Targeted sanctions and broad sanctions
In the past, the UN occasionally took decisions on very broad sanctions against a specific country. Similar sanctions were implemented by the EU. These could involve such actions as a blockade by completely prohibiting trade with that country in order to induce the countrys leaders to change their policies. Even if exemptions could be made, these broad sanctions often had an impact on the civilian population.
For a number of years, the international community has primarily been using "targeted sanctions" when trying to exert influence. Targeted sanctions are directed against a specific product, a country´s leadership, an organisation or individual rather than a country in general. In this way, it is easier to prevent the sanctions having an adverse impact on the civil population, while the sanctions send clearer signals to those they are intended to influence.
Examples of targeted sanctions are:
- Financial restrictions (freezing of assets and other economic resources, restriction on financial transactions, investment restrictions)
- Trade restrictions on specific goods such as weapons, diamonds, oil and luxury goods, or services
- Travel restrictions
- Aviation restrictions
Sanctions that target specific individuals or companies must take special account of due process considerations and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms. In recent years, the UN has increasingly made use of the sanctions instrument. The same holds true of the EU. In 1989, sanctions were imposed against one single country - South Africa. In 2010, there were some ten ongoing sanctions regimes in the UN targeting different countries. In addition to this, there are two sanctions regimes that target international terrorism. Within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, we in the EU have also decided on our own sanctions against third countries in some ten additional cases.
