The effectiveness of EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus depends not only on the restrictive measures themselves, but also on their practical enforcement, including criminal prosecution for violations of the sanctions regime. To achieve this, EU member states need to harmonize legislation, expand liability across the full chain of participants in circumvention schemes, and consider strengthening the role of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
This was stated in a comment to Guildhall by Member of the Seimas of Lithuania Emanuelis Zingeris.
– Do you agree with this assessment of the main weakness in the EU’s sanctions enforcement?
– Sanctions imposed on Russia and its supporter Belarus are painful, so they are looking for and continue to look ways to illegally circumvent them. Effective implementation of sanctions is crucial.
But the problem is that different EU Member States have different agencies dealing with circumventing or avoiding sanctions. In some countries, this type of crime is not even criminalised. Penalties for violations of the EU’s sanctions have been different in different Member States, as well as inconsistent and often not dissuasive enough.
– In your view, what should be changed to ensure that every established case of sanctions violation leads to criminal proceedings and real punishment for those responsible?
– It is necessary to prevent all ways of circumventing sanctions, as well as effective investigation of violation of them. Countries should adopt relevant national laws or amendments. Looking to the EU, I am sure that the harmonization of definitions and penalties for the violation and circumvention of EU sanctions was an important step forward. In 2024, the EU adopted a Directive on the definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of the Union restrictive measures. It sets a new unified standard that defines certain violations and circumventions of sanctions as criminal offences. And Member States had to implement the necessary laws to comply with this Directive by 20 May 2025.
– Should such liability extend across the full chain of individuals and companies involved, including banks, traders, insurers, logistics operators, intermediaries, and entities from third countries that knew or should have known the nature of the operation?
– The most important principle – penalties must be inevitable and dissuasive. And, as you correctly noticed, liability must extend across the full chain of entities involved. If only the ultimate beneficiary is punished, the entire remaining chain of intermediaries can serve other beneficiaries, and thus sanctions remain just ‘on paper’. Meanwhile, extended liability forces entities to invest in compliance with sanctions because the risk of violating or circumventing them becomes too high.
– Could expanding the powers of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in investigating sanctions violations form part of the solution?
– In order to minimize the chances of sanctions violations, not only efforts at national level are necessary, but also at European level. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office plays an important role in ensuring independent and effective investigation of international financial crimes related to the EU budget. Therefore, expanding the mandate of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to enable it to investigate violations of the sanctions imposed on Russia, as well as on Belarus, would be a significant part of the solution.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is a single institution operating in 24 EU Member States. It has crated a European Public Prosecutor’s Office area and there it has no borders, so it can be much faster, more efficient. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has specialist prosecutors in 24 EU Member States, it works with specialist law enforcement units, can share information. This means that after sanctions are imposed, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office can immediately see their impact and act effectively when it comes to seizing property and recovering stolen money.
Exclusively for Guildhall.
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