Today the European Council has issued a press release confirming that it has agreed on a package of significant additional restrictive measures targeting sectoral cooperation and exchanges with the Russian Federation. These measures have not yet entered into force and the relevant EU instruments will likely be published on Wednesday, 30 July 2014 and will, inter alia: limit the access to EU capital markets for Russian State-owned financial institutions impose an embargo on trade…
Council Regulation (EU) No 783/2014 and Council Decision 2014/475/CFSP expand the scope of the restrictive measures with a view to targeting entities, including entities from Russia, that are materially or financially supporting actions undermining or threatening Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. The relevant amended provision reads as follows: “[The list of designated parties] shall include: (a) natural persons responsible for, actively supporting or implementing, actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity,…
On 16 July, the European Council met for a special meeting in which the ongoing crisis in the Ukraine was discussed. Following the meeting, the Council published its conclusions, which included a request for the European Investment Bank (EIB) to suspend signing any new financing operations in Russia. Furthermore, Member States agreed in principle to use their positions on the board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to suspend any upcoming EBRD…
In the European Council’s conclusions on the situation in Ukraine yesterday, member states of the EU “agreed to discontinue the application of their agreement of 20 February 2014 on export licences”. The agreement of 20 February included: The suspension of all export licensing to Ukraine for equipment which may be used for internal repression; and The reassessment of export licences of certain military technology and equipment that are covered under Common Position 2008/944/CFSP. Further information…