The European Commission welcomes the Council's adoption of the 15th sanctions package imposed on Russia on December 16.  The focus of this package is to keep cracking down on Russia's shadow fleet, as well as combating sanctions' circumvention. It also includes substantial individual and entity listings related to the Russian military-industrial complex and increases the legal protection of EU Central Securities Depositories (EU CSDs).  With this package, the EU has, for the first time, imposed ‘fully-fledged' sanctions (travel ban, asset freeze and prohibition to make economic resources available) on various Chinese actors.

The 15th package contains these key elements:

• Anti-circumvention measures -- as Russia continues to look for ways to evade the Oil Price Cap, the EU is determined to strengthen measures to help prevent such evasion. Today's package targets 52 new vessels from Russia's shadow fleet, increasing the total number of such listings to 79.
• Additional listings – the package includes 84 additional listings, including 54 individuals and 30 entities, responsible for actions undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine.   
• Trade -- this package also adds 32 new companies to the list of those supporting Russia's military and industrial complex in its war against Ukraine (20 Russian firms, seven under Chinese/Hong Kong jurisdiction, two from Serbia, and one each from Iran, India and United Arab Emirates Emirates).  
• Protecting the interests of EU operators – the measures include a prohibition to recognize or enforce in the EU some specific rulings issued by Russian courts that give exclusive mandatory competence to Russian courts in disputes between Russian and EU companies, regardless of the prior agreement of the parties.
• Financial sector measures -- in order to address the increasing litigation and retaliatory measures in Russia that result in the seizing of assets of EU Central Securities Depositories (CSDs), the package introduces two important amendments: 1) a loss recovery derogation; and 2)  a no liability clause for EU CSDs.  This clarifies that EU CSDs are not liable to pay interest or any other form of compensation to the Central Ban

EU sanctions remain at the core of the EU's response to Russia's unjustified military aggression against Ukraine, as they degrade Russia's military and technological capability, cut the country from the most developed global markets, deprive the Kremlin from the revenues it is financing the war with, and impose ever higher costs on Russia's economy. In this respect, sanctions contribute to fulfilling the EU's key objective, which is to continue to work for a just and lasting peace, not another frozen conflict.  Their effects grow over time as the sanctions erode Russia's industrial and tech base.  As guardian of the EU Treaties, the European Commission monitors the enforcement of EU sanctions by EU Member States.