EU Justice Ministers reported on progress with work to assist Ukraine in its war crimes investigations and on the full implementation of sanctions against Russia and Belarus on Thursday, 9 June in Luxembourg.
This was an opportunity for them to discuss the European Commission’s recent proposal to add the violation of sanctions to the list of EU infringements as described in Article 83 of the TFEU (see EUROPE 12960/6).
On this forthcoming Council decision, “there is no rejection among ministers. Some ministers have indicated that they had to refer the matter to their parliaments as a first step”, said French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti, who says there is a real solidarity among the Member States with regard to the crisis in Ukraine.
This decision, which the EU Council may adopt shortly, will allow the European Commission to propose a directive that will establish standards for minimum penalties for violations of EU sanctions.
Increasing support for war crimes Joint Investigation Team
On the fight against war crimes in Ukraine, the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, and the French Minister of Justice recalled the work done by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT). It is composed of Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Latvia and Estonia, as well as the International Criminal Court (ICC), and is supported by Eurojust.
When asked by EUROPE, Commissioner Reynders said that the US had confirmed to him its willingness to become involved in the investigation. There is no actual agreement to join the team as such, but discussions are ongoing.
Commission provides financial support to the ICC
In addition, on 8 June, the Commission launched a new project to support the ICC’s activities in the fight against impunity for war crimes. This €7.25 million project will help the ICC to strengthen its capacity to investigate war crimes cases in Ukraine. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced this support measure in Kyiv in April.
Among other things, it will help with data storage and analysis, as well as with the development of new analysis and expertise capabilities for digital evidence, for example.
In the same vein, at the end of May the EU Council adopted the regulation enabling Eurojust to preserve, analyse, store and share evidence of war crimes with the competent authorities of the Member States and with international judicial authorities (see EUROPE 12959/3). This regulation should enter into force soon. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)