On 15 June, more or less unexpectedly, the EU Commission published four new EU regulations, which entered into force the following day.
In terms of content, they deal only with the listing of persons and entities and amend only Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 and the regulation implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2642. That may not sound particularly exciting, but there are nonetheless three interesting developments here as well:
- Regulation (EU) 2026/1336 introduces, for entry No. 692, the Chinese company Yangzhou Mangjie Electronic Technology Co. Ltd, already listed on 23 April 2026, a time-limited exemption for contracts already concluded and certain industrial purchases. A temporary authorisation regime is being established for this purpose. This is therefore not a delisting due to error, but rather a measure intended to safeguard the diversification of supply chains for economic operators in the Union, through new time-limited exemptions from the freezing of assets and from the prohibition on making funds or economic resources available to a designated entity. These exemptions are intended to enable the winding down of operations, contracts, and other agreements concluded with this entity, as well as industrial purchases of critical components manufactured by it. Economic operators are expected, before this exemption expires, to draw up and implement suitable diversification plans in order to enable a transition to alternative sources of supply.
- Alongside journalists, television presenters, influencers, and military bloggers, Regulation (EU) 2026/1356 also lists Georgiy Aleksandrovich Shevkunov, a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea, and Head of the Crimean Metropolitanate. His listing is justified on the grounds of his active role in spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation to justify Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
- Regulation (EU) 2026/1362 adds 15 further persons associated with the killing of Alexei Navalny to Regulation (EU) 2024/1485.
What is still missing from this sanctions package is a publication of the further measures announced by Ursula von der Leyen on 9 June 2026, targeting the sectors with the greatest impact: energy, financial services and crypto, trade (for the first time also including fisheries), and an entry ban for former Russian combatants into the European Union.
Which of these announced, considerably more far-reaching sectoral restrictions will ultimately be implemented remains to be seen. Some indication of this may also be gleaned from the updates to the EU Commission’s FAQs dated 15 June 2026.
