Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP was adopted on 31 July 2014 by the Council of the European Union in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea and its role in destabilising eastern Ukraine. It is the foundational CFSP instrument for the EU's so-called "Tier 3" sectoral sanctions against Russia, distinct from the earlier asset-freeze and travel-ban measures targeting individuals (Decision 2014/145) and the Crimea-specific restrictions (Decision 2014/386).
The Decision restricts several sectors of the Russian economy. Its core measures include:
- Capital markets restrictions limiting access of listed Russian state-owned banks, and later certain energy and defence companies, to EU primary and secondary capital markets beyond specified maturities.
- Arms embargo prohibiting the import and export of arms and related materiel to and from Russia.
- Dual-use goods restrictions where items are or may be intended for military end-users or military end-use.
- Oil sector technology controls, requiring prior authorisation for the export of certain technologies suited to deep-water, Arctic offshore, or shale oil exploration and production.
The operational measures are implemented in EU law through Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014, which has direct effect in member states and is enforced by national competent authorities. Both instruments have been amended repeatedly, most extensively after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when successive sanctions packages dramatically expanded the scope to cover additional banks, SWIFT disconnection for designated entities, oil price caps coordinated with the G7, coal and seaborne crude import bans, and restrictions on a wide range of goods and services.
The Court of Justice of the EU upheld the legality of the Decision and Regulation in Rosneft (Case C-72/15, judgment of 28 March 2017), confirming that the Council had competence to adopt restrictive measures in response to the Ukraine crisis and that the contested provisions were proportionate.
Example
In June 2022, the EU adopted its sixth sanctions package amending Decision 2014/512 to phase in a ban on seaborne imports of Russian crude oil and petroleum products.
Frequently asked questions
The Decision is the CFSP political act setting out the measures; the Regulation translates them into binding EU law with direct effect in member states. They are typically amended in parallel.
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