European Union member states on Monday adopted a decision to expand the list of common European crimes to add sanctions violations, a move that seeks to strengthen enforcement of restrictive measures against Russia and prevent sanctions circumvention.
This decision seeks to unify criteria among the EU-27 on what constitutes a violation of the restrictive measures and what response should be applied in its case. This seeks to avoid giving rise to different degrees of enforcement of sanctions within the EU and reduces the risk of circumvention of the measures.
Following this step, the European Commission will present a proposal for a directive containing minimum standards regarding the definition of criminal offenses and sanctions for non-compliance with EU restrictive measures, in what is expected to be a further step towards ensuring the enforcement of sanctions against Russia in retaliation for the military invasion of Ukraine.
«The EU has responded firmly to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine. It has adopted an unprecedented number of sanctions to target Russia’s economy and thwart its ability to continue this aggression,» assessed Pavel Blazek, the Czech Minister of Justice, whose country holds the rotating EU Presidency.
Blazek has insisted that to be successful in the sanctions campaign, implementation must be carried out in a joint and coordinated manner. «Today’s decision is an essential tool to ensure that any attempt to circumvent these measures is stopped,» he said.
