Mr. Gerry Liston:

There is one important detail here. There is a trade agreement between the EU and Russia that provides for free movement of services and goods between the EU and Russia. It also contains a clause that provides for a public policy derogation. When the EU introduced sanctions on Russia in regard to Ukraine those sanctions were challenged as a breach of the trade agreement. It went to the European Court of Justice and the Advocate General in that case - it was a case called Rosneft - said the restrictions on trade in both goods and services would be justified on the basis of the public policy provision in the trade agreement because the restrictions arose from breaches of international law. That specific case was cited by Professor Tridimas in his 2018 opinion. While I see where the Cathaoirleach is coming from in that this is the EU acting in regard to Russia, there is a public policy relevance that has actually been addressed.