EU sanctions: Commission to discuss sanctions application with Member States representatives, businesses, operators, and international partners in two high-level meetings held in Brussels

Tomorrow, Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness, will chair the second meeting of the High-Level Group on Union Restrictive Measures.

Almost one year since Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU and its allies are implementing unprecedented sanctions against Russia and Belarus. Commissioner McGuinness, responsible also for EU sanctions implementation, will gather high-level representatives from Member States, and senior industry representatives involved in sanctions implementation. These sectors range from banking, insurance and legal services, to manufacturing, trade, transportation and logistics. The continuous dialogue with businesses and operators, that apply and are affected by these sanctions, is key to achieving their effective implementation. The first high-level meeting on sanctions implementation took place on 24 October 2022.

In particular, the objectives of the second meeting of the High-Level Group on Union Restrictive Measures and of the International Sanctions Coordinators Forum are: to review one year of implementation of sanctions on Russia; to take stock of progress made on the deliverables set at the first high-level meeting; to strengthen industry outreach and encourage further exchanges between the public and private sectors, especially with a cross-border dimension inside and outside the EU; and to present the EU Sanctions Envoy’s work and future agenda of the circumvention workstream.

Also tomorrow, the EU Sanctions Envoy, David O’Sullivan, will convene the first Sanctions Coordinators Forum. The Forum will bring together a broad coalition of international allies and like-minded partners including the US, the UK, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, as well as Ukraine. Member State’s national sanctions coordinators will also attend. The Forum is an important milestone in our international effort to work together, and beyond our borders, to ensure full implementation of the unprecedented measures adopted over the last year and tackle their possible circumvention through third countries.