European Union: Export Controls & Trade & Investment Sanctions

The German authorities have published the third instalment of their 6-monthly updates on their current enforcement actions.

The European Union has adopted its 20th package of sanctions against Russia, alongside parallel measures targeting Belarus, marking a significant escalation in economic pressure.

Cyprus is investigating whether subsidiaries of the Essar Group may have breached or circumvented EU sanctions through transactions with Russia's VTB Bank. The probe centers on allegations that debt obligations were strategically moved from Cyprus to Mauritius in 2022, potentially to avoid sanctions restrictions.

Further to our earlier post, following raids in November 2025, the German authorities have issued a press release reporting on the charging of a 57-year old from Dessau-Rosslau...

The European Union's approach to foreign direct investment (FDI) screening is undergoing a marked shift with potentially significant ramifications. What began as a coordination-focused FDI screening...

On Friday the French authorities, with British Royal Navy support, boarded and seized the tanker the MV Deyna which was sailing from Murmansk to Port Said. It was off the coast of Algeria in the western Mediterranean at the time of the boarding.

On Saturday night a combined operation of the Belgian and French military (see here and here) saw the seizure of the sanctioned "shadow fleet" tanker the Ethera in the North Sea.

Further to our post from last week regarding the prosecution of a Russian national in Belgium, for Russian sanctions breaches...

Poland's Internal Security Agency has issued a press release announcing that six individuals have been charged on suspicion of exporting machinery for the manufacture of drones to Russia, via Belarus, in breach of the EU's sanctions.