Over the past decades, the European Union (EU) has become one of the most active sanctioning actors. EU sanctions (restrictive measures) have expanded significantly in scope, frequency and ambition. At this moment, there are over 40 different EU sanctioning regimes in force. Some of them implement UN Security Council resolutions or expand them with stricter and additional measures. The EU also has a long history of imposing autonomous sanctions, a trend that has been reinforced following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This increasing reliance on sanctions has been accompanied by important legal and institutional developments. Judicial scrutiny by the Court of Justice of the European Union, evolving roles for the EU’s institutions and new anti-circumvention measures have all reshaped the EU sanctions practice. Continued tensions exist between the adoption of sanctions as part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and other areas of EU law. Tackling sanctions circumvention and ensuring the uniform and effective implementation of restrictive measures, in full respect of fundamental rights and freedoms, remains high on the agenda.
The conference aims to take stock of the EU’s evolving sanctioning practice and to address some of the most pressing conceptual, normative, and practical legal questions concerning it.
Read the full call.
