EU adopts 11th package of economic and individual sanctions against Russia

The Council of the European Union today adopted an eleventh package of economic and individual restrictive measures against Russia. It is designed to reinforce existing EU sanctions and stop them from being circumvented, thereby further undermining Putin’s war machine and his income.

The 11^th package includes the following key elements:

Trade measures

• New anti-circumvention tool will allow the EU to restrict the sale, supply, transfer or export of specified sanctioned goods and technology to certain third countries whose jurisdictions are considered to be at continued and particularly high risk of circumvention. 
• Extension of the transit prohibition for certain sensitive goods (e.g. advanced technology, aviation-related materials) exported from the EU to third countries, via Russia. 
• 87 new entities registered in China, Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, and Armenia added to the list of those registered in Russia and Iran directly supporting Russia’s military and industrial complex in its war of aggression against Ukraine. They are subject to tighter export restrictions for dual-use and advanced technology items.
• Restriction on the exports of a further 15 technological items found on the battlefield in Ukraine or equipment needed to produce such items.
• Tightening restrictions on imports of iron and steel goods: importers of sanctioned iron and steel products that have been processed in a third country will have to prove that the raw materials used do not come from Russia.
• Prohibition to sell, licence, transfer or refer intellectual property rights and trade secrets used in connection with restricted goods to prevent the sanctioned goods from simply being manufactured outside the EU.
• Extension of the ban on the export of luxury cars to all new and second-hand cars above a certain engine size (> 1.900 cm³), and all electric and hybrid vehicles.
• Full ban on certain types of machinery components.

Transport measures

• A full ban on trucks with Russian trailers and semi-trailers from transporting goods to the EU.
• Prohibition to access EU ports for vessels that engage in ship-to-ship transfers suspected to be in breach of the Russian oil import ban or G7 Coalition price cap or for vessels which manipulate or turn off their navigation tracking system when transporting banned Russian oil.
• Prohibition to access EU ports for vessels if a vessel does not notify the competent authority at least 48 hours in advance about a ship-to-ship transfer occurring within the Exclusive Economic Zone of a Member State or within 12 nautical miles from the baseline of that Member State’s coast.

Energy measures

• End of the possibility to import Russian oil by pipeline for Germany and Poland.
• Insertions of strict and very targeted derogations to the existing export bans to enable the maintenance of the CPC (Caspian Pipeline Consortium) pipeline which transports Kazakh oil to the EU through Russia.
• Extension of the exception to the oil price cap for Sakhalin oil for Japan (until 31 March 2024).

Additional listings

• Over 100 additional individuals and entities subject to asset freezes. This includes senior military officials, decision makers on the war, persons involved in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, judges who took politically motivated decisions against Ukrainian citizens, persons responsible for the looting of cultural heritage, businesspersons, propagandists, as well as Russian IT companies providing critical technology and software to the Russian intelligence, banks operating in the occupied territories and entities working with the Russian armed forces.

Broadcasting

• The suspension of broadcasting licences to five additional media outlets: RT Balkan, Oriental Review, Tsargrad, New Eastern Outlook, and Katehon. These outlets are under the permanent direct or indirect control of the leadership of the Russian Federation.

The relevant legal acts will soon be published in the Official Journal of the EU.

Find out more

Council of the EU press release

European Commission press release

Questions and answers on the 11th package of restrictive measures against Russia