Iraq - Common Position 2003/495

Council Common Position 2003/495/CFSP of 7 July 2003 on Iraq and repealing Common Positions 96/741/CFSP and 2002/599/CFSP

Article 1

1.   The sale, supply, transfer or export of arms and related material of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment and spare parts for the aforementioned, to Iraq by nationals of Member States or from the territories of Member States or using their flag vessels or aircraft shall be prohibited whether originating or not in their territories.

2.   Without prejudice to the prohibitions on or obligations of Member States related to items specified in paragraphs 8 and 12 of UNSCR 687 (1991) of 3 April 1991 or activities described in paragraph 3(f) of UNSCR 707 (1991) of 15 August 1991, paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to the sale, supply, transfer or export of arms and related material required by the Government of Iraq or the multinational force established under UNSCR 1511 (2003) to serve the purposes of UNSCR 1546 (2004).

3.   The sale, supply, transfer or export of arms and related material referred to in paragraph 2 shall be subject to an authorisation granted by the competent authorities of the Member States.

Article 2

All funds or other financial assets or economic resources:

(a) of the previous Government of Iraq or its State bodies, corporations or agencies located outside Iraq on the date of 22 May 2003, as designated by the Security Council Committee established pursuant to UNSCR 1518 (2003) (the ‘Sanctions Committee’); or

(b) that have been removed from Iraq, or acquired by Saddam Hussein or other senior officials of the former Iraqi regime and their immediate family members, including entities owned or controlled directly or indirectly by them or by persons acting on their behalf or at their direction, as designated by the Sanctions Committee;

shall be frozen without delay and, unless those funds or other financial assets or economic resources are themselves the subject of a prior judicial, administrative or arbitral lien or judgement, in which case they may be used to satisfy such lien or judgement, Member States shall immediately cause their transfer to the successor arrangements to the Development Fund for Iraq put in place by the Government of Iraq under the conditions set out in Security Council Resolutions 1483 (2003) and 1956 (2010).

Article 2a

No funds or economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of the persons and entities referred to in Article 2(b).

Exemptions may be made for funds and economic resources which are:

(a) necessary to satisfy basic needs of the persons referred to in Article 2(b), 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 and economic resources; or

(d) 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 prior to the authorisation.

Article 2b

Articles 2 and 2a shall not apply to the provision, processing or payment of funds, other financial assets or economic resources or to the provision of goods and services which are necessary to ensure the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance or to support other activities that support basic human needs where such assistance and other activities are carried out by:

(a) the United Nations, including its programmes, funds and other entities and bodies, as well as its specialized agencies and related organisations;

(b) international organisations;

(c) Humanitarian organisations having observer status with the United Nations General Assembly and members of those humanitarian organisations;

(d) bilaterally or multilaterally funded non-governmental organisations participating in the United Nations Humanitarian Response Plans, Refugee Response Plans, other United Nations appeals or humanitarian clusters coordinated by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA);

(e) the employees, grantees, subsidiaries, or implementing partners of the entities mentioned in points (a) to (d) while and to the extent that they are acting in those capacities; or

(f) appropriate other actors as determined by the Sanctions Committee.

Article 3

All appropriate steps will be taken to facilitate the safe return to Iraqi institutions of Iraqi cultural property and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific, and religious importance illegally removed from the Iraq National Museum, the National Library, and other locations in Iraq since the adoption of Security Council Resolution 661 (1990), including by establishing a prohibition on trade in or transfer of such items and items with respect to which reasonable suspicion exists that they have been illegally removed.

Article 4

All proceeds from all export sales of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas from Iraq as of 22 May 2003 shall be deposited into the Development Fund for Iraq under the conditions set out in UNSC Resolution 1483 (2003).

Article 5

1.   Petroleum, petroleum products, and natural gas originating in Iraq will be immune, until title passes to the initial purchaser, from legal proceedings against them and not be subject to any form of attachment, garnishment, or execution.

2.   Privileges and immunities equivalent to those enjoyed by the United Nations will be enjoyed by:

(a) proceeds and obligations arising from the sale of products referred to in paragraph 1;

(b) the Development Fund for Iraq;

(c) funds, other financial assets or economic resources to be transferred to the Development Fund for Iraq in accordance with Article 2.

3.   The privileges and immunities referred to in paragraph 2(a) will not apply with respect to any legal proceeding in which recourse to such proceeds and obligations is necessary to satisfy liability for damages assessed in connection with an ecological accident, including an oil spill, that occurs after 22 May 2003.

4.   The privileges and immunities referred to in paragraphs 1, 2(a) and 2(b) shall not apply with respect to any final judgment arising out of a contractual obligation entered into by Iraq after 30 June 2004.

Article 6

Council Common Positions 96/741/CFSP and 2002/599/CFSP are hereby repealed.

Article 7

This Common Position shall take effect on the date of its adoption. It shall apply from 22 May 2003.

Articles 4 and 5 shall apply until 30 June 2011.

Article 8

This Common Position shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union .

Initial version

Council Common Position 2003/495/CFSP of 7 July 2003 on Iraq and repealing Common Positions 96/741/CFSP and 2002/599/CFSP

Official Journal of the European Union L 169 of 8 July 2003,p. 73

Amended by

Council Common Position 2003/735/CFSP of 13 October 2003 amending Common Position 2003/495/CFSP on Iraq	Official Journal of the European Union L 264 of 15 October 2003,p. 40
Council Common Position 2004/553/CFSP of 19 July 2004 amending Common Position 2003/495/CFSP on Iraq	Official Journal of the European Union L 246 of 20 July 2004,p. 32
Council Common Position 2008/186/CFSP of 3 March 2008 amending Common Position 2003/495/CFSP on Iraq	Official Journal of the European Union L 59 of 4 March 2008,p. 31
Council Common Position 2009/175/CFSP of 5 March 2009 amending Common Position 2003/495/CFSP on Iraq	Official Journal of the European Union L 62 of 6 March 2009,p. 28
Council Decision 2010/128/CFSP of 1 March 2010 amending Common Position 2003/495/CFSP on Iraq	Official Journal of the European Union L 51 of 2 March 2010,p. 22
Council Decision 2011/100/CFSP of 14 February 2011 amending Common Position 2003/495/CFSP on Iraq	Official Journal of the European Union L 41 of 15 February 2011,p. 9
Council Decision 2012/812/CFSP of 20 December 2012 amending Common Position 2003/495/CFSP on Iraq	Official Journal of the European Union L 352 of 21 December 2012,p. 54
Council Decision 2014/484/CFSP of 22 July 2014 amending Common Position 2003/495/CFSP on Iraq	Official Journal of the European Union L 217 of 23 July 2014,p. 38
Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/338 of 14 February 2023 amending certain Council decisions and common positions concerning restrictive measures in order to insert provisions on a humanitarian exemption	Official Journal of the European Union L 47 of 15 February 2023,p. 50