People who abuse chemical weapons are to face EU travel bans and asset freezes in a new hair-trigger mechanism - bypassing the old delays of national sanctions regimes.
Those guilty of human rights abuses could be next in line, in an EU version of what the US calls a "Global Magnitsky Act".
The chemicals move could strike men like Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov - two Russian spies deemed guilty by the UK of having used novichok, a nerve toxin, to try to kill Sergei Skripal...
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Already a member? Login hereAndrew Rettman is EUobserver's Foreign Affairs Editor. He has been writing about foreign and security affairs for EUobserver since 2005. He is Polish but grew up in the UK. He has also written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Times of London.
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's Foreign Affairs Editor. He has been writing about foreign and security affairs for EUobserver since 2005. He is Polish but grew up in the UK. He has also written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Times of London.