The European Union has mobilised multiple tools of its external action in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, most notably a multitude of sanctions. These restrictive measures, currently five sanctions packages, are “designed to weaken Russia’s economic base, depriving it of critical technologies and markets, and significantly curtailing its ability to wage war”.
At this first ENGAGE webinar, Ana Hernández Sierra, Viktor Szép and Jan Wouters will discuss how the EU uses sanctions to respond to violations of international law and threats to European security. The panellists will shed light on the sanctions’ rationale, their place in EU foreign policy and the question of their impact and effectiveness as well as the challenges of the Union’s decision-making processes and the coordination with its international partners. The panel will be moderated by Gustavo Müller.
Speakers
Ana Hernández Sierra is a Spanish diplomat who has devoted the greatest part of her career to the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. She is also a PhD candidate at the University of Salamanca, where she focuses her research activity on the development of the European Court of Justice’s jurisprudence regarding EU restrictive measures.
Viktor Szép is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Groningen with an academic background in Law (PhD) and International Relations (MA). His interdisciplinary research focuses on the legal and political dimensions of EU foreign and sanctions policies. In 2021, Viktor defended his PhD dissertation on the Union’s sanctions against Russia.
Jan Wouters is a professor of International Law and International Organizations, Jean Monnet Chair ad personam EU and Global Governance, and founding director of the Institute for International Law and of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies at KU Leuven.
Moderator
Gustavo Müller is a senior researcher at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies at KU Leuven. His research focuses on the external action of the European Union, EU-Latin America relations, comparative and inter-regionalism, and the legitimation of global governance institutions.