A special body will monitor the implementation of EU sanctions against the Russian Federation.

The European Commission is preparing to launch a project with nine member states to identify gaps in the sanctions program against Russia and improve coordination between national governments when sanctions are applied, reported Bloomberg.

The project will become the basis for creating a new EU body for coordinating sanctions supervision. The Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain are participating in the project. The initiative will run for two years, starting around June.

The group will map the organizations responsible for asset freezes, consider best practices and improve the implementation of sanction compliance measures.

Agency sources reported that a large group of EU member states have shown interest in the new initiative, but only nine countries decided to participate in the project actively