On Tuesday, March 12, during a plenary session held in Strasbourg, the European Parliament decided that violation of the EU's restrictive measures will become a criminal offense in all member states. The profits gained from circumventing sanctions against Russia will be confiscated in favor of Ukraine.
According to DW, this is stated in a resolution made on behalf of the European Commission, the EU Council and the European Parliament.
"To ensure the effective implementation of restrictive measures, the integrity of the internal market and the achievement of a high level of security in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to establish common minimum rules for the definition of criminal offenses and penalties for violations of these EU restrictive measures", - stated in the resolution.
The European Parliament therefore proposed that member states should introduce into their national laws "effective, proportionate and credible penalties for natural or legal persons violating EU restrictive measures."
EU governments "must guarantee" that circumventing sanctions will be considered a criminal offense in their countries.
The resolution mentions a common practice that is often used to circumvent EU sanctions, when "funds, property or economic resources are transferred to third parties". These actions, as noted, undermine the effectiveness of restrictive measures and "fall under the category of crimes related to the circumvention of sanctions".
The profits gained as a result of violating the restrictive measures should be subject to confiscation, the resolution says. "If these confiscated assets are related to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine (...), then they or the profits from their liquidation should be used as a contribution to the reconstruction of Ukraine," the document says.
The punishment for circumventing sanctions "must be effective, deterrent and proportionate." This includes imprisonment for individuals and fines for companies and enterprises that are "proportionate to the financial benefit derived from the offense."
The resolution obliges each EU member state to establish a special body to coordinate and cooperate between national law enforcement agencies and EU institutions responsible for the implementation of sanctions.
Earlier "Apostrophe" wrote that Russia has found new loopholes to circumvent sanctions.