Sanctions evasion & the race for rare earths

Hi everyone,

Another wave of political and technological upheaval swept Europe in February. Elections in Germany saw the far-right AfD double its support while the conservatives celebrated victory. The third anniversary of the war in Ukraine saw the EU unveil yet more sanctions against Russia – and Trump intervened with a bid to end the conflict without having Kyiv at the table. Meanwhile, the EU introduced the next phase of one of its most anticipated – and controversial – regulations of recent years, the Artificial Intelligence Act. Our new stories and updates this month touched on several of these issues and show once again the importance of independent, cross-border journalism.

?? Despite strict sanctions, Russia is still accessing western-made aircraft parts. Our new investigation tracked over 700 cargoes, worth over $50 million,?from the facilities of Boeing, Airbus and other western suppliers first to India and then onto buyers in Russia. The story, while suggesting no illegal activity on the part of western firms, highlights a broader problem: the enforcement of sanctions. This week we also published a story showing how only 30 custodial sentences have been handed out around Europe for breaches of EU sanctions law since 2017, highlighting significant gaps in monitoring and resources.

?? Last month we revealed how France and other member states had secretly lobbied to water down Europe’s landmark AI regulation. Days later, MP Ugo Bernalicis took our findings to the French parliament, and questioned lawmakers about the revelations, sparking a social media campaign. The findings also triggered action in Greece where the government was forced to explain its role in the lobbying.?

?? Surveillance of another kind is on the political agenda in Italy right now. Late last year we documented how several European governments wanted a ‘national security’ exemption adding to the Media Freedom Act that would allow them to surveil journalists. Now, Italian senators are demanding answersfrom the government about how surveillance software has apparently been used to target a number of journalists and activists in the country.?

?? Investigate Europe and our partners in Greece, Reporters United, revealedin 2023 how EU-imposed austerity measures and neglected safety improvements created the conditions for the Tempi train disaster that killed 57 people. The Greek government and Hellenic Train, a company owned by the Italian state, are now being accused of covering up the real cause. Nationwide protests taking place today are set to bring Greece to a standstill on the second anniversary of the tragedy. You can see updates from the day through our colleagues in Athens, who have also published new findings about the case.

?? Collaboration is at the heart of investigative journalism. In a new piece for Arena for Journalism, Alessia Cerantola, Investigate Europe’s editorial director, reflects on a decade of experience experimenting with cross-border reporting and her previous work with ICIJ, OCCRP and others. Meanwhile, Nico Schmidt, our reporter in Germany, will bring this idea to life at this weekend's Voices Festival in Zagreb with a workshop on collaborative reporting, offering real-world examples and practical insights. Register here.

?Thank you for reading and greetings from our team across Europe ??.?

Please do reach out to us with any feedback and comments or if you have a story that you think needs telling: [email protected]

Your IE Team

Charting Europe

Ukraine’s rare materials are making headlines. President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US President Trump in Washington today to sign a deal that, among other things, grants the US access to its rich deposits of rare earth minerals. Whether the agreement includes any security guarantees for Ukraine is still up in the air, according to analysts.?

The deal is the latest example of the global rush to access critical raw materials. But why are these minerals and materials so important? Rare earths are to the 21st century what coal was to the 19th and oil to the 20th. Electronics and European climate targets depend on them. As the graph shows, global demand for the materials is only increasing, with cobalt, lithium and the like needed for everything from mobile phones and pacemakers to electric vehicles. But Europe, for the most part, is largely dependent on imports to meet its needs.

Investigate Europe’s Mine games investigation, published in 2023, explored Europe’s dependence on these critical raw materials and its hopes to revive mining across the continent.

In Focus

Sanctions are one of the EU’s most powerful tools for exerting global influence, but how well are they enforced within its own borders? Our new story details a system of fragmented enforcement action and opaque reporting by member states. Despite having 36 separate sanctions regimes in place, since 2017, it is estimated that only 30 people have been given custodial sentences for breaching EU sanctions law, and only 11 people have been convicted of offences against the sanctions.. Alongside this, EU authorities have imposed fines of around €430 million, but prosecutions are rare. ?

Enforcement varies widely across Europe, with some countries enforcing stricter measures than others. In the European Commission, meanwhile, there are just 25 staff responsible for overseeing enforcement, our freedom of information request found. A new European law, due to come into force in 2025, aims to harmonise the enforcement of sanctions across member states. But will the legal text translate into action on the ground?

You can read more in the article from Pascal Hansens, one of Investigate Europe’s reporters in Brussels. The research was also recently broadcast in France with Arte Journal and published with EU Observer in Belgium.

Inside Investigate Europe

Ella Joyner is the latest addition to Investigate Europe's Brussels team, joining us in September 2024. More used to lone-wolf freelancing, her first few months on the job have been a real eye-opener into the power of cross-border collaboration.

My first experience of an Investigate Europe publication, with our story about western-made aircraft parts reaching Russia via India despite sanctions, was absolutely a testimony to what journalists can do when they work together. Firstly, within our own team, how we were able to trawl through thousands of transactions and home in on different national leads, each creating a great story in its own right. Secondly, seeing how our 12 media partners took up our findings and built on them was pretty amazing.

Over the years in Brussels, all too often I've seen journalists pitted against each other as they chase after the same story and scoops. But collaboration allows reporters to dig so much deeper, and makes the findings much richer. The multi-lingual, multi-audience reach you can have at a place like Investigate Europe is pretty unique.?

In the next few months I will focus on our project about the coercive sterilisation of transgender people in the EU, supported by an IJ4EU grant and again involving reporters in a dozen countries. We're heading into unstable, frightening times in Europe. After my first six months at IE, I'm more convinced than ever that journalists must combine our forces to hold the powerful to account.

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