The EU 11th and 12th Packages of Sanctions Against Russia: How Far is the EU Willing to Go Extraterritorially?

The adoption, on 21 June 2023, of the eleventh package of sanctions in response to Russia’s on-going military aggression against Ukraine marks an important milestone in the EU sanctions’ practice. These measures, further strengthened by the adoption of the twelfth package of sanctions on 18 December 2023, aim to effectively prevent and combat the circumvention of existing trade sanctions, potentially extending the extraterritorial reach of European sanctions. This article aims to analyse the extent to which this application of extraterritoriality, targeting entities beyond the EU’s jurisdiction, may raise concerns regarding the EU’s compliance with established rules and limitations under international law regarding prescriptive jurisdiction. Firstly, the article provides an overview of the background and content of these new measures, as well as their relationship with the EU’s sanctions regime imposed on Russia since February 2022. Subsequently, it examines the issue of the extraterritorial application of the new ‘anti-circumvention rules’ and the extent to which the EU has gradually embraced a broader (or ‘hard’) understanding of extraterritoriality within the domain of sanctions. It is noteworthy to consider the surprising nature of this development, as the EU has consistently expressed opposition to similar measures when implemented by the US.