Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 5 September 2018, Official Report, column 169, what progress the PM has made in pushing for new EU sanctions regimes against those responsible for cyber-attacks and gross human rights violations.

The UK has actively supported proposals for three new EU thematic sanctions regimes in order to strengthen our international resilience to hybrid threats. These regimes are in different stages of development in the EU.

The chemical weapons regime was adopted at the Foreign Affairs Council on 15 October, and on 21 January the EU adopted the first listings under that regime in response to the use of chemical weapons in Salisbury and Syria. These actions demonstrate the resolve of the UK and our allies to tackle the proliferation and use of chemical weapons in contravention of global norms.

We welcomed the October European Council conclusions which gave a mandate for work on EU cyber sanctions. We are coordinating with EU partners to support the development of a cyber sanctions regime. We are also very supportive of ongoing policy discussions following the Dutch initiative to establish an EU global human rights sanctions regime. This will strengthen the EU’s ability to tackle human rights violations and abuses, wherever they may occur, and allow the EU to respond quickly and appropriately.