The European Parliament political groups were negotiating on Tuesday 5 April on a resolution to be voted on Thursday 7 April, in which they are expected to call for additional sanctions against Russia.
“Since the beginning of the invasion, the European Parliament was at the forefront of a tougher policy on Nord Stream 2 and Putin. Now, it is lagging behind and the EU Council has taken the lead. The challenge of this plenary is for the European Parliament to regain the initiative and set the course”, said Raphael Glucksmann (S&D, France).
The groups are discussing, among other things, the measures to be requested concerning Russian energy. “The big debate: is the European Parliament calling for an embargo on oil only, oil and coal or oil, coal and gas?”, confirmed Glucksmann. For its part, the European Commission called on 5 April for an embargo on Russian coal (see other news).
In a letter dated 3 April, 211 MEPs called for sanctions. “After the discovery of the horrific Russian war crimes in Butcha, the ongoing devastation of Mariupol and the deportation of thousands of Ukrainian citizens to Russia, there is an urgent need to considerably strengthen the sanctions against Putin’s criminal regime”, stressed MEPs from the EPP, S&D, Greens/EFA, Renew Europe, ECR, Non-attached Members and two ID members and The Left in a letter to the Presidents of the European Council and the Commission and to the EU High Representative.
They called for the immediate convening of a European Council with “the aim of imposing a total embargo on oil, gas and coal, the closure of all ports to Russian ships and goods, the total disconnection of all Russian banks from Swift and the extension of the list of sanctions against Russian oligarchs, officials and public servants, based on the names provided by Alexei Navalny’s foundation”.
According to MEPs, there is an urgent need to send more weapons and military equipment, including tanks, armoured vehicles, heavy artillery, anti-ship missiles and more sophisticated anti-aircraft protection systems. They also called for the full use of the European Peace Facility for this purpose.
EPP is calling for an immediate embargo on coal and oil, not gas
In addition, in a position paper published on 4 April, the EPP group set out seven lines of action to help Ukraine and strengthen measures against Russia and Belarus. Among these actions, the EPP advocates an “immediate” embargo on Russian oil, coal and nuclear fuels and an embargo “as soon as possible” on gas.
In addition, Russian banks involved in oil and coal trade should be disconnected from the Swift system and access to all EU ports for ships whose last or next port of call is in Russia should be banned.
Belarus should be subject to sanctions mirroring those imposed on Russia. The EPP also calls for the introduction of secondary sanctions on entities helping Moscow and Minsk to circumvent sanctions and for “consequences” for countries supporting or failing to condemn Russian aggression.
The EPP also calls for safe humanitarian corridors and agricultural corridors. It also promotes arms supplies and aid to Ukraine to defend itself and a Marshall Plan-type fund to rebuild Ukraine after the war.
Furthermore, “the European institutions should strive to fulfil the promise of granting Ukraine candidate status without delay”.
See the EPP position: https://aeur.eu/f/146 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Thomas Mangin)