Problematic aspects of the realization of economic sanctions in the European Union

The article addresses the realization of economic sanctions, which have become one of the key instruments for ensuring compliance with international law, given the inability of the United Nations Security Council—paralyzed by Russia’s veto power—to fulfill its primary role of maintaining international peace and security. Particular attention is given to the realization of economic sanctions in the European Union (EU), which, alongside the United States, currently serves as a leading proponent of these coercive measures. The focus on the EU is explained by Ukraine’s aspirations for EU membership, which necessitates the systematic alignment of national legislation with EU law, as well as by the critical need to ensure the effective implementation of economic sanctions, which today represent one of the few viable tools for influencing violators of international law. In this context, the article aims to analyze the practice of economic sanctions realization in the EU and to identify the problematic aspects that affect the effectiveness of these coercive measures. To achieve this goal, the process of sanctions realization in the EU is divided into three stages: the initiation and imposition of sanctions, their implementation, and the monitoring and evaluation phase. It is established that the initiation and imposition stage faces significant challenges, including the need to reach consensus among EU member states on sanction decisions, which can be complicated by the divergent political interests of individual European countries, the timely adoption of the necessary legal acts by the Council of the EU, and the legality of these measures. In contrast, the implementation stage is characterized by the lack of a unified approach to transposing economic sanctions into the national legal frameworks of EU member states, which hinders the effective enforcement of sanction regimes. The monitoring and evaluation stage reveals issues such as the lack of sufficient resources in EU member states to fulfill their reporting obligations to the European Commission regarding the implementation of EU sanctions legislation, the complexity and ambiguity of EU acts in the area of restrictive measures, the unclear definition of the objectives of economic sanctions, and the absence of a unified system for evaluating the effectiveness of sanction measures. The author emphasizes that these factors negatively impact the achievement of the goals at this stage, which in turn undermines the overall effectiveness of EU restrictive measures. The article stresses that the identified shortcomings in the EU’s sanction implementation practices could serve as a foundation for improving domestic sanctions legislation and enhancing its effectiveness. In particular, it is recommended to develop mechanisms for the monitoring and evaluation of sanctions effectiveness, introduce liability for violations of sanction laws, and authorize a designated state body to provide clarifications on compliance with sanction regulations.