At a meeting of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council on 14 October 2019, the Council adopted a sanctions framework targeting Nicaragua (see Baker McKenzie blog post here). The sanctions comprise asset freezes and travel bans targeting “persons and entities responsible for human rights violations or abuses or for the repression of civil society and democratic opposition in Nicaragua, as well as persons and entities whose actions, policies or activities otherwise undermine democracy and the rule of law in Nicaragua“. On 4…
On 24 April 2020, the European Commission published Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/568 (the “Implementing Regulation”), which prohibits the export from the EU of certain personal protective equipment unless a licence is first obtained from an EU Member State authority. The Implementing Regulation came into force on 26 April 2020. The Implementing Regulation replaces the temporary export controls imposed by the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/402 published on 15 March 2020, as amended by Implementing Regulation (EU)…
In a judgement of 7 April 2020 (ECLI:NL:HR:2020:623), the Dutch Supreme Court confirmed that the EU Blocking Regulation (“EUBR”) does not prevent extradition of an Iranian national to the United States for their alleged involvement in US export controls and sanctions violations. With this judgement, the Supreme Court upheld the judgement of the District Court of Rotterdam of 5 July 2019 (ECLI:NL:RBROT:2019:5338). This case was triggered by an extradition request for an Iranian national…
On 14 April 2020, the EC began a consultation with Member States on an adjustment to the emergency export authorisation scheme put in place on 15 March which expires on 25 April 2020. The highlight point of the new draft regulation, set to apply for a limited period of 30 days (as of 26 April 2020), is that it will extend only to protective face masks. This is based on the Commission’s view that this…