European Commission creates sanctions office and crypto working group
On November 5, the European Commission announced the creation of a Sanctions Office to coordinate the EU’s work across the full lifecycle of economic sanctions. It also established a working group focused on preventing the use of cryptocurrencies to circumvent restrictions.
Key points
- The European Commission announced the Sanctions Office on November 5.
- The office will coordinate sanctions policy, communications, implementation and efforts to prevent circumvention.
- A new working group will develop measures to prevent cryptocurrencies from being used to evade sanctions.
- The EU has been working on its 22nd sanctions package against Russia.
- The Council of the EU extended restrictive measures concerning people responsible for undermining or threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence for 36 months.
- The restrictions concerning the named individuals will remain in force until September 22, 2029.
- Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov were removed from the EU list of individuals subject to restrictive measures on September 22.
Why it matters
The new structures are intended to make EU sanctions more coherent and harder to evade by concentrating policy development, implementation, communications and circumvention prevention within the Commission. The crypto working group specifically targets the use of digital assets to bypass restrictions, while broader enforcement efforts support the EU’s continued pressure on Russia.
What happened
The European Commission announced the creation of a Sanctions Office on November 5. It will bring together Commission work on all stages of the sanctions lifecycle, from policy development and communications to practical implementation and combating circumvention. The Commission also established a working group on sanctions in the cryptocurrency sector, whose task is to develop measures that would make it harder to use crypto assets to evade sanctions. These steps form part of the EU’s broader effort to strengthen compliance while it works on its 22nd sanctions package against Russia. Separately, the Council of the EU extended restrictive measures concerning people responsible for undermining or threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence for 36 months, through September 22, 2029.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian reporting emphasizes the creation of an institutional Commission mechanism for developing, implementing and communicating sanctions. It also highlights the new office’s focus on combating sanctions circumvention, particularly through cryptocurrencies, and the extension of EU restrictions concerning people responsible for threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.
Background
The EU said it intended to strengthen enforcement of sanctions to sustain pressure on Russia. A high-level meeting also brought together EU sanctions coordinators with representatives of the Group of Seven countries and other international partners. On September 22, the Council extended restrictive measures concerning individuals linked to undermining or threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence for 36 months, through September 22, 2029. Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov were removed from the relevant EU list on the same date.