Today, Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque, in charge of sanctions implementation, chaired the seventh meeting of the High‑Level Expert Group on Union Restrictive Measures.
Unequivocal support to Ukraine is, and will remain, on top of the Commission’s priorities. EU sanctions have a clear objective – to weaken Russia’s economy and its ability to pursue its illegal aggression against Ukraine. In a fast‑changing geopolitical environment, proper implementation and consistent enforcement of the measures are crucial for their effectiveness. Today, high‑level representatives from Member States, alongside the Commission and the External Action Service, came together to discuss challenges in implementing sanctions, and to identify pragmatic solutions on enforcement. Member States shared best practices, and their views on further opportunities for cross‑border cooperation.
These discussions in this format have already led to concrete outcomes and pragmatic solutions, such as the creation of the EU sanctions helpdesk – a one‑stop‑shop portal that provides practical support to European small and medium‑sized enterprises to help them comply with EU sanctions, reducing the risk of non‑compliance, and supporting them in performing due diligence checks.
In the afternoon, the EU Sanctions Envoy, David O’Sullivan, convened the fifth Sanctions Coordinators Forum, dedicated to sanctions enforcement, and fighting circumvention. It gathered Member States and international partners, such as the UK, the US, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, as well as Ukraine. You can also take a look at David O’Sullivan’s statement.
Following the meeting, Commissioner Albuquerque said:
“Looking ahead, our priority is to continue working towards stronger implementation and enforcement of our measures, this includes preventing evasion and circumvention.
Let me reaffirm that the Commission – and I personally – are fully committed to continuing to provide the necessary tools to support Member States, international partners and our economic operators in implementing sanctions.
The success of our measures vastly depends on their implementation on the ground. We remain committed to maintaining our strong international coordination on sanctions within the G7, and with other like‑minded partners.
We will continue to signal to Russia that our support to Ukraine will be sustained, broad‑based and steadfast. Our sanctions have a clear objective ‑ to weaken Russia’s economy and its ability to pursue its illegal aggression against Ukraine. The specific demands from the Kremlin to lift our measures, prove that sanctions are achieving that objective”.
