BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Valerijus Ostrovskis, Bogdan Evtimov, Michael De Boeck and Coline Cauvin, ACQUIS
to partially effective prison sentences, fines and asset confiscations. The case is not published, but is report - ed to also have clarified that the competent authority to criminally prosecute export licence infringements remains the public prosecutor’s office and not the custom’s authority. There is only limited case law publicly available from the Council of State on appeals against negative licence decisions to release frozen assets. Legal Developments EU regulation on the treatment of frozen assets is of particular importance to Belgian practice because one of the world-leading international central security depositories, Euroclear, is based in Belgium. On 21 May 2024, the Council of the European Union adopted Council Regulation (EU) No 2024/1469, allowing net profits generated from the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia held in EU Central Secu - rity Depositories (CSDs) to support Ukraine. This regu - lation amends Article 5a of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 and introduces a new annex (“Annex XLI”) to the regulation. Owing to EU sanctions, more than EUR200 billion worth of Russian Central Bank assets are frozen in CSDs such as Euroclear and Clearstream, with reinvestments generating more than EUR5 billion in profits. As of 15 February 2024, CSDs have been required to segregate these profits and are now man - dated to transfer 99.7% of the net profits, after costs and taxes, to the EU budget to support Ukraine. These funds will be used for the EU’s Ukraine Facility, aimed at Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction, with up to 10% potentially redirected to EU programmes sup - porting Ukraine’s defence industry. Payments will be made bi-annually for as long as the sanctions are in place, with annual reviews of the allocation. Additionally, the deadline for implementation of Direc - tive (EU) 2024/1226 of 24 April 2024 on the defini - tion of criminal offences and penalties for the viola - tion of Union restrictive measures passed on 20 May 2025. Belgium has not yet transposed the directive in its national law. These rules ensure that violations – such as failing to freeze assets, breaching travel bans, and circumventing services and goods bans – can be criminally investigated and prosecuted across
all EU member states and harmonise the definitions and penalties for both individuals and entities. The rules also strengthen the freezing and confiscation of sanctioned assets and improve co-operation and communication between authorities within and among EU member states. However, member states retain discretion regarding the methodology for calculating penalties, which may influence the scale of fines and criminal sanctions applied from 2025 onwards. 3.2 Future Developments Legal Developments On 20 May 2025, the Council of the European Union adopted the 17th package of sanctions against Rus - sia, reinforcing the EU’s efforts to reduce Russia’s sources of revenue and military capabilities. This package expands restrictions on dual-use goods and advanced technologies, imposes new listings of individuals and entities involved in Russia’s war economy and circumvention networks, and strength - ens enforcement against the so-called shadow fleet. In total, 189 additional vessels were designated for supporting sanctions evasion and illicit oil shipments, alongside several insurance and logistics actors. The package also targets companies operating in Russia’s energy and military sectors, including producers of machine tools and drone components. The list of asset freeze and travel ban measures has been expanded to include 17 individuals and 58 enti - ties linked to human rights violations, looting of cultur - al heritage, or supporting the war effort. Export restric - tions have been further tightened to cover chemical precursors, high-performance machine tools, and electronic components with military applications. In parallel, the legal frameworks underpinning the EU sanctions have been amended to broaden the listing criteria under various regimes, notably to cover those facilitating circumvention, hybrid threats, or repression within Russia or in occupied Ukrainian territories. At the time of writing, the 18th package of sanctions is under discussion and expected to be adopted by the European Council on 27 June 2025. According to available information, it should include new measures targeting Russia’s energy revenues, such as a lower oil price cap and restrictions on Nord Stream-related infrastructure, as well as additional financial sanctions
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