The General Court of the European Union has annulled the revocation of the EU recognition of the ship classification society Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RMRS), but rejected the rest of the appeal filed by the company which is entirely controlled by the Russian state. Therefore, the ban and the prohibition of transactions. For the judges, the sanctions were legitimate, but the Council of the EU could suspend the recognition instead of revoking it, and therefore the revocation was disproportionate.

Since 1998, the RMRS has been among the EU-recognised bodies that Member States may mandate inspections and certifications on its own. On March 11, 2022, the Russian company Excluded from the International Association of Societies classification of IACS. With the appeal, the company requested annulment of four sectoral measures in Decision 2014/512 of which introduced restrictive measures against the Russia in response to its actions to destabilize the situation in Ukraine, and the corresponding rules of the Regulation 833/2014, in so far as they concern it and as extended by five decisions between 2024 and 2025.

The judges ruled that the withdrawal of EU recognition was disproportionate: suspending recognition would have stopped the RMRS as much as the revocation, because it prevents him from doing inspections and certifications reserved for recognised bodies. But With the revocation, if the sanctions were to fall, the company should start from a new procedure with an uncertain outcome, while with a the authorities could reuse the assessments already made. Risks to maritime safety mentioned by the Council and the European Commission have not been demonstrated, and if the sanctions were to fall, it would be up to the Commission Verify that the company complies with the security criteria.

As regards prohibitions on investments and transactions, the courts considered that they are not manifestly inadequate: the company it has 4,207 ships in class, of which 3,772 are Russian, and the measurements can be reduce the influence of the Russian state in the maritime sector. Not the non-profit nature or the absence of dividends paid count to the State. Exempting EU subsidiaries would open up to circumvention and not the feasibility of a distinction has been demonstrated between services.

The revocation - specifies the Court's decision - will remain therefore effective for no more than two months and ten days from sentence.