Several EU countries wish to soften upcoming anti-Russian sanctions package – Bloomberg
According to the agency, the European Union fears that imposing additional strict bans on re-exports to Russia on firms from third countries may scare off foreign business partners, which will lead to the loss of competitive advantages by European firms
NEW YORK, November 25. /TASS/. Several EU states would like to narrow down the list of categories of goods that will be restricted for export via third countries by the 12th EU anti-Russian sanctions package, proposed by the European Commission earlier, Bloomberg report says.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, several diplomatic representatives of various EU countries expressed their concerns about the legality and practical feasibility of such EC’s proposals. Governments of these diplomat’s countries would like to "narrow the scope of the potential clauses and the list of goods that would be covered by the proposed measure," as well as the harshness of monitoring of third countries’ compliance with the planned restrictions. The EU is concerned that the imposition of additional harsh restrictions on re-export to Russia can scare away foreign business partners, which would put European companies at a competitive disadvantage.
The 12th package of anti-Russian sanctions, prepared by the European Commission, was forwarded to EU countries for approval last week. Brussels plans to enact the package before the end of this year.