Council of EU includes sanctions violations to EU crime list

On Monday, the Council of the EU unanimously decided to add sanctions violations to the list of EU crimes included in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The press service of the Council of the European Union reported this.

Currently, member states define in different ways what constitutes a violation of the sanctions imposed after russia's invasion of Ukraine and what punitive measures should be applied in the event of a breach.

This could lead to varying sanctions enforcement and the risk of circumvention, potentially allowing sanctioned individuals to continue accessing their assets and support regimes targeted by EU measures.

Adding sanctions violations to the list of "EU crimes" is the first of two steps to ensure the same level of sanctions across the EU and stop attempts to circumvent or violate sanctions.

Following this decision, the European Commission will submit a proposal for a directive containing minimum rules on the definition of criminal offenses and penalties for breaching EU restrictive measures.

This draft directive must then be discussed and adopted by the Council and the European Parliament.