Sanctions 2025

FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: William Julié, Amélie Beauchemin, Camille Gosson and Elena Moreno, WJ Avocats

2.2 Enforcement 2.2.1 Enforcement Responsibilities In the EU, member states are responsible for enforcing the sanctions created by the Council of the EU. In France, restrictive measures are enforced by the French Treasury, the Directorate General for Enterprise and French Customs. Regarding criminal enforcement of sanctions, pursu - ant to Articles 453 and 454 of the Customs Code, the following authorities are empowered to document vio - lations of sanctions law, as well as to conduct search - es and seizures: • customs officers; • officers of the finance administration holding the rank of controller or higher; and • criminal investigation officers and customs officers, as referred to in Article 28-1 of the Code of Crimi - nal Procedure. Reports by these authorities are then submitted to the Minister of the Economy and Finance, who may in turn refer the matter to the public prosecutor if deemed appropriate. In France, criminal prosecutions are initiated by the public prosecutor. However, proceedings for breaches of sanctions under Article 459 of the Customs Code may only be initiated upon the filing of a formal com - plaint by the Minister of the Economy and Finance or an authorised representative, pursuant to Article 458 of the Customs Code. Regarding civil enforcement of restrictive measures, there are no civil penalties or fines for a sanctions violation committed by entities subject only to the rules set out under Article 459 of the Customs Code. However, those under the supervision of the Pruden - tial Supervision and Resolution Authority ( Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution , ACPR), as defined in Article L. 612-1 et seq of the Monetary and Financial Code (such as banks, insurance compa - nies, trustees and asset managers), may be subject to specific administrative sanctions or financial penal - ties. Administrative breaches of financial sanctions are

ism (Article L. 562-2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code) and defence of the national interest (Article L. 151-2 of the Monetary and Financial Code), under which it can impose asset freezing, restrictions on transactions and embargoes. • EU: As an EU member state, France is bound by the restrictive measures decided by the Council of the EU that concern either natural or legal persons subject to sanctions such as asset freezing or travel bans, or to sectors of activity (eg, finance or fertilisers). • UN: As an EU member state and member of the UN Security Council, France is also bound by the restrictive measures decided at the UN level, which, like those of the EU, relate either to a geographical area – targeting natural persons and legal entities – or to themes such as nuclear non- proliferation. 2. Overview of Regulatory Field 2.1 Primary Regulators The primary regulators for sanctions activity in France are: • the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs; and • the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Within both ministries, sub-entities handle the differ - ent aspects of sanctions: • the French Treasury handles financial matters, including the delivery of authorisations for transac - tions of otherwise frozen assets; • the Directorate General for Enterprise handles mat - ters related to the import and export of dual-use goods; and • French Customs are in charge of the implementa - tion of sanctions in French territory. As such, they are the competent authorities for enforc - ing sanctions or granting derogations, and are the pri - mary interlocutors for all sanctions-related issues in France.

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