Since 2011, the European Union imposed a series of sanctions on Syria in response to the regime’s violent policies towards peaceful protests.
These sanctions included the prohibition of weapons and the ban on importing oil and Syrian oil products, and financial restrictions that included the freezing of the assets of the Syrian Central Bank, and the prevention of financial institutions from opening branches in Europe, in addition to restrictions on exporting equipment and technology that may be used in internal repression or to monitor communications.
The sanctions also targeted hundreds of individuals and entities associated with the Syrian regime, and included freezing assets and travel ban.
On February 24, 2025, the European Union announced a comment of the sanctions related to the energy, banking and transport sectors. The Federation Council said, in a statement, that it decided to “suspend the restrictions in the energy sectors, including oil, gas, electricity and transportation.”
The council also decided to “raise 5 parties, which are the industrial bank, the Popular Credit Bank, the savings bank, the cooperative agricultural bank, and the Syrian Arab Aviation Corporation, from the list of entities subject to freezing money and economic resources.”
The council also decided to “allow the status of money and economic resources (for those parties) at the disposal of the Syrian Central Bank.” The European Union – as he says – is seeking to help rebuild Syria after years of internal war and the revolutionaries were able to topple Bashar al -Assad on the eighth of last December.
European countries suggested that lift sanctions be gradual, while maintaining some sanctions related to human rights violations, drug and weapons trade.
The report monitors the opinions of experts on the effectiveness of the effectiveness of European sanctions on alleviating the electricity crisis, the power sector, and transportation in the country. The report addresses the challenges facing the Syrian government from exploiting the suspension of European sanctions.
The electricity sector
The suspension of European sanctions on Syria may help reduce the electricity crisis, but it will not be an immediate or complete solution because there are several factors that affect the development of the electricity sector in Syria.
Yunus Al -Karim, an expert in the Syrian economy and the director of a specialized economy platform, says in a statement to Al -Jazeera Net that the suspension of European sanctions came in line with the license 24, which is part of the Caesar Law, which aims to remove risks from citizens and reduce the burden of sanctions from them, especially after the fall of Bashar al -Assad’s regime on December 8, 2024.
The license 24 aims to ensure that the penalties are not obstructed by the basic services related to rule in Syria after the fall of Bashar al -Assad, including providing public services or some transactions related to energy or personal transfers.
Companies are also allowed to sell, supply or donate energy resources to Syria, including oil and gas. The license also allows facilitating non -commercial personal transfers.
This license continues for a period of 6 months, as the US government continues to monitor the advanced situation on the ground.
Al -Karim believes that the Syrian state can benefit from the suspension of European sanctions by concluding contracts to develop electricity production, but it is shocked by the Caesar law, which includes exceptions that can be used with the help of a specialist law office.
The Karim pointed out that a large part of the power generation plants are European generators, and therefore European countries can provide maintenance and technology to raise their production capacity.
Al -Karim explained that Syria cannot import maintenance of maintenance directly from European countries. Rather, it must depend on a third party due to European sanctions and Caesar law.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgkmgdmze
Energy sector
Oil reserves are concentrated in the eastern Syria region, which are under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces “Qasd” and its own administration, which are areas not covered by European sanctions and the Caesar law, in addition to some regions northwestern Syria.
Al -Karim said that the Syrian oil reserves are located in the east of the Euphrates, which is an area that is not covered by European sanctions and the Caesar law, so companies that intend to enter to invest in the Syrian oil sector will not be vulnerable to US and European sanctions.
Hassan Al -Marwan, a researcher in political economy, believes that the suspension of sanctions may encourage European companies such as Shell and Total to return to investment in Syrian oil, especially in the Rumailan and Omar fields, the country’s largest field.
But Yunus Al -Karim believes that the suspension of sanctions has political dimensions represented in the desire of the European Union countries to pressure the Syrian government to involve “SDF” and self -administration in the political process, meaning that lifting the sanctions is an attempt to political political intervention in Syria.
Al -Marwan stressed that the Syrian government may not benefit much from lifting sanctions on the energy sector at the present time because of the continued control of the “SDF” forces on oil reserves, and this is the biggest challenge facing the Syrian government.
According to a report published on Al -Jazeera Net, the energy sector in Syria faces several challenges in addition to the sanctions, and the oil wells were subjected to sabotage and need wide maintenance, and the stoppage of field production for a period of time has consequences for the production process, as it becomes difficult to return to the old productive state until after re -preparation of fields.
Transportation sector
Al -Karim says it is impossible for the aviation sector to be developed with the suspension of European sanctions for several reasons:
- Because the Caesar law imposes sanctions on companies that deal with the Syrian state in the aviation sector, and prevents companies from supplying Syria by cutting maintenance and developing aviation. Therefore, no company will be venture to deal with the Syrian state for fear of US sanctions.
- The central bank’s inability to carry out financial transactions with international companies that will supply Syria to cut maintenance.
- The continuation of unstable conditions in Syria requires airlines to pay additional amounts to secure flights, which may hinder the management of flights to Syria extensively.
Al -Karim asserts that the decision to suspend European sanctions on the transport sector came with the aim of directing flights from European countries to Syria directly, to encourage the return of the voluntary refugees. In addition to removing obstacles from the front of European companies that seek to invest in Syria if state institutions are offered for privatization and investment, and to compete with China and Turkey in that.
Syria is still bound by the sanctions
The cream confirms that the European suspension of the sanctions did not include lifting the ban on the central bank and the commercial bank, which is the bank authorized to implement external commercial transactions and remittances, credits and financial guarantees.
If the Syrian state wants to import equipment for the energy sector or for another sector, it needs to be adopted by a documentary, or cash through banks, both of which are not available for use due to the sanctions. Thus, Syria is still deprived of external commercial transactions.
Al -Marwan confirms that the suspension of sanctions if the Central Bank of Syria will not include, the country will remain restricted in its external dealings in all sectors that require the conclusion of external contracts.
The most prominent challenges facing the new Syrian government can highlight with the sanctions:
- The absence of lawyers and public relations affiliated with the Syrian state in the European Union countries is following the file of sanctions, trying to remove the terms of sanctions and presses to reduce them.
- The lack of an economic team approved by the government is able to deal with the sanctions file.
- The lack of a layer of traders loyal to the new government carry out external commercial operations with their names and for the benefit of the government.
- The state does not have financial balances that enable it to develop institutions.
