Key Screening Software
Requirements Checklist

On August 7th, the European Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/1100 (1) entered into force. Please see: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52018XC0807(01)&from=EN.    This Regulation amends the Annex to Council Regulation (EC) No 2271/96 of 22 November 1996 protecting against the effects of extra-territorial application of legislation adopted by a third country.   In this case, the specific concern as spelled out in my blog post of May 22nd is the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Iranian Nuclear Deal this past May 8, 2018.

The basic principle of the Blocking Statute is that EU operators shall not:

  1. comply with the listed extra-territorial legislation, or any decision, ruling or award (Article 5, paragraph 1); and
  2. fail to inform the European Commission within 30 days of any events arising from listed extra-territorial legislation or actions that affect, directly or indirectly, their economic or financial interests (Article 2, paragraph 1);

The reporting obligation applies to EU directors, managers and other persons with management responsibilities and such reports can be made either directly to the EC or through the competent authorities of the Member States.

The Blocking Statute:
— Nullifies the effect in the EU of any foreign decision, including court rulings or arbitration awards, based on the listed extra-territorial legislation or the acts and provisions adopted pursuant to them (Article 4);

— Allows EU operators to recover damages arising from the application of the listed extra-territorial legislation from the natural or legal persons or entities causing them (Article 6); and

— Allows EU operators to request an authorization to comply with the listed extra-territorial legislation, if not doing so would cause serious harm to their interests or the interests of the EU (Article 5, paragraph 2).