Top EU Court Rules On The EU Blocking Regulation Against US Sanctions For The First Time

Top EU Court Rules on the EU Blocking Regulation Against US Sanctions for the First Time

On December 21, 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), sitting as a "Grand Chamber" (a formation used, among others, in particularly complex or important cases), issued the first-ever judgment¹ on the EU Blocking Regulation.² The CJEU clarified the scope and content of this statute. Notably:

• The CJEU interpreted the EU Blocking Regulation broadly, to potentially cover any action taken to comply with a foreign sanctions law that the European Union has deemed to apply extraterritorially—not just actions taken in response to orders from foreign courts. For instance, to the extent dollar clearing activities are prohibited under the US sanctions laws listed in the EU Blocking Regulation, EU operators engaging in such activities without authorization would be breaching the EU Blocking Regulation. In effect, this will force EU operators (whether EU or foreign