Do you have questions about EU sanctions?
Do you want to know how they could affect your business?
Would you like to know what you can do to exclude risks?
The EU Sanctions Helpdesk supports EU SMEs and organisations. Our website and personalised Support Service give you the answers you need.
To get started, simply submit your request through our online support system and our team will be in touch to provide guidance and assistance.
“Due Diligence”
The process of identifying, preventing, and managing potential sanctions risks in your business.
See a full glossary of sanctions terms.
Why should your SME take advantage of our service?
- Give you customised, one-to-one support
- Increase legal certainty for your business
- Cover the more than 40 EU sanctions regimes
A: Primarily European SMEs, defined by EU recommendation 2003/361. This includes companies with:
- Fewer than 250 employees
- Up to €50 million turnover
- Total balance sheet assets of up to €43 million
A: All requests will be acknowledged within 2 working days. For straightforward requests, we aim to respond within 5 working days. For more complex requests, including those involving extensive sanctions programmes such as Russia, Belarus, and Iran, we aim to respond within 10 working days.
A: The Helpdesk covers all restrictive measures applicable across the EU. We screen against EU and national sanctions lists of EU Member States, where applicable. The Helpdesk will not address sanctions risk arising under third countries’ sanctions programmes.
A: You can ask the Helpdesk for sanctions due diligence support on a potential business transaction, for an explanation of specific prohibitions or obligations found in EU sanctions regulations, and for support on the design and development of your internal sanctions compliance programme.
A: Depending on the exact scope of the request, it can include assessments of:
- Your counterparty or any party in the transaction to identify if they are sanctioned directly or owned or controlled by a Designated Person (Who)
- The goods or services being transacted and whether they are subject to EU restrictive measures (What)
- The locations and jurisdictions where goods, services or related payments will be transiting to determine whether any restrictive measures are potentially being breached (Where)
- End-use and end-user to ensure compliance with restrictive measures (Why)
A: No. While the Helpdesk is an EU-funded initiative and makes every effort to ensure accuracy, the European Commission does not take responsibility or accept liability for any activity undertaken by the Helpdesk. EU operators must make the final decision about pursuing business opportunities and accepting associated risks. The Helpdesk’s role is to help locate certain information and to advise SMEs of potential risks.