On Monday 15 October, the Council adopted a new regime of restrictive measures to address the use and proliferation of chemical weapons.
Thanks to this legal framework – currently a void – the EU will be able to impose sanctions on persons and entities, wherever they are in the world, who are involved in the development and use of chemical weapons, regardless of their nationality and location.
The measures will target persons and entities responsible for developing and using chemical weapons, those who provide financial, technical and material support and those who persist, encourage or are associated with them, according to a Council press release.
The sanctions will consist of a travel ban to the EU and an asset freeze for persons, and an asset freeze for entities. EU persons and entities will be forbidden from making funds available to the persons and entities on the list.
In June of this year (see EUROPE 12051), a few weeks after the Skripal case, the European Council called for “the adoption as soon as possible of a new EU regime of restrictive measures to address the use and proliferation of chemical weapons”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)