In response to a question, the EU Commissioner Maiead McGuinness stated that the Commission’s “Freeze and Seize” task force has so far blocked 29.5 billion Euro worth of assets belonging to Russian and Belarussian oligarchs across the Union and frozen 6,7 billion.
The blocks and freezes were put in effect via the “Freeze and Seize” task force the Commission has launched. The task force comprises of transnational bodies such as Eurojust and Europol, as well as commission representatives.
Moreover, the Commission has also initiated a whistle blower tool to help identify breaches of EU sanctions. The implementation of sanctions remain the responsibility of member states individually, as does the penalisation of breaches while the Commission has the oversight of the application of law as well as improving the understanding and awareness of the legal implications via public outreach.
