What to do at the border after the ban on entry into the EU of cars from Russia

EU countries are closing the passage for cars with Russian license plates, and personal belongings of Russians may be confiscated. RBC looked into what to do at the border and how the tightening of measures will affect relations between RUSSIA and the EU

Which countries have closed entry to cars with Russian license plates

On September 16, Poland became the fifth European country bordering Russia to ban entry for cars with Russian license plates following the European Commission's recommendations. Similar decisions were previously made by Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland . The authorities of Norway (not part of the EU, but implementing European sanctions against Russia) have not yet made any corresponding statements.

On September 8, the European Commission clarified the rules for applying the sanctions already in force. According to the new regulations, entry into EU countries in personal cars (customs code 8703 - cars for transporting less than ten people) registered in Russia will be considered prohibited import , even if they are used for personal and not commercial purposes. Exceptions are made for EU citizens and their immediate family members.

On September 12, the European Commission clarified the reasons for its decision — Russian cars can be used to circumvent sanctions, which explains the increased attention to them. A representative of the European Commission clarified to RBC that each EU country will decide for itself how to implement the sanctions; the EC's clarification is not legally binding.

In total, the list of items banned from import to the EU includes almost 200 items, including cosmetics, personal hygiene items, clothing, footwear, smartphones, laptops, cameras and gold jewellery. The latest version of the EC's clarifications states that for goods that raise "minor concerns" regarding the circumvention of sanctions, such as personal hygiene items and clothing worn by a traveller or in his luggage and "clearly intended strictly for personal use", "national competent authorities should continue to apply the ban in a proportionate and reasonable manner". Nothing is said about smartphones, laptops and other equipment; the European Commission refused to clarify its position regarding their import to RBK.

What precedents have there been regarding the confiscation of cars and personal belongings?

So far, the only country where Russian cars have been seized is Germany . They started doing this even before the EC recommendations were issued in September. The first case was reported in June. Ivan Koval, who lives in Germany, told RBC that his car was seized on June 1 near his home in Hamburg. According to him, a customs officer checked the documents and admitted that they were in order, but the car was still seized, since “since October 2022, entry of cars with Russian license plates into the EU has been prohibited.” The media reported several more cases. Then, German customs told RBC that any import of cars into Germany from Russia, even entry in personal transport, would be considered grounds for arrest. On July 13, Koval managed to get his Audi Q3 back after complaining to customs and the Hamburg prosecutor's office reviewing the case.

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The Russian embassy in Berlin did not disclose to RBC the total number of Russian cars confiscated in the country. The diplomatic mission reported that “there are reliably known cases of confiscation of personal vehicles of Russians registered in Russia by German customs officers.” “We also know that some of the victims were able to successfully challenge such confiscation in COURT. The vehicles were returned to them. The embassy is not yet aware of any confiscation of other categories of personal belongings of Russians,” they said on September 14.

Bundestag deputy from the Alternative for Germany party Evgeny Schmidt told RBK that at the end of August this year, he sent an appeal to the country's government on behalf of AfD (RBK has a document), in which he asked for clarification on the situation with the seizure of the cars. The government took a break until the end of September. "At first, I sent small, isolated requests, but the government sent formal replies. At the end of the month (August), I sent a detailed request. The government, which was a surprise to me, took a break. They promised to prepare a response by the end of September and, apparently, turned to the European Commission for advice. As we know, the other day an EC official made some statements that further confused the situation. There is a clear discrepancy between the text of the sanctions and the recommendations of the European Commission that we heard," Schmidt told RBK. He expressed the opinion that "any lawyer and person in their right mind will consider the recommendations absurd." The MP expects the German government to prepare a response to the appeal based on the recommendations given by the European Commission.

In his appeal, dated August 22, Schmidt and his colleagues point out that Berlin's overly broad interpretation of sanctions legislation could lead to Russian countermeasures that would affect German citizens. He also asks the government 11 questions regarding cars. In particular, Schmidt asks the government to name the number of cars with Russian license plates that have been seized in the country, as well as to disclose data on confiscations in other countries and information on how those countries that refrain from such actions justify them. The authors of the request also ask what the government knows about the "significant income" that Russia receives when a private car with Russian license plates enters Germany, for example for transit.

How Russians should prepare for entry into the EU

Ivan Timofeev, program DIRECTOR of the Valdai Discussion Club, suggests that Russians draw several practical conclusions from the current situation. “First of all, the sanctions potentially put any Russian citizen crossing the EU border in a vulnerable position. Of course, the implementation of EU law varies from country to country. In some countries, customs may occasionally show zeal, as happened in July in Germany. And in others, they may not take it to the point of absurdity. However, the conditional"A Russian can hardly know in advance how exactly the stars will align," he writes. In his opinion, Russian citizens can try to challenge the customs decision in court, but not everyone will dare to do so, and it is unclear whether the court will side with them.

"If we talk about importing personal belongings, then in order to immediately reduce the risks, we need to know in advance the attitude of a specific EU country to this procedure. For example, Germany has already said that it will not allow any of the things specified in the lists. Finland said that it is not ready to follow the EC's clarification of September 8. And Estonia intends to apply the procedure to cars, but not to the personal belongings of those entering. It is unclear how other countries will act - it is doubtful that we will wait for clarification from Italy, the same Cyprus or Greece are also unlikely to thoroughly apply the specified measures," Sergey Glandin, partner in the compliance and sanctions law practice at BGP Litigation, explained to RBC.

In his opinion, it would be better for a Russian entering the EU to have a printout stating that the ban in Article 3i only applies to EXPORT operations, and does not include the import of items for personal use during a private visit. If necessary, it should be stated to customs officers that Article 3i prohibits the export from Russia and import to Europe of goods within the framework of foreign economic activity, and not the import of personal items. “If the customs officer continues to persist, it would be better to explain to him the goals and objectives of Article 3i of the regulation, which consisted of depriving Russia of excess or additional export income, including from exports to the European Union. The goal is not to restrict ordinary people from importing items for personal use into the EU,” Glandin said. “Therefore, it is better to avoid situations where you are carrying, for example, two identical new Louis Vuitton bags, as this could clearly be interpreted as import for export or for sale. In general, it is advisable to take some ordinary, inconspicuous items that do not look new for sale.”

Russians cannot enter most EU countries directly after the bans on air travel were introduced . If they fly into any EU country "not from Russia, but from another country inside or outside the EU, <...> the bans on products of regulation 833/2014 do not apply," the Spanish State Tax Service Agency, which oversees local customs, told TASS .

What does this mean for Russia-EU relations?

In a conversation with RBC, Timofeev suggested that the EC decided to update the previously issued recommendations due to a wave of publications that “reasonably indicated that in such an interpretation, the application of Article 3i of Regulation 833/2014 could be absurd.” “Apparently, they decided to somehow soften this matter,” he explained.

Arkady Moshes, the director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, suggested in a conversation with RBC that the European Commission's recommendations were needed due to differences of opinion among EU member states, in order to bring them to a common denominator. "This is the formal side of the issue. The informal side is more important. This shows that the idea of ​​the toxicity of Russia and all Russians is gaining strength, the idea that all citizens of the Russian Federation are involved in one way or another and should feel a certain responsibility for what happened in Ukraine is gaining strength. This is not very good news, regardless of how much everything is implemented," Moshes said. In his opinion, the EC's recommendation will remain a recommendation, but in political terms the signal is clear: the toxicity of Russia and Russians in general is growing. The expert noted that this was not the case at the beginning of the conflict, but as the military actions dragged on, a corresponding decision was made.

Commenting on the fact that the release of the EC recommendations coincided with the lifting of several Russian businessmen from personal sanctions and the EU's refusal to use the term "oligarch" in relation to Russian entrepreneurs, Moshes called the latter step correct. "The term must be used correctly, and large Russian businessmen have not been oligarchs for probably 15 years, if not 20. They are large economic players, but they have no claims or opportunities to influence the country's political course. That is, neither the desire nor the opportunity," he explained.

"The initial point of sanctions and many other things that are adopted one way or another is to show, explain, and clarify to Russians that the situation is abnormal. There is no longer any basis to assume that it will be perceived as normal in Europe. Russians must understand that the world is different today and it treats Russian citizens completely differently," Moshes concluded.