On December 2, the European Commission has put forward a Directive proposal aimed at harmonizing criminal offences and penalties for the violation of EU restrictive measures.

 Such proposal seeks to establish the same level of penalties in all Member States and thus increase the deterrent effect of violating EU sanctions. Indeed, pursuant to the proposal, a natural person could be liable to a maximum penalty of at least five years in prison, while companies could be liable to penalties of no less than 5% of their total worldwide turnover.

 The proposal will now be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council.