Following the collapse of the Assad regime, the EU moved swiftly to suspend several sectoral sanctions on Syria. Yet targeted sanctions remain in place, and they may be doing more harm than good.

Although designed to be precise, these measures are crippling entire sectors like oil, agriculture, and banking, where sanctioned actors dominate economic life. EU businesses continue to disengage, fearing legal ambiguity and reputational risk, even in areas explicitly permitted under recent easing measures.

Can sanctions be refined to support Syria’s recovery without rewarding war criminals? What are the unintended consequences of overcompliance? And how should the EU balance accountability with reconstruction?

This report, by Vittorio Maresc and Dr. Karam Shaar in OPEN, proposes a five-part methodology for reviewing individual sanctions and urges shifting Syria-related listings to the EU’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime to remove systemic barriers to recovery while preserving justice.