Some 20 years ago I attended a “contentious” meeting at the European Commission with a client. After the prelims the Commission officials asked the client (in front of me) whether it would not be better to invite the lawyer to leave the room. If this was unacceptable then, today it would be unthinkable. Over the ensuing 20 years the Commission’s procedures have been strengthened, the rights of defence have been codified in the EU Charter of Fundamental rights; and the Court of Justice of the EU has made judicially clear the absolute obligations of EU institutions and Member States to respects rights of defence when EU law is in issue.

The General Court is considering to adopt a series of sensible modifications in its Rules of Procedure.

One of the most striking proposals is the introduction of a more stringent rules and protections in relation to access to confidential information held by EU Institutions in the context of acts adopted under Article 215 TFEU.   

This will be of particular concern in cases concerning eg application of EU Sanctions. We attach below a link to the latest draft which has being submitted to the EU Council.

Click here to view

The EU adopted further sanctions against Russia on Friday.  Leaving to one side the political aspects, from a purely commercial level, for companies subject only to EU jurisdiction (as compared to those subject to EU and US measures) the current EU sanctions are unlikely to have any direct commercial impact.

The EU has responded directly to the worsening situation in Ukraine by agreeing "as a matter of urgency to introduce targeted sanctions including asset freeze and visa ban against those responsible for human rights violations, violence and use of excessive force. Member States agreed to suspend export licences on equipment which might be used for internal repression and reassess export licences for equipment covered by Common Position 2008/944/CFSP".

At the ERA Annual Trade Law Conference in Brussels on 1 October 2013, Laura Beretta will give a presentation on The New EU Regulation on Generalised System of Preferences.

Link to conference information here.

The American Bar Association’s Section of International Law has published a “Handbook of Export Controls & Economic Sanctions”.  The editors are Paul Lalonde (Heenan Blaikie) and Kay Georgi (Arent Fox).

Although principally focussing on the position under US and Canadian rules, John Grayston was invited to contribute a chapter on “Re-export Controls - Intersection of EU and U.S. measures”.

The WorldECR journal of export controls and sanctions has published a focus edition on export control activities in Brussels and some of its  export control lawyers.

It can be downloaded from here: http://www.worldecr.com/wp-content/uploads/WorldECR-Brussels-Focus.pdf

John Grayston will be speaking at the WorldECR conference on sanctions and export control in London in November 2013.  He will talk on how the EU will shape a new export control regime.

Full details of the conference are at: http://www.worldecr.com/conference/

We are delighted to announce that Laura Beretta has agreed to join GCO as an International Trade Advisor.

Republika Hrvatska (Republic of Croatia), today officially becomes the 28th Member State of the EU.

Almost all goods controlled in the EU as dual use are controlled as a result of EU Regulation 428/2009.  Certain goods can also be controlled at EU level for exports to specific third countries due to EU sanctions against those countries.

John Grayston and Peter Trepte are speaking at the International Bar Association conference «Dancing with Tigers and Dragons» in New Delhi (31 January – 2 February 2013).

Davide Rovetta co-authored an article in the current edition of Global Trade Customs Journal Vol. 7 Issue 11/12  on the highly contentious issue of the retroactivity of Tariff Explanatory Notes and Tariff Classification Regulations.

The EU has adopted further restrictive measures against Iran, matching new measures adopted by the USA.

Following the EU's confirmation that it will implement the recommendations of the DSU in DS397 - Steel Fasteners from China, the EU has published amendments to the Basic Regulation which take effect as of today, 6 September 2012.

"Here comes the Sun"(*) - or does it.

A long running saga reaches its end game this week as the EU Commission decides whether or not to initiate investigations into imports of solar panels from China.

John Grayston will chair a « Meet the Regulators » session at ICPA Barcelona on 12 June.

The speakers will be: Michael Peeters (Head of the Strategic Goods Control Unit at the Flemish Department of Foreign Affairs) and Tom Smith (Head, Export Control Organisation at the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills).

By measures adopted on 3 and 4 May 2012 the EU implemented full economic sanctions against certain individuals in the Republic of Guinea Bissau.

The measures list 6 persons only.

Our firm is delighted to be a sponsor of the International Compliance Professionals Association’s 3rd Annual European Conference to be held at the WTC in Barcelona from 10-12 June 2012 .

Registration is still open and full details of the event, agenda and sessions can be found at  http://icpainc.org/conferences/barcelona/

The EU Council has adopted a further set of additional restrictions on trade with Syria which now includes a ban on trade in luxury goods.  This is the thirteenth addition to EU sanctions with Syria adopted since the start of 2011.