EU General Court Upholds Most RMRS Restrictions but Annuls Recognition Withdrawal

The EU General Court largely dismissed the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping’s challenge to EU restrictive measures in Case T-535/24 on November 4, 2026, upholding the investment and transaction bans and rejecting its challenge to the port and lock access ban as inadmissible. The Court annulled Article 1ab(3) of Decision 2014/512/CFSP, as extended by the contested decisions, insofar as it withdrew RMRS’s EU recognition as a ship inspection and certification organisation, finding that suspension would have been a less onerous measure. However, it maintained that provision’s effects for a period not exceeding two months and ten days from delivery of the judgment. The corresponding provision of Regulation 833/2014 was not annulled, so the ruling did not immediately restore recognition or lift the remaining restrictions.