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Ross L. Denton

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The Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom (the “E3 Foreign Ministers“) have today released a statement that they are triggering the dispute resolution mechanism in relation to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA“), following Iran’s decision to no longer abide by the uranium enrichment limits of the JCPOA (see our earlier blog post on this here).

The Iranian government announced on Sunday evening that it will no longer adhere to certain limits agreed under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) and will therefore no longer observe limitations on uranium enrichment, stockpiles of enriched uranium or nuclear research and development. Despite this, Iran has stated that it remains open to negotiations with partners in Europe who have sought to help Iran continue trading overseas despite US sanctions (through the INSTEX vehicle,…

In two judgments in the last year, the English High Court has examined sanctions clauses in detail. Each case involved a refusal by parties to pay under an agreement, citing risks under US extraterritorial (“secondary”) sanctions. The Court’s judgments in these cases raise a number of issues for the drafting of sanctions clauses, and highlight the need to consider carefully the scope of the contract and the impacts that US sanctions may have upon its performance.

In approximately one month, the next round of changes to the EU Dual-Use list will take effect.

On 17 October 2019, the European Commission adopted a delegated Regulation updating Annex I to Regulation 428/2009 (the “Dual-Use List”). The update is not yet in force, but is currently halfway through a two month period during which the European Parliament or Council can raise any objections to the proposed changes. Once this two month period has lapsed in mid-December, or earlier if the Parliament and Council confirm to the Commission that they have no objections, the Regulation will be published in the Official Journal and will take effect the following day.

An overview of the proposed changes is provided in the comprehensive change note summary, which can be accessed here, and the full text can be accessed here.