Publication

This paper, commissioned by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), discusses the monitoring and verification of EU arms embargoes. Although arms embargoes are among the most frequently applied economic sanctions, the EU has routinely failed to establish monitoring systems to assess member state compliance with sanctions until long after they were imposed. This report aims to identify the shortcomings of EU arms embargoes to date, and suggests improvements in their drafting, implementation, and enforcement in order to increase their effectiveness in achieving EU objectives. The authors also describe how an EU-specific monitoring system would contribute to making arms embargoes more effective.