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EU urged to invoke blocking statute to counter Trump sanctions on ICC
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MEPs and several EU governments are pressing the European Commission to activate a 1996 blocking statute to prevent US sanctions against International Criminal Court (ICC) officials from taking effect within the EU. The Trump administration recently imposed asset freezes and financial sanctions on ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, escalating its campaign against the court. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio labeled the ICC a 'corrupt and fatally-politicised supranational court.' In response, EU diplomatic chief Kaja Kallas offered 'unwavering support' for the ICC, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa backed the court's independence. ICC President Akane had previously urged the EU to extend the blocking statute to cover the court, which would ban EU companies and banks from complying with the extraterritorial US sanctions.
Source report
The European Union has been urged to retaliate against the Trump administration's sanctions campaign targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC) by invoking a little-known "blocking statute" that would prohibit companies and banks from complying with the sanctions.
The Trump administration has intensified its efforts to undermine the Hague-based court by withdrawing from the Rome Statute that established it and urging allies to follow suit.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the imposition of sanctions, including asset freezes and financial measures, on 18 August. The sanctions target ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane and Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal, a senior trial lawyer in the court's prosecution office.
Rubio described the ICC as a "corrupt and fatally-politicised supranational court."
Although U.S. officials have rarely been subject to ICC indictments, Rubio's move is part of a broader Trump administration push to undermine the United Nations and other multilateral organisations.
On Wednesday (19 August), the EU's diplomatic chief, Kaja Kallas, expressed the EU's "unwavering support" for the ICC, calling it a "cornerstone of the international criminal justice system and the global fight against impunity."
In coordinated statements on X, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa also voiced their backing for the court.
"The ICC helps deliver justice to the victims of some of the world's most horrific crimes," they said, adding that "to carry out this essential work, its judges and officials must be able to act independently and without external pressure."
However, ICC and some EU officials want the bloc to go further in response to the U.S. sanctions. In March 2025, Judge Akane told a European Parliament hearing that the EU should bring the ICC within the scope of its blocking statute — the 1996 regulation that prohibits European operators from complying with foreign extraterritorial sanctions.
Source
EUobserverWestern
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