ECJ clarifies scope of EU Blocking Regulation and requirement not to comply with US secondary sanctions

In a significant judgment, the ECJ has confirmed that Article 5 of the EU Blocking Regulation may found a civil claim from parties affected by such compliance. Where there is a prima facie case that a party has acted in order to comply with US extra-territorial sanctions, the onus will shift to the party seeking to defend such a claim to show that they did not act to comply with such sanctions. This makes walking the tightrope between the EU Blocking Regulation and US secondary sanctions all the more difficult.