EU Council Decision extends 'Crimean' sanctions

The EU Council Decision of June 17, 2016 that extends by one year the sanctions introduced by the EU in 2014 in response to the reunification of Crimea and Russia was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, the bulletin of EU legal acts and notices, on June 18.

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"The Council does not recognise and continues to condemn the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and will remain committed to fully implement its non-recognition policy. On the basis of a review of Decision 2014/386/CFSP, the restrictive measures should be renewed until 23 June 2017," the publication said.

These measures apply to EU persons and EU-based companies. They are limited to the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol.

The renewed sanctions include prohibitions on:

• imports of products originating in Crimea or Sevastopol into the EU;
• investment in Crimea or Sevastopol, meaning that no Europeans nor EU-based companies can buy real estate or entities in Crimea, finance Crimean companies or supply related services; 
• in Crimea or Sevastopol, meaning that no Europeans nor EU-based companies can buy real estate or entities in Crimea, finance Crimean companies or supply related services;
• tourism services in Crimea or Sevastopol, in particular, European cruise ships cannot call at ports in the Crimean peninsula, except in case of emergency;     
• exports of certain goods and technologies to Crimean companies or for use in Crimea in the transport, telecommunications and energy sectors and related to the prospection, exploration and production of oil, gas and mineral resources. Technical assistance, brokering, construction or engineering services related to infrastructure in these sectors must not be provided either.

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