As Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine enters its fifth year, the EU’s sanctions framework is facing a new stress test. A conflict in the Middle East, whose trajectory remains uncertain, is now intersecting with existing sanctions regimes and exposing the complexity of managing overlapping geopolitical crises.

Against this backdrop, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has warned that the EU can no longer rely solely on the traditional rules-based international system to safeguard its interests. Instead, the Union must “build its own path.”

This raises fundamental questions about the future of EU sanctions policy: What might a coherent EU sanctions doctrine look like? And how can sanctions compliance adapt to a world of overlapping geopolitical shocks?

Beyond policymaking and compliance, EU sanctions are also reshaping the landscape of international dispute resolution. They are increasingly driving litigation, arbitration, and complex cross-border disputes involving contracts, investments, enforcement actions, and jurisdictional challenges.

To unpack these developments and their implications for businesses and practitioners, the show welcomes Paschalis Paschalidis for an in-depth discussion on how EU sanctions are affecting transnational litigation and international arbitration.

00:00 - Overlapping geopolitical shocks and impact on EU sanctions

04:50 - Introducing Paschalis Paschalidis

07:59 - General impact of EU sanctions on the litigation and arbitration practice

08:55 - How do disputes about EU sanctions arise?

12:00 - Mapping sanctions-related claims

16:00 - Anti-suit and anti-anti-suit injunctions

20:08 - New attitudes towards litigation and arbitration

21:05 -The relationship between the EU legal order, sanctions, and arbitration

27:28 - Reviewing awards dealing with EU sanctions issues

29:13 - EU sanctions and investment-state arbitration

33:31 – Force majeure and sanctions clauses

 39:34 – Looking ahead: rules-based international order and dispute resolution