European Commission (Sanctioning Powers) Act 2021
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION (SANCTIONING POWERS) ACT
Proposed by Cllr Sir Augustus Barrington (Inimicus) & Premier Commissioner Dr Walter Cocx (Inimicus) :: Passed (6-4), March 11th, 2021 :: As amended (4-2-1) by PC Cocx (Inimicus), April 3rd, 2021; by Cllr. Tony Odhinazen (Ruthund) (8-1-1), June 2nd, 2021
PREAMBLE
An Act to Enable the European Commission to Act Decisively against Destabilising and Rogue Regimes by the Promulgation of Region-Wide Economic, Diplomatic, and Military Sanctions
DEFINITIONS
I. Sanction Request: formal, written notice on behalf of one Member State appealing for the institution of region-wide sanctions against another Member State.
II. Sanction Sponsor: the national authority responsible for a Sanction Request.
III. Sanction Enforcer: the responsible authority for region-wide sanctions.
IV. Sanction Subject: the State against which region-wide Sanctions are made.
V. Sanction Motion: a European Council motion containing the finalized sanction provisions as agreed upon within the European Commission.
SECTION I - SANCTION REQUESTS
I. Member States may apply to the European Commission with a Sanction Request.
II. Member States must, as Sanction Sponsors, justify their Sanction Request(s) in full, in writing, within two calendar days of submitting a Sanction Request.
III. Four separate Sanction Sponsors must submit a Sanction Request against the same Member State in order for the Sanction Request to be considered.
IV. The European Commission will deliberate and come to a unanimous decision on whether to grant or deny a Sanction Request within five calendar days from the submission of the second Sanction Request against the same State.
V. The European Commission may deny a Sanction Request; this does not affect the rights of Member States individually to impose Sanctions against another State.
VI. The European Commission shall, in cases of approving a Sanction Request and in approving the finalized proposal of a Sanction Motion, shall be present for an internal vote to either deny or approve the proposal.
(i.) Should one or more member fail to be present within five calendar days, the vote shall be postponed to a later date until all Commissioners have either voted for or against the proposal.
SECTION II - SANCTION IMPLEMENTATION
I. Should the European Commission decide to grant a Sanction Request, the Premier Commissioner shall propose a Sanction motion to the European Council. Upon the ratification of this motion, the Premier Commissioner shall then assume the role of Sanction Enforcer;
(i.) The Internal Affairs Commissioner may assume the role of Sanction Enforcer if the Premier so wishes.
(ii.) A Sanction Motion must receive a supermajority vote by present members of the European Council to be approved for ratification.
II. The Sanction Enforcer shall, within two calendar days of the granting of a Sanction Request, publish a list of region-wide Sanctions to be enforced against the Sanction Subject.
III. Region-wide Sanctions which can be promulgated by the Sanction Enforcer against the Sanction Subject are limited to Sanctions described in Section III. The Sanction Enforcer shall take reasonable precaution in proclaiming Sanctions and shall consider the economic, geopolitical, and diplomatic implications of region-wide Sanctions in the proclamation.
IV. Member States must harmonise their national regulations with the promulgation by the Sanction Enforcer as soon as practical, but certainly no later than fourteen days following the same promulgation.
SECTION III - SANCTION TYPES
Sanctions which may be enacted by the Sanction Enforcer against the Sanction Subject include:
I. Economic Sanctions
(i.) Full and total suspension of any and all trade with the Sanction Subject;
(ii.) Targeted suspension of trade in certain goods or commodities, to be determined by the Sanction Enforcer;
(iii.) Suspension of the Sanction Subject's access to financial markets based in other Member States;
(iv.) Suspension of the supply of electricity, natural gas, and/or other natural or financial resources to the Sanction Subject from other Member States;
(v.) Levying of increased tariffs and taxes on goods imported to or exported to/from the Sanction Subject to/from other Member States;
II. Diplomatic Sanctions
(i.) Suspension of diplomatic representation of the Sanction Subject on European institutions, including the European Council and European Court of Justice;
(ii.) Cancellation and suspension of official visits by representatives of the Sanction Subject to other Member States;
(iii.) Expelling of diplomatic staff from the Sanction Subject from embassies and consulates in other Member States;
(iv.) Restrictions on travel by citizens of the Sanction Subject to other Member States;
III. Military Sanctions
(i.) Suspension of trade in arms and/or military equipment between Member States and the Sanction Subject;
(ii.) Suspension of military agreements between the Sanction Subject and other Member States;
(iii.) Infiltration and degradation of military installations belonging to the Sanction Subject either by cyberwarfare or direct military means;
IV. Individual Sanctions
(i.) Travel restrictions against individuals representing or belonging to the government of the Sanction Subject;
(ii.) Seizing of economic assets in other Member States belonging to individuals representing or belonging to the government of the Sanction Subject;
(iii.) Taking into custody and bringing to trial of individuals representing or belonging to the government of the Sanction Subject, who are suspected to have committed an offence against European law or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
SECTION IV - APPEALS
I. Member States which are the Sanction Subject may appeal to the European Court of Justice for Sanctions to be lifted;
II. The Premier Commissioner shall always testify as or on behalf of the Sanction Enforcer in such cases;
III. Sanctions promulgated by the Sanction Enforcer shall be declared null and void immediately upon a European Court of Justice judgement in favour of the Sanction Subject;
IV. Other Member States may also appeal to end region-wide Sanctions by petitioning the Premier Commissioner;
V. The Premier Commissioner shall then meet with representatives from the appealing Member State. The Premier Commissioner may offer financial incentives to appealing Member States to compensate economic damage as a result of the region-wide sanctions imposed by the Sanction Enforcer;
SECTION V - RENEWALS
I. Region-wide Sanctions shall be subject to renewal by majority vote in the European Council every calendar month;
II. The Sanction Enforcer shall declare region-wide Sanctions null and void immediately upon a European Council vote to refuse renewal;
SECTION VI - IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT
I. Member States must implement economic and diplomatic Sanctions as defined by the Sanction Enforcer under Section III within two weeks or fourteen days of the proclamation of such sanctions.
II. Any Member State which violates any section of this Act by refusing or failing to implement Sanctions promulgated by the Sanction Enforcer, or in any other way whatsoever, shall commit a punishable offence and may be tried in the European Court of Justice.
III. Further, any Member State found to have acted contrary to the region-wide Sanctions imposed by the Sanction Enforcer shall commit a punishable offence and may be tried by the European Court of Justice;
IV. Region-wide Sanctions promulgated by the Sanction Enforcer do not prevent Member States from proclaiming additional Sanctions against the Sanction Subject.
