The French Direction Générale du Trésor (Treasury), part of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is responsible for administering financial and trade sanctions.  It has a web portal dedicated to international economic sanctions (available only in French), which includes:

• a comprehensive, country-by-country overview of the sanctions regimes applicable under French law; and

• a consolidated list of the persons designated by French, EU and UN sanctions.

In practice, except for some specific issues (e.g., the freezing of assets of France-based terrorists) that are regulated by the French Monetary and Financial Code ¹, the majority of sanctions applicable under French law are directly, and entirely, governed by EU and UN regulations.

EU restrictive measures can target:

(i) governments of foreign countries;

(ii) entities providing the means to conduct targeted practices (e.g., nuclear proliferation activities, human rights violations, annexations of foreign territory, deliberate destabilization of a sovereign country);

(iii) organizations such as terrorist groups; and/or

(iv) individuals supporting the targeted or involved in prohibited activities.

Sanctions generally include:

(i) arms embargoes;

(ii) travel bans;

(iii) freezing of assets; and/or

(iv) economic sanctions or restrictions concerning specific sectors of economic activity, including import or export bans on certain goods, investment bans, prohibitions on supplying certain services, etc.

¹ Articles L.151-2, L.562-2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code