The interinstitutional negotiations (trilogue) on the directive defining the criminal offences and penalties applicable to breaches of EU restrictive measures continued on Thursday 30 November.
This proposal, presented in December 2022 (see EUROPE 13072/24) in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, introduces a common definition of offences and minimum penalties to ensure that they are punished as criminal offences throughout the EU.
In a statement published on Friday 1 December, MEPs expressed their disappointment at the failure of the trilogue, stressing the urgent need to adopt the directive. In their view, the violation of sanctions should be criminalised to improve the application of sanctions and put an end to “forum shopping” (in international law, the strategy of choosing the most favourable jurisdiction to support one's own interests). The criminalisation of sanctions violations is necessary for the confiscation of frozen assets.
As a reminder, on 9 June the Council adopted its negotiating position (see EUROPE 13198/4), limiting the scope of the text to serious offences and excluding acts committed through gross negligence. Member States wish to choose between a percentage of total worldwide turnover or a fine defined in absolute amounts for legal persons. Furthermore, while the initial deadline for transposition was set at six months, the Council has extended it to twelve months.
For their part, the MEPs adopted their negotiating mandate on 6 July. The text tabled by Sophie in ‘t Veld (Renew Europe, Dutch) proposes extending the list of activities considered as circumvention and sets the maximum fine at 15% of global annual turnover. In addition, MEPs are adding new aggravating circumstances, such as war crimes and obstructing investigations, which would lead to heavier penalties. They also excluded humanitarian aid and support from the draft directive.
In their declaration of 1 December, the MEPs stressed that every day without this directive helps Putin’s war efforts. The effectiveness of the EU sanctions regime is compromised by the diversity of national legal systems and by uneven and weak enforcement. Sanctioned individuals can still travel, study, holiday and live in the EU, while companies can conduct their business fairly freely. Large sums of money continue to move freely, feeding the Kremlin’s war chest.
Faced with this impasse, the representatives of the European Parliament are calling on the Council to reconsider its position and resume discussions as soon as possible. They are ready to continue discussions to reach an agreement on the outstanding issues. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)