EU Council approves directive criminalizing sanctions evasion and violations

The Council of the European Union has supported a directive on harmonizing the application of EU sanctions between member states. The document prescribes the same wording of violations and unified penalties for all countries.

The decision stipulates that all EU countries should criminalize, for example, trade in sanctioned goods or assistance in circumventing the ban on entry to the EU territory for sanctioned persons. Incitement and aiding and abetting such an offense will also be punishable.

For more information on the provisions of the Directive, please follow the link. The text of the Directive.

The Directive will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Member states will have 12 months to implement its provisions into national legislation.

Source: the official website of the EU Council