Council Regulation (EU) 2021/996 of 21 June 2021 amending Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures in respect of Belarus

Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 is replaced by the following:

1. By way of derogation from Article 2, the competent authorities in the Member States, as indicated in the websites listed in Annex II, 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:

(a) necessary to satisfy the basic needs of persons listed in Annex I and their dependent family members, including payments for foodstuffs, rent or mortgage, medicines and medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, and public utility charges;

(b) intended exclusively for payment of reasonable professional fees and reimbursement of incurred expenses associated with the provision of legal services;

(c) intended exclusively for payment of fees or service charges for routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds or economic resources;

(d) intended exclusively for the payment of a charge necessary for one of the following:

(i) the operation of flights for humanitarian purposes, for the evacuation or repatriation of persons, or for initiatives providing support to victims of natural, nuclear or chemical disasters;

(ii) the operation of flights in the framework of international adoption procedures;

(iii) the operation of flights required for attending meetings with the objective of seeking a solution to the crisis in Belarus or promoting the policy objectives of the restrictive measures; or

(iv) an emergency landing, take-off or overflight by an EU air carrier; or

(e) necessary to deal with critical and clearly identified air safety matters and after prior consultation of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency..

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day 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 Luxembourg, 21 June 2021.

For the Council

The President

J. Borrell Fontelles