The European Union (EU) has increasingly introduced sanctions as a political tool in the 2010s, also directed against neighbor super power and key trading partner Russia. As the global competition tightens with the emphasis on both geopolitics and geoeconomics in World Affairs, the potential of EU sanctions policy in the medium and long term is framed by the unity of the West on the one hand and strengthening of the dominance of emerging economies on the other.
The future of EU sanctions policy is important to Finland. As a part of EU, Finland needs clear picture of the costs of new sanctions and their distribution among Member States, the effectiveness of sanctions in relations to their costs and political trends affecting EU sanctions policy. Good understanding of the trends of sanctions policy is also important for Finnish business. As companies internationalize, their prerequisites for business in other countries may become more difficult due to consequences of sanctions.
The aim of this research project is to study the development of EU sanctions policy and evaluate its meaning and impacts to Finland and Finnish companies. The research also touches on consequences of US sanctions policy for the EU and Finnish companies.
The study approaches the EU sanctions policy in the political-economic framework. The subject of the review is the sanctions policy pursued within the framework of the EU’s common foreign and security policy.
This research project is carried out in collaboration with Etla Economic Research and Finnish Institute of International Affair.
