Within the framework of the Technical Support Instrument established by the European Commission under Regulation 2021/40, the Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD) is supporting Austria, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Malta and Slovenia and indirectly other EU Member States (collectively, “beneficiary Member States” or “MS”), in the enhancement and effective implementation and enforcement of EU restrictive measures (“sanctions”). Other stakeholders may be involved in project implementation including national competent authorities for the implementation of sanctions, financial intelligence units, customs officials, law enforcement authorities, prosecutors, asset recovery offices, judiciary and other sanctions’ relevant authorities.

The Project began on 23 July 2026 and will last for 24 months.

Through tailored activities, the Project seeks to contribute to:

• Increased capacity of Member States’ competent authorities for the effective implementation of EU sanctions, and
• Increased capacity of Member States’ competent authorities for the effective enforcement of restrictive measures: increased capacity to detect, investigate, prosecute and adjudicate EU sanctions’ violations. 

Areas of specific focus include:

• Comprehensive scoping exercise to establish the current situation in beneficiary MS concerning the enforcement sanction violations and implementation status of enforcement provisions of Directive (EU) 2024/1226, 
• Capacity-building and technical support to enhance the detection and investigation of suspected sanctions’ circumvention. This will include the use of data to detect and investigate suspected sanctions’ circumvention activities, development of a “toolkit” to support the detection and investigation of suspected sanctions, and techniques used to detect the misuse of the maritime sector, 
• Effective designation of parties that facilitate sanctions’ circumvention and use of designation powers as an enforcement measure,
• Development of a compendium of national and regional sanction enforcement cases, about evidentiary standards, enforcement strategies, circumvention detection methods, investigative techniques and cooperation models to support the prosecution of violations, and use of powers in by Directive (EU) 2024/1226,
• Practical guidance on the enhancement of cooperation and coordination between national and regional stakeholders to support enforcement action in response to sanction violations, and
• Practical workshop and capacity-building training on enforcement tactical skills, techniques and tools, held regionally, along with a “train the trainer” capacity building event to enable MS beneficiaries to conduct training on the topics and outputs generated through the Project.

The total project budget is EUR€800.000. This Project is funded by the EU via the Technical Support Instrument and implemented by the Council of Europe ECCD, in cooperation with the European Commission. More information about projects jointly implemented by the European Commission and Council of Europe ECCD can be found here.