Spain approves draft law on transposition of EU Directive on criminalisation of sanctions violations

On 25 March 2025, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved a draft law implementing Directive (EU) 2024/1226, which defines criminal offences and penalties for breaches of EU sanctions. The draft law significantly changes the approach to sanctions violations by introducing new criminal offences into the Spanish Criminal Code, in particular for individuals and legal entities that violate EU sanctions.

The draft law proposes penalties for the new offences, including up to 6 years' imprisonment, fines and confiscation of assets. For legal entities, a fine of up to 5% of the total global turnover is possible. A coordination commission will also be established to strengthen the application of sanctions in the future. The Directive must be transposed into national law by 20 May 2025, and a draft law is currently out for consultation until 9 April 2025.

Source: Global sanctions and export controls blog