On September 25 the European Union (EU) further strengthened its economic sanctions regime targeting the Syrian Government by making additional substantive changes to the EU measures. The new measures, as set out in Council Regulation 867/2012, include:
(i) a requirement that all aircraft and vessels transporting cargo to Syria shall be subject to additional pre-arrival or pre-departure information for all goods brought in or out of an EU Member State;
(ii) a derogation from the freezing of funds and economic resources for payments through listed financial institutions in connection with financial support to Syrian nationals pursuing an education, professional training or academic research in the EU;
(iii) extending the EU prohibition on participating in the construction or installation in Syria of new power plants for electricity production to the provision, directly or indirectly, of financing assistance (including derivatives), insurance and reinsurance; and
(iv) amending the derogations from the freezing of funds and economic resources applying to the Central Bank of Syria.
We have reported earlier on the EU’s widening sanctions against Syria, including the ban on certain luxury products and the designation of additional Syrian individuals and entities.