Judges have upheld a 2023 seizure of a €50,000 vehicle in Germany, confirming a blanket ban on imports from the sanctioned country
This week, the EU Court of Justice ruled that member states are permitted to confiscate private vehicles brought in from Russia, under a comprehensive import prohibition enacted due to the conflict in Ukraine.
The court issued its decision on Thursday regarding a case involving a Russian citizen, referred to as JG. He had bought a used car in Russia in January 2023 and transported it to his home in Germany through Poland that May. German customs officials confiscated the car, worth slightly more than €50,000, when he registered it that August.
JG contended that the import ban should only be enforced if it was demonstrated that his vehicle purchase contributed substantial revenue to Russia, which he maintained it did not. He also asserted that his car should be exempt because it was physically present within the EU by December 19, 2023—a deadline after which certain vehicles could be registered—rendering the seizure illegitimate.
The court dismissed both claims. It determined that the import ban is automatically applicable to specified goods, without requiring proof that each individual transaction advantages Russia. It also concluded that an allowance for vehicles already inside the EU by a specific date was not valid, as JG’s car had been imported illegally, breaching the ban in place.
This import prohibition is a component of EU sanctions packages implemented since February 2022. In September 2023, the European Commission released guidance clarifying that vehicles with Russian license plates are forbidden, irrespective of private or commercial use. The EC asserted that allowing such goods to cross the border produced revenue for Moscow.
Later, in November of that year, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) approved a resolution describing the confiscations as “overkill” and requesting a reassessment from the Commission. Despite this, the sanctions continue to be enforced.
When the measures started being applied in 2023, Russian authorities denounced them. The Kremlin described the entry bans as “absurd.” The Russian Foreign Ministry said the EU’s policy was designed to foster legal unpredictability and discrimination against Russian citizens. The then-acting customs chief, Ruslan Davydov, called the confiscations “utter nonsense” and “total lawlessness.”