Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207 in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

On 18 January 1977, the European Economic Community and the Syrian Arab Republic concluded a Cooperation Agreement^f1 (‘the Cooperation Agreement’) to promote overall cooperation with a view to strengthening relations between them.

On 2 September 2011, the Council adopted Decision 2011/523/EU^f2 which partially suspends the application of the Cooperation Agreement until the Syrian authorities put an end to the systematic violations of human rights and can again be considered as being in compliance with general international law and the principles which form the basis of the Cooperation Agreement.

Since then, and in view of the further deterioration of the situation in Syria, the Union has adopted further restrictive measures against the Syrian regime^f3.

In this regard, the partial suspension of the application of the Cooperation Agreement should continue. In line with the approach set out in Decision 2011/523/EU, the suspension should aim at targeting the Syrian authorities, not the people of Syria, and should be limited accordingly. Since gold, precious metals and diamonds are products the trade in which benefits in particular the Syrian regime, and which therefore supports its repressive policies, the suspension should be extended so as to apply also to trade in these materials,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: