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Towards more effective sanctions against Russia – opportunities and limitations of sanctions legislation

Defensor Legis 4,5/2023 s. 662–675
29.1.2024
Asiantuntija-artikkeli

In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Among the European Union’s responses to Russia’s unlawful aggression was an unprecedented package of sanctions. The G7 and a number of like-minded countries imposed similar sanctions, which made them more effective. However, it is the EU’s Russia sanctions policy that has played an especially important role, as Russia has been a major trading partner for the EU, particularly in the field of energy.

This article focuses on the development, effectiveness and limitations of sanctions from a legal perspective. The article starts by evaluating the current doctrine of targeted sanctions from the perspective of the rule of law and exploring the limits of the EU’s increasingly casuistic sanctions policy. The writer then analyses ways in which the EU can strive to increase the impact of its unilateral sanctions on a large country with vast resources. The third part of the article focuses on the sanctions against listed individuals and entities by examining the interpretation of the relevant legislation in the light of recent case law. The writer concludes that the way in which the sanctions legislation is interpreted greatly affects the scale of their impact on Russia. To be effective, sanctions should target every element of, for example, the business empires of listed oligarchs. Finally, the writer weighs up the objectives of sanctions in today’s world that recognises the high risks of interdependence. The article also touches on how likely the current sanctions are to lead to new operating models and structures that will become permanent fixtures even after the sanctions are lifted.

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