The European Union's stance on the extraterritorial reach of its sanctions has evolved recently, particularly in response to the need to prevent circumvention of restrictive measures against Russia. This article examines the legal basis and challenges associated with the "Best Efforts" obligation and the "No Re-export clause". While these provisions impose contractual and compliance obligations on EU-based companies, they also raise questions about their extraterritorial enforcement, legal consistency, and the potential for legal challenges before EU and international courts. By analyzing the intersection between EU sanctions laws, international jurisdiction principles, and corporate liability, this article explores how these new measures might be challenged and what legal arguments could be used to contest their enforcement beyond EU borders.

European Union ("EU") sanctions compliance has gone global. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has continuously expanded the substantive and geographic reach of its restrictive measures in innovative and unprecedented ways. Among these latest innovations is a requirement, now enshrined in several EU sanctions regulations concerning Russia and Belarus, for legal and natural persons subject to EU law ("EU operators") to undertake their best efforts to ensure that any entity that they own or control outside the EU do not undermine EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus. This obligation is commonly referred to as the "best efforts" clause or requirement.