=PressS&id=723727582. Back
137
See http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/sc10536.doc.htm and
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41144&Cr=Syria&Cr1. Back
138
Available at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/127825.pdf. Back
139
See HC Deb, 6 February 2012, cols 23-42; the full text
is also available at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201212/cmhansrd/cm120206/debtext/120206-0001.htm#1202063000001. Back
140
See headnote: (33635-7) -: HC 428-l (2010-12), chapter 12 (8 February
2012). Back
141
See http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/128175.pdf
for the text of these statements. Back
142
The full text is available at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/128174.pdf.
Back
143
The full text of the HR's remarks is available at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/128229.pdf. Back
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