White Paper on improving sanctions presented in Brussels
Representatives of three public organizations presented the White Paper "The Future of European Leadership in Economic Deterrence of Aggression" in Brussels this week, which calls on the European Union to increase economic pressure on the Russian Federation and become the driving force behind the sanctions coalition, the press service of Razom We Stand, one of the document's developers, reported.
As reported in a Razom We Stand press release on Thursday, the White Paper was approved by the Expert Group on Sanctions Policy under the Cabinet of Ministers. It was prepared by the National Sanctions Coalition with the participation of Razom We Stand. The document was presented by representatives of three public organizations - the Economic Security Council, Razom We Stand, and the Institute of Legislative Ideas.
The authors analyzed the achievements and vulnerabilities of the EU's sanctions policy and proposed practical tools to strengthen the bloc's economic security - both in response to Russian aggression and to counter future threats.
"We call on the EU to use all available tools and measures to reduce the Kremlin's income from energy exports. Among the measures that the EU has not yet fully implemented are sanctions against the captains of shadow fleet vessels and the companies that provide them with crews," Razom We Stand strategic advisor Oleh Savytsky said, according to the press release.
"We recommend creating an official blacklist of vessels involved in evading sanctions. EU member states using such a blacklist will be able to better control the safety of shipping in their territorial waters. We also call for strengthening cooperation with insurance companies and intelligence agencies for global control over evading sanctions on energy exports," he added.
During the discussion of the document at the panel discussion, Tomasz Šindelar, Deputy Head of the Sanctions Unit of the European External Action Service (EEAS), expressed support for the comprehensive approaches outlined in the White Paper. Using the example of countering the Russian shadow fleet, he explained how the EU's sanctions instruments have already evolved:
"Initially, we focused exclusively on ships, but the latest analysis has shown that there is a whole ecosystem of operators around the shadow fleet - insurance companies, fleet managers, service providers. And if these entities are also seriously affected by the sanctions, this allows us to disrupt the entire mechanism, while maintaining pressure on the fleet itself. The 17th package of sanctions was the first where we applied such a comprehensive approach. We more than doubled the number of ships under sanctions and for the first time included in the restrictions not only the ships themselves, but also related operators - not only in Russia, but also in third countries."
The White Paper's horizontal recommendations include the creation of a single EU sanctions body, the introduction of an analogue of the US entity list, strengthening controls over the export of high-risk goods, the introduction of extraterritorial (secondary) sanctions for facilitating the circumvention of restrictions, as well as maintaining sanctions against the Russian defense sector, energy exports and nuclear technologies even after the end of hostilities. Razom We Stand is a Ukrainian organization working internationally, calling for a complete and permanent embargo on Russian fossil fuels and an immediate end to all investments in Russian oil and gas companies through a revolutionary rejection of fossil fuels worldwide.