Sumar calls on the EU to activate its own regulations on responding to economic coercion against the US

Eduardo González The Plurinational Parliamentary Group Sumar has called on the European Union to activate its Regulations on responding to economic coercion by a third country against the United States in relation to the sanctions imposed by the Donald Trump Administration against several European members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and against Francesca Albanese, the Italian UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, for their positions on the genocide in Gaza. In a non-binding motion registered on March 2nd for debate in the Foreign Affairs Committee, Sumar (the junior partner in Pedro Sánchez's coalition government) denounces that the sanctions imposed by Donald Trump against members of the International Criminal Court and against Francesca Albanese “not only constitute an attack on international justice and the United Nations system, but also directly affect European citizens and the fundamental interests of the European Union and its member states.” “These unilateral extraterritorial measures,” it continues, “have been directed against judges of the International Criminal Court and its chief prosecutor, as well as against a highly respected jurist who has been a United Nations Special Rapporteur since 2022, for the legitimate exercise of their judicial and human rights functions, respectively, in accordance with international law.” These sanctions, Sumar points out, “have been explicitly adopted in retaliation for cooperation with the International Criminal Court and for the adoption of judicial decisions related to the investigation and prosecution of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, which demonstrates their intimidating nature and their aim to influence the exercise of the International Criminal Court’s own jurisdictional function.” Furthermore, these sanctions “are causing serious economic harm” and constitute “an extrajudicial and arbitrary sanction imposed in a way that has caused evident defenselessness, even preventing access to banking services, payment methods, digital platforms, current account ownership, transportation, accommodation and e-commerce, the closure of bank accounts, and the impossibility of carrying out international transactions, even within the European Union.” According to Sumar, these sanctions “imposed by the United States against a United Nations Special Rapporteur, members of the International Criminal Court, and other legal experts of European nationality could fall under the definition of economic coercion in Regulation (EU) 2023/2675, Article 2 of which states that economic coercion exists when a third country applies or threatens to apply measures affecting trade or investment ‘with the aim of preventing or achieving the cessation, modification, or adoption of a particular act by the Union or a Member State’ and when such measures ‘affect or may affect the interests of the Union’”. “It is clear that the Union’s interest is the defense of international law and preventing the commission of international crimes such as those being committed in Palestine,” Sumar warns, adding that “the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned these sanctions, calling them an attack on the independence and impartiality of the International Criminal Court, and has reaffirmed its commitment to the Rome Statute and international law.” “Regulation (EU) 2023/2675 enables the adoption of retaliatory measures aimed at countering economic coercion and protecting the interests of the Union,” states the party led by Second Vice-President Yolanda Díaz. “In this case, the serious personal and professional impact of the sanctions adopted by the Donald Trump administration demonstrates that a merely declaratory approach is insufficient and requires a firm political and legal response, such as activating the mechanisms provided for in the aforementioned Regulation against EU coercion,” it adds. “Defending European citizens sanctioned for holding positions at the ICC or within the universal human rights protection system should not be a political option but a legal obligation stemming from the Union’s founding values and its commitment to international law,” it warns. For all these reasons, Sumar urges the Government to “promote a European Commission assessment and, if appropriate, a declaration, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/2675, that the sanctions imposed by the United States Government against members of the International Criminal Court and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of the Palestinian People, who are European citizens, constitute a case of economic coercion by a third country, directly affecting the interests of the Union and the rights of its citizens.” In such a case, it calls on the Government to promote the activation within the European Union of the mechanisms provided for in the Regulation “in order to adopt measures aimed at neutralizing the effects of these sanctions within the territory of the Union and protecting the affected European citizens.”

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