The Dutch Supreme Court on April 24 said it will refer two preliminary questions to the European Court of Justice concerning the effect of EU Russia sanctions on sanctioned parties' shareholder voting rights, according to an unofficial translation.

The Parliamentary Assembly for the Council of Europe (PACE) unanimously adopted a resolution last week recommending that $300 billion in frozen Russian state assets be used to support Ukraine’s reconstruction.

The European Parliament on April 23 issued the final approval to new regulations banning the "sale, import, and export of goods made" with forced labor (see 2403050035), the Parliament announced. The European Commission, along with member state authorities, will be able investigate "suspicious goods, supply chains, and manufactures" to find if forced labor exists in a good's supply chain.

The European Commission added to its sanctions FAQs for the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts on April 18.

The Council of the EU on April 22 adopted a decision on concluding the Strategic Partnership Agreement with Japan, the council announced. The decision "clears the path, on the EU side, for the entry into force of the agreement" once both parties complete their internal procedures. The deal is the first bilateral framework agreement between the two entities, and it lays out a "framework for enhanced political and sectoral cooperation." The deal commits the parties to "defend a rules-based multilateral trading system having the World Trade Organization at its core" and implement sustainable development goals. The deal also establishes a dispute settlement procedure.

The EU General Court last week rejected a challenge from Belgium and Czech Republic-based company Cogebi to EU import restrictions on Russian-made mica products. The court said that the European Council had laid out sufficient reasons for barring the import of mica products in that the council appropriately found the sale of mica products to "generate significant revenues for the Russian Federation."

The Council of the EU on April 19 added four Israeli individuals and two entities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to the EU Global Human Rights sanctions regime for their role in "serious human rights abuses against Palestinians." The entities are Lehava, a "radical right-wing Jewish supremacist group," and Hilltop Youth, a "radical youth group" with members known for conducting violent acts against "Palestinians and their villages in the West Bank," the council said. The sanctioned individuals are two Hilltop Youth leaders and two other individuals who have committed violent acts against Palestinians.

The U.K. government called on businesses to fill out a survey to give the government a better sense of the private sector's and nongovernmental organizations' perception of U.K. sanctions and the "level of confidence" in businesses' understanding of the sanctions. The survey, put together by Deloitte, takes "30-45 minutes to complete" and is a "mix of multiple choice and free text questions." The U.K. government said it will use the data to "formulate recommendations" on how it can better support industry.

EU Advocate General Laila Medina last week said that the "authentication by a notary of a contract of sale of immovable property owned by a legal person established in Russia" isn't covered by the EU's sanctions provisions on Russia, "as long as the engagement in transactions is allowed for that person under that regulation and the authentication is not supplemented by legal advice."

A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with a recent EU sanctions move under its restrictions regime to combat human rights abuses. Earlier this month, the Council of the EU introduced a humanitarian exemption to its sanctions regime. The countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also imposed the decision, the council announced.