27 March 2025 | By Marten Männis
Sanctions
European Commission Launching Sanctions Helpdesk for SMEs
The European Commission has recently launched a new platform, primarily for European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to properly be informed and comply with the various EU sanction regimes.
The EU Sanctions Helpdesk aims to support companies by offering various resources and personalised help to performing relevant due diligence checks.
The target audience for this serve are European SMEs, as defined by EU recommendation 2003/361, which includes companies with fewer than 250 employees, up to €50 million annual turnover and a total balance sheet assets of up to €43 million. The Helpdesk aims to acknowledge all requests within 2 working days, with the goal response time for most standard requests being 5 working days. For more complicated queries, the goal is to provide a suitable response within 10 working days.
To use the platform, an account needs to be created. The Helpdesk covers all restrictive measures applicable across EU, both against the bloc as a whole and those targeting individual member states. Any risks arising from third countries’ sanctions programmes is not covered. Companies can request due diligence support on potential business transactions, for clarifications on EU sanctions regulations, and support on the design and development of internal company sanctions-related compliance programmes.
Currently, the Helpdesk also has a specific section for Russia-related sanctions, pursuant to their invasion of Ukraine.
Any advice provided by the Helpdesk is not considered as official guidance of the EU and the Commission does not take any responsibility or accept liability for activities undertaken by the Helpdesk.
Given that, over the past decade, sanctions have become increasingly widespread and complex, permeating nearly all industries, a tool enabling SMEs to retain clarity and cut costs is welcome. This, coupled with already existing tools, such as the EU Sanctions Map and the EU Sanctions Tracker dashboard, should enable companies to make adequate decisions to avoid any potential conflicts.
Over the past decade, the global sanctions landscape has undergone a significant transformation, becoming increasingly intricate and expansive. Within the European Union, sanctions have developed into a pivotal soft power tool in foreign policy and international diplomacy. Historically employed as targeted measures aimed at specific entities or individuals, sanctions are now frequently broader in scope, often affecting entire industries and economic sectors.
This complexity has escalated notably following geopolitical developments such as the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the more recent full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, prompting the EU to implement successive waves of sanctions against Russia. These measures have included trade embargoes, financial restrictions, asset freezes, and travel bans, profoundly impacting businesses operating within and beyond the EU.
Non-compliance with these sanction measures carries substantial consequences, including severe financial penalties and significant reputational damage, as evidenced by several high-profile enforcement actions undertaken by national regulatory authorities within member states.
The energy sector in Europe has possibly seen the largest impact from the Russia-Ukraine war, with the cutoff of Russian markets. However, with the war having already lasted over 3 years, discussions in Europe over re-entering Russia’s markets have started to brew. This also means that the pre-war processes, in which Russian oil producers sold to European traders on a free-on-board basis, would become outdated, with the producers seeking to use their newly established trading networks, in order to keep a greater portion of the profits. Current European traders predict that the re-establishment of oil trade with Russia, even if the United States fully caters to them, will result in a heavily fragmented approach from Europe, with member states potentially making individual decisions whether to resume or not, which will predictably lead to long-lasting political consequences within the Union. Russia’s eagerness to re-enter the global market is evident from its persistent insistence on including sanctions relief in any ceasefire-related agreements.
