On Thursday, 9 November, MEPs called on the EU and its Member States to reinforce and centralise oversight of the implementation of sanctions against Russia at the European level and to establish a mechanism to prevent and monitor for sanctions circumvention.
In the joint resolution by the S&D, Renew Europe, EPP, Greens/EFA, and ECR groups, MEPs urge the European External Action Service—in collaboration with the European Commission—to undertake a comprehensive review of the sanctions imposed by the EU in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and to submit proposals on how to further improve the preparation, maintenance, monitoring of implementation, and enforcement of EU sanctions.
The European Parliament is also calling on all Member States to actively contribute to maintaining unity on sanctions and “therefore calls for the renewal periods for all sanctions regimes related to Russia’s actions against Ukraine of not less than 12 months to be systematically provided for”. It calls on Member States and EU institutions to redouble their efforts to limit the evasion and circumvention of EU sanctions against Russia.
MEPs are also urging all EU candidate and potential candidate countries to strictly align themselves with the sanctions imposed by the European Union.
Moreover, they request that the EU and its Member States find legal avenues enabling frozen Russian assets to be confiscated and used to rebuild Ukraine and compensate the victims of Russia’s aggression.
The European Parliament is also calling for energy sanctions to be strengthened and for restrictive measures on diamonds of Russian origin or re-exported by Russia to the EU to be adopted.
The European Commission is expected to present its 12th sanctions package—which is notably expected to focus on diamonds—in the next few days.
See the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/9hk (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)