To EU members – letters from Brussels: a sensitive issue needs to be addressed immediately

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In a letter Wednesday to all member states and seen by POLITICO, the European Commission warned countries of the need for “immediate, coordinated and decisive action by all.”

Due to lack of patience due to constantly repeated violations, Mairead McGuinness, who is responsible for the finances of the European Union, and Valdis Dombrovskis, the head of trade, who were among the signatories of the letter, say that they will very soon share “detailed information” about what specifically circumvents the sanctions. More detailed information will reach the bloc’s capitals soon, and progress will be assessed in mid-April.

Although the sanctions themselves are agreed at the level of the entire European Union, the member states are responsible for their implementation under the supervision of the European Commission. A new package of sanctions against Russia was approved in December, and another one is already being worked on, as Moscow’s war in Ukraine is about to enter its third year. Diplomats try not to entertain empty expectations about some fundamental decisions in the new package.

Prohibited goods from the European Union reach Russia through countries that do not belong to the bloc, from which they end up on the Russian market. According to the letter, subsidiary companies of European companies operating outside the bloc and producing products needed by the Russians are also helping Moscow in this case.

These are mostly products and technologies that are not weapons but can be used for military purposes and end up on the battlefield.

Centralized control

The European Commission is considering the possibility of establishing a special European Union office responsible for the implementation of sanctions, which means that it would take over this responsibility from the authorities of the member states, writes POLITICO.

According to a source who is familiar with the negotiations, but cannot publicly comment on them, and who wished to remain anonymous, this idea is gaining more and more popularity and may end up on the agenda of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, if she is elected for a second term beginning at the end of this year.

The letter states that the export of goods prohibited by the European Union to countries outside the Union, which before the invasion of Ukraine amounted to 3 billion. euros, reached 5.6 billion in the middle of 2023. euros. This “alarming” growth offsets the loss of pre-war legal trade in the mentioned goods with Russia, according to the letter.

The letter instructs member states to “bring responsible European Union operators who actively violate European Union sanctions wherever they operate” and to discourage businesses from exploiting loopholes in sanctions by publicizing “illustrative cases and penalties for them.”

Ms McGuiness also told member states to approach producers of sanctioned goods and require them to scrutinize their supply chains to ensure they comply with European Union sanctions rules.

The authorities of each state have the duty to more actively share information about non-European Union companies and persons possibly related to the exploitation of sanctions loopholes; Special attention must be paid to sanctions waivers that could exacerbate the problem, the letter said.

Big trouble

The idea of ​​establishing a European Union service responsible for the implementation of sanctions has been popular before. About ten countries, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain, actively supported a similar idea initiated by the Netherlands last year.

Last year, France also took the initiative to expand the powers of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to include issues of sanctions loopholes.

One influential diplomat of the European Union, who wished to remain anonymous, states that there are huge problems with the “application of sanctions”, also due to their uneven application in different countries.

Another diplomat told POLITICO that any mechanism to help the European Union enforce sanctions more effectively would be welcomed. The third interlocutor assesses the European Union-level instrument a bit more cautiously and claims that the European Commission, taking away powers from the member states, would be encroaching on the territory of their institutions. Any institution of the European Union should only monitor the work of the national level and make recommendations, he believes.

“We don’t think that any of the member states will agree to sacrifice their competences,” critics say and warn that such a decision may “have consequences in other areas as well.”

Ms. McGuiness intends to discuss the content of the letter with the minister in more detail at a meeting on the issue of sanctions on February 13.