COREPER

The ambassadors did the work on the 22nd package before ministers met. On 7 October 2026 they approved listings of 743 individuals and 826 entities, and on 12 October foreign ministers in Luxembourg adopted the package, adding nearly 1,600 names to the EU's Russia lists.

That followed a structural change in September. The Council renewed the individual sanctions regime for 36 months, to 2029, rather than the usual six, which removes a renewal vote every six months. The price was paid at ambassador level: Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman came off the list to win the deal.

The 21st Russia package needed three COREPER attempts between 13 and 22 July 2026. Greece and five other states held it, and Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Portugal each attached conditions that had nothing to do with oil, from fish quotas to visas and bank compensation.

The package cleared in time and was adopted on 23 July, freezing the $44 oil price cap for 12 months, barring 32 Russian banks and targeting more than 40 shadow-fleet vessels. For COREPER the episode showed where its leverage sits: unanimity, not agreement on policy, decides when a package moves.

On 3 June 2026 the ambassadors authorised the European Commission to join Pax Silica, the US-led semiconductor pact, committing the EU to spend at least $40bn on American AI chips. France opposed; Germany, Italy and the Netherlands carried it.

The Council validated the decision on 8 June, five days later. The sequence shows COREPER's reach on dossiers decided by qualified majority: a binding external commitment was settled at ambassador level, with France asking for clarity on the Council's own oversight role, before ministers or the public engaged.