22/06/2023 (Agence Europe) – The eleventh package of European sanctions targeting the Kremlin, agreed on Wednesday 21 June (see EUROPE 13206/2), aims to combat the misuse of these sanctions by companies based in third countries which, by acting as intermediaries, continue the now illegal trade in certain products between the European Union and Russia, particularly those that could be used in the Russian war effort against Ukraine. Around 200 companies from third countries are said to be directly targeted by the EU, including three Russian companies based in Hong Kong. The sanctions package also provides for a mechanism enabling sanctions to be taken, as a last resort, against a third country where there is systemic circumvention of European sanctions. The EU Council has long negotiated the establishment of this mechanism, whose governance will be shared between the European Commission and the Member States, and decisions will be taken unanimously by the EU27. (MB)