Council Regulation (EU) 2025/401 of 24 February 2025 amending Regulation (EU) No 692/2014 concerning restrictive measures in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol

1 It shall be prohibited: (a) to import into the European Union goods originating in Crimea or Sevastopol; (b) to provide, directly or indirectly, financing or financial assistance as well as insurance and reinsurance related to the import of the goods referred to in point (a).

2 The prohibition in paragraph 1 shall not apply in respect of goods originating in Crimea or Sevastopol which have been made available to the Ukrainian authorities for examination, for which compliance with the conditions conferring entitlement to preferential origin has been verified and for which a certificate of origin has been issued in accordance with the Association Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part.’

1 It shall be prohibited to sell, supply, transfer or export banknotes denominated in any official currency of a Member State to Crimea or Sevastopol or to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Crimea or Sevastopol, or for use in Crimea or Sevastopol.

2 The prohibition in paragraph 1 shall not apply to the sale, supply, transfer or export of banknotes denominated in any official currency of a Member State provided that such sale, supply, transfer or export is necessary for: (a) the personal use of natural persons travelling to Crimea or Sevastopol or members of their immediate families travelling with them; (b) the official purposes of international organisations enjoying immunities in accordance with international law located in Crimea or Sevastopol; or (c) civil society and media activities that directly promote democracy, human rights or the rule of law in Crimea or Sevastopol which receive public funding from the Union, Member States or countries listed in Annex V.’

1 It shall be prohibited to provide, directly or indirectly, accounting, auditing, including statutory audit, bookkeeping or tax consulting services, or business and management consulting or public relations services to legal persons, entities or bodies in Crimea or Sevastopol.

2 It shall be prohibited to provide, directly or indirectly, construction, architectural and engineering services, legal advisory services and IT consultancy services to legal persons, entities or bodies in Crimea or Sevastopol.

2a It shall be prohibited to provide, directly or indirectly, market research and public opinion polling services, technical testing and analysis services and advertising services to legal persons, entities or bodies in Crimea or Sevastopol.

2b It shall be prohibited to sell, supply, transfer, export, or provide, directly or indirectly, software for the management of enterprises and software for industrial design and manufacture as listed in Annex IV to legal persons, entities or bodies in Crimea or Sevastopol.

3 It shall be prohibited to: (a) provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance or brokering services directly relating to infrastructure in Crimea or Sevastopol in the sectors referred to in Article 2b(1a), independently of the origin of the goods and technology; (b) provide technical assistance, brokering services or other services related to the goods and services referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 2a and 2b for their provision, directly or indirectly, to legal persons, entities or bodies in Crimea or Sevastopol; (c) provide financing or financial assistance related to the goods and services referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 2a and 2b for their provision, or for the provision of related technical assistance, brokering services or other services, directly or indirectly, to legal persons, entities or bodies in Crimea or Sevastopol; (d) sell, license or transfer in any other way intellectual property rights or trade secrets as well as grant rights to access or re-use any material or information protected by means of intellectual property rights or constituting trade secrets related to the software referred to in paragraph 2b and to the provision, manufacture, maintenance and use of that software, directly or indirectly to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Crimea or Sevastopol or for use in Crimea or Sevastopol.

4 Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to the provision of services that are strictly necessary for the exercise of the right of defence in judicial proceedings and the right to an effective legal remedy.

5 Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to the provision of services which are strictly necessary to ensure access to judicial, administrative or arbitral proceedings in a Member State, as well as for the recognition or enforcement of a judgment or an arbitration award rendered in a Member State, provided that such provision of services is consistent with the objectives of this Regulation and Council Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 .

6 Paragraphs 2, 2a and 2b shall not apply to the sale, supply, transfer, export, or provision of services necessary for public health emergencies, the urgent prevention or mitigation of an event likely to have a serious and significant impact on human health and safety or the environment, or as a response to natural disasters.

7 By way of derogation from paragraph 2b, the competent authorities may authorise the provision of services referred to therein, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, after having determined that those services are necessary for the contribution of Ukrainian nationals to international open-source projects.

8 By way of derogation from paragraphs 1, 2, 2a, 2b and 3, the competent authorities may authorise the sale, supply, transfer, export, or provision of the services referred to therein, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, after having determined that this is necessary for: (a) humanitarian purposes, such as delivering or facilitating the delivery of assistance, including medical supplies, food, or the transfer of humanitarian workers and related assistance, or for evacuations; (b) civil society activities that directly promote democracy, human rights or the rule of law in Crimea or Sevastopol; (c) the functioning of international organisations enjoying immunities in accordance with international law located in Crimea or Sevastopol; (d) ensuring critical energy supply within the Union and the purchase, import or transport into the Union of titanium, aluminium, copper, nickel, palladium and iron ore; (e) ensuring the continuous operation of infrastructures, hardware and software which are critical for human health and safety, or the safety of the environment; (f) the establishment, operation, maintenance, fuel supply and retreatment and safety of civil nuclear capabilities, and the continuation of design, construction and commissioning required for the completion of civil nuclear facilities, the supply of precursor material for the production of medical radioisotopes and similar medical applications, or critical technology for environmental radiation monitoring, as well as for civil nuclear cooperation, in particular in the field of research and development; (g) the provision of electronic communication services by Union telecommunication operators necessary for the operation, maintenance and security, including cybersecurity, of electronic communication services, in Ukraine, in the Union, between Ukraine and the Union, and for data centre services in the Union.

9 The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation granted under paragraphs 7 and 8 within two weeks of the authorisation.

It shall be prohibited to participate, knowingly and intentionally, in activities the object or effect of which is to circumvent prohibitions in this Regulation, including by participating in such activities without deliberately seeking that object or effect but being aware that the participation may have that object or effect and accepting that possibility.’

Any person referred to in Article 10, point (c) or (d), shall be entitled to recover, in judicial proceedings before the competent courts of a Member State, any direct or indirect damages, including legal costs, incurred by that person or by a legal person, entity or body that the person referred to in Article 10, point (d) owns or controls, as a consequence of claims lodged with courts in third countries by persons, entities and bodies referred to in Article 6(1), points (a) to (f), in connection with any contract or transaction the performance of which has been affected, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, by the measures imposed under this Regulation, provided that the person concerned does not have effective access to the remedies under the relevant jurisdiction. Such damages may be recovered from the persons, entities or bodies referred to in Article 6(1), points (a) to (f), that lodged the claims with the courts in the third country, or from persons, entities or bodies that own or control those entities or bodies.

Where no court of a Member State has jurisdiction pursuant to other provisions of Union law or of the law of a Member State, a court of a Member State may, on an exceptional basis, hear a claim for damages brought pursuant to Article 6a, provided that the case has a sufficient connection with the Member State of the court seised.’

1 The Member States and the Commission shall inform each other of the measures taken under this Regulation and share any other relevant information at their disposal in connection with this Regulation, in particular information in respect of: (a) authorisations granted or denied under this Regulation; (b) violation and enforcement problems, penalties applied for infringements of the provisions of this Regulation and judgments handed down by national courts.

2 The Member States shall immediately inform each other and the Commission of any other relevant information at their disposal which might affect the effective implementation of this Regulation.

3 Any information provided or received in accordance with this Article shall be used for the purposes for which it was provided or received, including ensuring the effectiveness of the measures set out in this Regulation.

4 Any document held by the Council, the Commission or the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (the “High Representative”) for the purpose of ensuring the enforcement of the measures set out in this Regulation, or of preventing the violation or circumvention thereof, shall be subject to professional secrecy and shall enjoy the protection afforded by the rules applicable to the Union institutions. That protection shall also apply to the joint proposals from the High Representative and the Commission for the amendment of this Regulation and to any preparatory documents related to them. It shall be presumed that the disclosure of any documents or proposals referred to in the first subparagraph would harm the security of the Union or that of one or more of its Member States or the conduct of their international relations.’

1 The Commission shall process personal data to the extent necessary for the performance of its tasks as attributed by this Regulation related to its contribution to the correct implementation, enforcement and prevention of the circumvention of the measures imposed under this Regulation.

1a The Commission shall process personal data, including special categories of personal data and personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences as defined in Article 10(2) and Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council , for the purposes of the identification of the natural or legal persons, entities or bodies that are subject to the restrictive measures provided for in this Regulation, in order to assist the persons referred to in Article 10 of this Regulation in their compliance with this Regulation.

2 For the purposes of this Regulation, the Commission is designated as “controller” within the meaning of Article 3, point (8) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 in relation to the processing activities necessary to accomplish the tasks referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

3 The competent authorities of the Member States, including enforcement authorities, customs authorities within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council , competent authorities within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council , Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council , Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council , as well as Financial Intelligence Units as referred to in Directive (EU) 2015/849 and administrators of official registers wherein natural persons, legal persons, entities and bodies as well as immovable or movable property are registered, shall process and exchange without delay information, including personal data, with other competent authorities of their Member State, with competent authorities of other Member States and with the Commission, if such processing and exchange is necessary to carry out the tasks of the processing authority or the receiving authority under this Regulation, in particular when they detect instances of breach, circumvention or attempts at breach or circumvention of the prohibitions set out in this Regulation. This provision is without prejudice to rules regarding the confidentiality of information held by judicial authorities.

4 Any processing of personal data shall be carried out in accordance with this Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, and only in so far as necessary for the application of this Regulation and to ensure effective cooperation between Member States as well as with the Commission in the application of this Regulation.

Natural and legal persons, entities and bodies shall undertake their best efforts to ensure that any legal person, entity or body established outside the Union that they own or control does not participate in activities that undermine the restrictive measures provided for in this Regulation.’

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.