European Parliament wants tougher enforcement of EU sanctions against Russia 

Members of the European Parliament call on more EU-level oversight and better efforts to limit Moscow’s ability to bypass the EU’s restrictive measures, according to a recent statement released by the press service of the European Parliament.

“In a resolution adopted on Thursday, Parliament voices its alarm over existing loopholes in the EU’s sanctions regime against Russia. While highlighting the unprecedented nature of the EU’s restrictive measures, MEPs are concerned about the lack of proper enforcement and attempts to undermine the effort to strategically weaken the Russian economic and industrial base, and hinder the country’s ability to wage war,” reads the statement.

The resolution also points to Russia’s ability to circumvent measures, such as the price cap on oil sanctions introduced by EU member states and the so-called Price Cap Coalition. It also notes that EU imports of petroleum products made with Russian oil from countries such as India have soared, essentially creating a backdoor route for the Kremlin’s oil into the EU.

The text also underlines that the European Union still remains one of Russia’s largest fossil fuel clients, due to continued imports of pipeline gas and LNG, as well as various exceptions to the ban on importing crude oil and oil products.

“The EU market must be closed for Russian fossil fuels,” the MEPs stressed.

At the same time, MEPs call on the EU and its member states to reinforce and centralise EU-level oversight of sanctions implementation and to develop a mechanism for circumvention prevention and monitoring. They also call on the EU to strengthen coordination on the enforcement of existing sanctions on Russian oil exports, to properly close the EU market for Russian-origin fossil fuels, and to impose sanctions on all the major Russian oil companies, Gazprombank, their subsidiaries and their boards and management.

The European Parliament members want the European Commission and EU member states to expand sanctions to include a full ban on the marketing and cutting of diamonds of Russian origin or re-exported by Russia to the EU. The EU should also, they say, explore legal avenues allowing for the confiscation of frozen Russian assets and for their use for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

As a reminder, the media reported that Bulgaria helped Russia make around EUR 1 billion using an oil loophole.

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