EU Introduces Humanitarian Exemptions for 10 Sanctions Regimes

The EU this week put in place humanitarian exemptions for 10 of its sanctions regimes to authorize certain transactions related to aid and “basic human needs,” the European Council said. The exemptions, which implement the U.N. Security Council’s humanitarian carve-out that the body approved last year (see 2212120054), cover EU’s sanctions regime for cyberattacks as well as its regimes for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Guinea, Lebanon, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Tunisia, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

The European Council said the new exemption will improve “consistency and coherence across EU restrictive measures regimes and with those adopted at UN level” or other countries. “This decision sends a strong signal to both humanitarian and economic operators, as well as those in need of humanitarian aid: EU sanctions do not stand in the way of delivering humanitarian assistance.” The council said it will regularly review the carve-outs “to evaluate their adequacy and if needed adapt them in the future.”