The Council of the EU adopted Regulation 2025/2600 under Article 122 TFEU, allowing it to immobilise Russian Central Bank assets by qualified majority voting rather than unanimity. This legal shift removes the recurring six-monthly renewal requirement that had governed the asset freeze since 2022 and eliminates the risk that a single Member State could veto or allow the measures to lapse.
For Russia, the consequences are substantial. Approximately €210 billion in Central Bank assets remain locked in the EU on a “temporary but potentially indefinite” basis. Unfreezing is now conditional on Russia ending its war of aggression, paying reparations to Ukraine, and no longer posing serious economic risks to the EU. The decision also lays the legal groundwork for potentially using the immobilised funds to support Ukraine’s reconstruction.
