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2023-05-11 08:33:45

The EU states want to act more decisively against circumventing their sanctions against Russia. According to the will of the German federal government, companies should be made more responsible for this. As the German news agency DPA learned from EU circles, the German ambassador to the EU made a corresponding proposal during negotiations in Brussels on Wednesday.

According to this, companies from non-EU countries could in future have to contractually undertake when purchasing certain goods in the EU not to export them later to Russia. In addition, the importers should also assure in writing that they will only resell these goods to other companies if they also sign a “Not for Russia” clause. According to information from EU circles, such a rule could apply above all to the export of goods that can be used not only for civilian but also for military purposes. These include, for example, night vision devices and drones.

The background to the German proposal is the current negotiations on an eleventh package of sanctions against Russia. Above all, it is intended to combat circumvention of the penal measures that have already been issued. Among other things, the EU Commission has proposed creating the legal possibility of restricting selected exports to certain third countries due to suspected circumvention of sanctions. Many products from the EU countries themselves have not been allowed to be delivered to Russia for months.

According to diplomats, however, the Commission’s proposal is not viewed unreservedly positively by all EU countries. The danger is that some member states may not have the courage or the will to put countries like China on such a list because of possible retaliatory measures. In this case, the instrument would only help if its mere existence had a deterrent effect. This is because the approval of all 27 EU states would be required for the listing of each country and each product.

In addition to China, countries that are used to circumvent sanctions against Russia include Kazakhstan, Armenia and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey was recently certified by EU experts to react comparatively decisively to indications of sanctions being circumvented.