Changes between two versions
What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report
From · draft committee report· 24 Jun 2025
on addressing impunity through EU sanctions, including the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (so-called ‘EU Magnitsky Act’)
To · plenary report· 15 Dec 2025
on addressing impunity through EU sanctions, including the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (so-called ‘EU Magnitsky Act’)
AI:What changed, in short
The report updates listing figures and adds new recitals on national regimes, the Magnitsky ruling, and the regime's scope, including corruption and transnational repression.1245 It strengthens calls for accountability, extending sanctions to leaders, family members, and those benefiting from violations, and adds measures on digital surveillance and environmental destruction.9101516 It enhances Parliament's role in listing and de-listing, adds review requirements, and proposes new mechanisms for civil society and asset use for victims.12192021 It addresses implementation gaps, calling for harmonised enforcement, secondary sanctions, and cooperation with financial authorities to prevent circumvention.2324 The other changes are formal or wording: renumbering, spelling corrections, and minor rephrasing.371113
19 changes of substance · 0 formal · 7 of wording only
Written by AI from the two texts only · read the changes before relying on it · 4 Sept 2026 · Report a problem
+41 added · −13 removed · 21 changed paragraphs, packaging included.
Part 3 of 3: EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
This motion for a resolution addresses the pressing need to enhance the European Union’s efforts to combat impunity for serious human rights violations through targeted restrictive measures. It focuses on the implementation, effectiveness, impact, and future direction of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EUGHRSR), commonly referred within the European Parliament as the EU Magnitsky Act.
Adopted in December 2020, the EUGHRSR – EU Magnitsky Act enables the EU to impose asset freezes and travel bans on individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights abuses worldwide. Despite its significance as a foreign policy tool, the regime still faces several operational, geographical, and legal challenges that hinder its full potential.
Change 25
Changed:As of May 2025, 154 listings (118 individuals and 36 entities) have been made under the regime. However, with the report concerns are expressed over the narrow focus of the listings – both geographically and thematically – as they tend to centercentre on certain geographical areas, and specific political and civil rights violations in authoritarian contexts, while under-addressing core international crimes and systemic socio-economic rights abuses. The gender perspective of the application of the EUGHRSR – EU Magnitsky Act is also under analysis.
The report underlines the need for a more coherent and strategic use of the sanctions regime, aligned with broader EU foreign policy objectives and other restrictive measures. It calls for an impact assessment of the regime’s effectiveness, greater alignment with international partners, improved enforcement by Member States, and enhanced transparency and accountability.
Change 26
Changed:Additionally, the text proposes to identify avenues for improving the sanctions instruments, and measures to close implementation loopholes and prevent sanctionssanction circumvention. The report also aims to identify ways for the European Parliament and other relevant actors such as civil society organisations to contribute to the process of suggestions for listing criteria. It also reiterates its long-standing support for including anti-corruption sanctions within the EU framework.
Importantly, the draft report stresses that a review of the regime – following its prolongation until December 2026 – would provide a critical opportunity to address current shortcomings and reinforce the EU’s commitment to human rights, the rule of law, and the fight against impunity globally.