The European Critical Raw Materials Act officially took effect May 23, the European Commission said, adding that the law should help Europe diversify its critical raw materials supply chains. The law could lead to limits on annual imports of certain raw materials from third countries and sets benchmarks to ensure, by 2030, that no third country accounts for more than 65% of bloc’s annual consumption of a “strategic raw material,” according to new guidance issued by the commission.

New recommendations adopted by the Council of the European Union this week call on the European Commission to create a new body to oversee research security efforts and for member states to issue guidance to universities on how to best protect their sensitive research.

The U.K. reminded exporters this week that they have until June 4 to move their export declarations to the new Customs Declaration Service (CDS) platform from the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight service. After June 4, declarations no longer can be submitted through the old service. The notice includes guidance to help companies understand how to submit a declaration through the new service and contact information exporters should use for questions.

The U.K. this week updated its Russia guidance to add another type of evidence companies can use to prove their imported diamonds don’t violate sanctions against Russia.

A Russian court based in St. Petersburg on May 18 seized nearly $760 million of assets belonging to UniCredit, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, according to the Financial Times. A subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom, RusChemAlliance, had told the court that the three western banks must pay bank guarantees under a contract with German firm Linde. RusChemAlliance's contract with Linde, which concerned the construction of a liquified natural gas processing plant and production facility in St. Petersburg, was paused due to EU sanctions on the Russian company.

The European Council on May 21 adopted legal measures to allow profits earned on seized Russian assets to be used to support Ukraine, the council announced May 21. The decision applies specifically to net profits from "unexpected and extraordinary revenues accruing to central securities depositories" as a result of EU sanctions on Russia.

The U.K. released various amendments to its sanctions regime last week, according to the Global Sanctions blog. The changes, which include May and June effective dates, bar sanctioned parties from acting as directors of British companies without a license; introduce new restrictions on imports of aluminum from Belarus; set new conditions for how sanctions violations can be investigated; and more.

The U.K. on May 17 sanctioned people and companies for their ties to Russia and North Korea, including for helping both countries evade sanctions.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on May 16 said it has "withdrawn" its sanctions regime on Burundi, and it's "no longer in force." The sanctions, initially issued in 2015 and last updated in July 2022, include designations for human rights abuses by those who obstructed "the search for a peacefull solution to the political situation in Burundi."

The EU General Court on May 15 rejected the Russian Direct Investment Fund's (RDIF's) challenge to the bloc's prohibition on investing in projects financed by the fund.