The Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) confirmed in its judgment of 5 February 2026 in case C-619/24 that the import ban on goods from the Russian Federation applies to all goods listed in the relevant annex, and it is not necessary to assess in each individual case whether the specific imports generate significant revenue for the Russian Federation.
In the specific case, the EU Court of Justice answered a preliminary question submitted by the Düsseldorf Finance Court on the interpretation of Article 3i(1) of Council Regulation No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine: “It shall be prohibited to purchase, import, or transfer, directly or indirectly, goods which generate significant revenues for Russia thereby enabling its actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, as listed in Annex XXI into the [European] Union if they originate in Russia or are exported from Russia.”
The Düsseldorf Finance Court asked this question in a case in which a Russian citizen residing in Germany purchased a second-hand vehicle in Russia and imported it into the EU. The German customs authority confiscated the vehicle on the basis of Article 3i(1). The claimant challenged the confiscation, arguing that the import of a single second-hand vehicle did not generate significant revenue for Russia, and also referred to Article 3i(3ad), which provides for the possibility of registering vehicles that were already in the EU on 19 December 2023.
The Court of Justice of the EU ruled that the EU has the right to determine the goods whose import is considered to generate revenue, and it did so by including the relevant goods in Annex XXI. The ban applies automatically to all goods listed in the annex. This is also confirmed by the exceptions provided for in the regulation, such as personal use and personal effects. If the ban were limited to transactions that individually generate significant revenue, such exceptions would not be necessary.
At the same time, the possibility of registration provided for in Article 3i(3ad) only applies to vehicles that are legally present in the EU. A vehicle that has been illegally imported cannot be legalised by reference to this provision.
The judgment confirms that for the import ban to apply, it is sufficient that the product is included in Annex XXI and originates in Russia or is exported from Russia. An individual assessment of revenue is not necessary and is not permissible.
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