The U.K. on June 23 amended three entries under its Russia sanctions regime. The changes affected the listings for Demetris Ioannides, Meritservus managing director; Dmitry Alexandrovich Pumpyansky, former board chairman for Tube Metallurgical Company; and Pumpyansky's wife, Galina Evgenyevna Pumpyanskaya.

A European human rights advocacy group recently filed a complaint with the German government against BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen alleging the three automakers aren’t meeting German Supply Chain Act due diligence requirements that their supply chains are free from forced labor.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on June 20 amended its general license covering humanitarian assistance in Ukraine. OFSI updated the definition of "non-government controlled Ukrainian territory" to include the oblasts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The agency also added nine entities to its "Designated Financial Institution" list: Bank St Petersburg PJSC, Bank Uralsib PJSC, MTS Bank PJSC, Bank Zenit PJSC, Bank DOM.RF, Rosbank PJSC, Tinkoff Bank, Russian Regional Development Bank and PJSC JSCB Metallinvestbank.

The U.K. added two entries to its Syria sanctions list in a June 19 notice. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on Ali Mahmoud Abbas, the Syrian defense minister, and Abdel Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim, chief of the general staff of the Syrian army and armed forces. In a separate notice, OFSI added two entries to its Democratic Republic of the Congo sanctions list. Desire Londroma Ndjukpa, commander of CODECO URDPC, and William Yakutumba, leader of the Mai-Mai Yakutumba, were also hit with travel bans and asset freezes.

The European Council dropped two names from its Democratic Republic of the Congo sanctions regime following a ruling from the EU General Court. The individuals, Kalev Mutondo and Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, were originally listed for obstructing the 2018 elections in the Congo, the council said June 19. In March, the General Court ruled that the council failed to adequately link Shadary and Mutondo and the security situation in the Congo.

Even as Europe comes to see China as a systemic rival, the entanglement of the German and Chinese economies continues unabated, and what "de-risking" should look like is hotly contested, witnesses told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission at a hearing late last week.

A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with two recent European Council sanctions moves under its Iran and Syria sanctions regimes.

The European Parliament this week voted 499-28 to approve a proposed law governing artificial intelligence, bringing the EU closer to implementing first-of-its-kind AI regulations, including new import and export requirements on a range of products (see 2305160001). A June 14 Parliament news release said members would begin negotiations with the European Council “on the final form of the law” later that day.

The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation this week issued a new license, which took effect June 14 and has no expiration date, that authorizes certain trades in derivatives and futures “in connection with activities” that would otherwise violate the price cap on Russian oil. The license also authorizes certain financial institutions to “process payments in relation” to those trades.

Germany released its first national security strategy this week, emphasizing the importance of export controls and sanctions to protect against human rights abuses. The 76-page document, which dives into a range of security issues, mentions that Germany wants Europe to achieve better “harmonization of arms export controls” and that it supports the “flexible use of EU sanctions.”