The Council of the EU adopted a law to introduce criminal offences for EU sanctions violation.
Some actions will now be considered criminal offences in all member states, repoted the Council of the EU.
The law lays down that member states will need to define certain actions as criminal offences. These include:
• helping persons subject to EU restrictive measures to bypass a travel ban
• trading sanctioned goods and running transactions with states or entities which are hit by EU restrictive measures
• providing financial services or performing financial activities which are prohibited or restricted
• covering up the ownership of funds or economic resources by a person, entity or body which is sanctioned by the EU
Inciting, aiding and abetting these offences will also be punishable as a crime.
This new law is needed to limit the possibility of circumventing sanctions, especially for the Russian economy. In response to Russian aggression against Ukraine, the EU has adopted an unprecedented number of restrictive measures to weaken Russia’s economic base.
