On 20-21 May 2025, the Council of Europe’s Economic Crime and Cooperation Division organised a workshop entitled, “Effective implementation of the sanctions regime and enhanced cross-border cooperation in EU Member States” for national competent authorities (NCAs), responsible for the oversight of sanction restriction implementation under EU Regulations, following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine (Sanctions). The workshop was held in Prague, Czechia, and was followed on 22 May 2025, by two dedicated training sessions for business operators and NCAs, which focused on tactics and measures to identify sanction targets as owners or controllers of companies, trusts and other legal arrangements.
The event was organised within the framework of the joint Project “Effective Implementation of the Sanctions Regime and Enhanced Cross-border Cooperation in EU Member States” (Project), between the Council of Europe and the European Union (EU) under the Technical Support Instrument and was held in hybrid format. It was well received and attended in total by over 625 participants, across all three days, taking part both in person and online.
The workshop focused upon how NCAs in EU Member States engaged with business operators in the private sector, to help them in identifying and verifying sanction targets, and their ownership or control of legal entities and arrangements. Several presentations delivered by NCA representatives described the activities they undertake to guide and support business operators in the implementation of these important requirements, to ensure that the Sanctions’ restrictions are effectively employed.
In addition, a presentation considered comparable practices of other jurisdictions was made and the measures they used to communicate and clarify ownership and control aspects of the Sanctions’ requirements. Both the challenges and best practices were discussed by NCAs and opportunities for further improvement considered. This included a dedicated presentation from the newly established EU Sanctions Helpdesk, whose mandate is focused upon supporting small and medium sized enterprises in fulfilling due diligence and ownership and control verification of their clients and counterparties. The workshop included also a presentation focused on recent cases concerning recent tactics employed by illicit actors to evade sanction restrictions, including those employing tactics to conceal ownership and control through the use of foreign entities and registries and regulatory loopholes and exceptions related to the creation of legal entities and arrangements.
The next event within the Project will be held in Malta from 24-26 June 2025. This event will comprise a workshop on procedures, good practices and challenges related to NCA operational capabilities to support the effective implementation of Sanctions’ restrictions, and dedicated training sessions for NCAs and business operators on trade-based sanction evasion tactics.
The event was organised within the framework of the Technical Support Instrument initiative “Effective implementation of the sanctions regime and enhanced cross-border cooperation in EU Member States”, co-funded by the European Commission’s Secretariat-General, Structural Reform and Investment Task Force and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.