As part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, the Council also imposes sanctions, i.e. restrictive measures. In order to implement the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the Council of the European Union adopts decisions that establish obligations, prohibitions, and restrictions either for EU Member States or for natural and legal persons in the EU. If the decision contains prohibitions and restrictions that bind natural and legal persons in the EU, the Council of the EU adopts a regulation that has a similar effect to the national legislation of the Member States.
Thus, two pieces of Common Foreign and Security Policy legislation are adopted in EU sanctions regimes – a decision containing all the established measures and a regulation that regulates the obligations of natural and legal persons. Sanctions that Member States must implement – such as prohibition on entry and arms embargoes – are imposed in Estonia on the basis of the Obligation to Leave and Prohibition on Entry Act and the Weapons Act, respectively.
The most common type of sanction creating obligations for natural and legal persons is a financial sanction, the exact scope of which is regulated in EU Council regulations adopted in different sanction regimes. Restrictions on export, import, and provision of services are also common. As mentioned above, the obligations, prohibitions, and restrictions contained in the directly applicable regulations of the Council of the EU have a similar effect to national legislation.
The imposition of international sanctions in Estonia is regulated by the International Sanctions Act. Violation of sanctions is regulated in the Penal Code.
Researchers at the University of Tartu have developed a methodology for assessing the impact of EU sanctions against Russia. Read the analysis:
During the presidency of the Council of the European Union, Estonia laid the foundation for the EU Sanctions Map, which gathers information about all sanctions regimes established by the European Union or the United Nations. The sanctions website provides an overview of all sanctions regimes that apply in the EU jurisdiction. The sanctions website has been managed by the European Commission since January 2018.
Decisions of the Council of the European Union imposing international sanctions and directly applicable regulations of the Council of the European Union, on the basis of which certain restrictive measures are implemented, are published in the Official Journal of the European Union in all official languages of the European Union. If changes have been made to the legislation imposing sanctions, this can also be checked in the Official Journal of the European Union.
More information about international sanctions valid in the European Union can also be found on the website of the Council of the European Union.
