Council Regulation (EU) 2025/2600 of 12 December 2025 on emergency measures addressing the serious economic difficulties caused by Russia’s actions in the context of the war of aggression against Ukraine
Subject matter
This Regulation establishes exceptional and temporary emergency measures addressing the serious economic difficulties within the Union caused by Russia’s actions in the context of its war of aggression against Ukraine and the risk of further deterioration of the economic situation in the Union. These measures aim to avoid a serious deterioration of the economic stability in the Union and its Member States by preventing significant resources being made available to Russia to continue its actions in the context of the war of aggression against Ukraine.
Prohibition on transfer
1. Any direct or indirect transfer of assets or reserves of the Central Bank of Russia, or of any legal person, entity or body acting on behalf of, or at the direction of, the Central Bank of Russia, such as the Russian National Wealth Fund, shall be prohibited.
2. Cash balances corresponding to the assets and reserves referred to in paragraph 1 shall be managed separately.
Reporting
1. To the extent not already required by other provisions of Union law, and notwithstanding the applicable rules concerning reporting, confidentiality and professional secrecy, natural and legal persons, entities and bodies, including the European Central Bank, national central banks, financial sector entities as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 7 ) insurance and reinsurance undertakings as defined in Article 13 of Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 8 ) , central securities depositories as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 9 ) and central counterparties as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 10 ) shall provide to the Commission, by 14 March 2026, information on the assets and reserves referred to in Article 2 of this Regulation which they hold or control or are a counterparty to. Such information shall be updated every three months and shall at least include the following:
(a)
information identifying the natural or legal persons, entities or bodies owning, holding or controlling such assets and reserves, including the name, address and VAT registration or tax identification number;
(b)
the amount or market value of such assets and reserves at the date of reporting;
(c)
the types of assets or reserves as well as crypto-assets and other relevant categories of assets, including non-pecuniary assets. For each of those categories, and where available, relevant features such as quantity, location, currency, maturity and contractual conditions between the reporting entity and the asset owner shall be indicated.
2. Where the reporting natural or legal person, entity or body has established an extraordinary and unforeseen loss or damage to the assets and reserves referred to in Article 2, that information shall be reported immediately to the Commission.
3. Member States, as well as the natural and legal persons, entities and bodies covered by the reporting obligation set out in this Article, shall cooperate with the Commission in any verification of the information received. The Commission may request any additional information it requires to carry out such verification. When such a request is addressed to a natural or legal person, entity or body, the Commission shall simultaneously transmit it to the competent authority of the relevant Member State. Any information received by the Commission shall be made available to the relevant Member State.
4. Any information provided to or received by the Commission and the competent authorities of the Member States in accordance with this Article shall be used by the Commission and the competent authorities of the Member States only for the purposes for which it was provided or received.
5. Any processing of personal data shall be carried out in accordance with this Regulation and Regulations (EU) 2016/679 ( 11 ) and (EU) 2018/1725 ( 12 ) of the European Parliament and of the Council and only in so far as necessary for the application of this Regulation and to ensure effective cooperation between Member States as well as with the Commission in the application of this Regulation.
Safeguards
1. No claims in connection with any contract or transaction the performance of which has been affected, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, by the measures imposed under this Regulation, including claims for indemnity or any other claim of this type, such as a claim for compensation or a claim under a guarantee, notably a claim for extension or payment of a bond, guarantee or indemnity, particularly a financial guarantee or financial indemnity, of whatever form, shall be satisfied, if they are made by the Russian Federation, by the legal persons, entities and bodies referred to in Article 2 or by persons acting on their behalf or at their direction. No judicial, arbitral or administrative decision obtained by the Russian Federation, by the legal persons, bodies and entities referred to in Article 2 or by persons acting on their behalf or at their direction in connection with the measures in Article 2 shall be recognised, given effect or enforced in the Union for as long as this Regulation is in force.
2. In any proceedings for the enforcement of a claim, the onus of proving that satisfying the claim is not prohibited by paragraph 1 shall be on the person seeking the enforcement of that claim.
3. Paragraph 1 is without prejudice to the right of the legal persons, entities and bodies referred to in paragraph 1 to judicial review of the legality of the non-performance of contractual obligations in accordance with this Regulation.
Review
By 31 December 2026, and every 12 months afterwards, the Commission shall carry out a review of this Regulation and present a report on the main findings of that review to the Council. That review shall also assess whether the making available of the significant resources to Russia to continue Russia’s actions in the context of its war of aggression against Ukraine continues to pose, or threatens to pose, serious economic difficulties within the Union and the Member States and whether the risk of causing further serious deterioration of the economic situation in the Union and the Member States persists.
Temporary application of measures
1. The measures in Articles 2 to 4 shall be temporary. They shall be maintained as long as the making available of the significant resources to Russia to continue its actions in the context of its war of aggression against Ukraine poses, or threatens to pose, serious economic difficulties within the Union and the Member States and the risk of causing further serious deterioration of the economic situation in the Union and the Member States persists. To this effect, the measures set out in this Regulation shall cease to apply when the following conditions are met:
(a)
Russia ceases its war of aggression against Ukraine;
(b)
Russia provides reparations to Ukraine to the extent necessary to allow for reconstruction without adverse economic or financial consequences for the Union; and
(c)
Russia’s actions in the context of its war of aggression against Ukraine have objectively ceased to pose a serious risk of severe difficulties to the economy of the Union and its Member States.
2. For the purpose of ensuring the temporary nature of the measures referred to in Articles 2 to 4 in accordance with the conditions set out in paragraph 1, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, taking into account the report provided for in Article 5, shall amend this Regulation, including by adopting appropriate, strictly necessary and temporary provisions for ensuring the orderly winding down of those measures, taking into account the need to protect the legitimate interests of Union operators and of the Member States.
Final provision
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
