EU Council moves to list Social Design Agency under Russia destabilisation sanctions

The Council of the European Union has formally notified the entity Social Design Agency that it intends to add it to the EU sanctions regime targeting Russia’s destabilising activities, according to a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union, C series, of 15 October 2026 (C/2026/5410; CELEX C_202605410). The entity, already designated under the EU’s Ukraine territorial-integrity sanctions, has until 22 October 2026 to ask the Council for the information behind the planned listing.

The notice states that Social Design Agency currently appears in the Annex to Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP and in Annex I to Council Regulation (EU) No 269/2014, the framework concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Those two instruments were published in OJ L 78 of 17 March 2014, at pages 16 and 6 respectively.

The Council now envisages including the same entity in Annex I to Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/2643 and in Annex I to Council Regulation (EU) 2024/2642, the regime concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s destabilising activities, “on the basis of new evidence and with new statement of reasons”. Both acts were published in OJ L, 2024/2643 and 2024/2642, of 9 October 2024.

A second listing under a different regime

The move would place Social Design Agency under a second, distinct EU sanctions framework. The 2024/2643 and 2024/2642 regime addresses actions attributable to the Government of the Russian Federation that undermine democracy, the rule of law, stability or security in the Union, in a Member State or in a third country, including through the use of information manipulation and interference.

The notice does not disclose the new evidence or the content of the new statement of reasons. It only informs the entity of the envisaged listing and of its procedural rights; no decision to include the entity has been published.

Deadline, address and procedural rights

The notice sets a single deadline and a single contact point for the entity:

• Deadline to request information from the Council: before 22 October 2026.
• Addressee: Council of the European Union, General Secretariat, RELEX.1 Horizontal and Global Affairs.
• Postal address: Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175, 1048 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË.
• Email: sanctions@consilium.europa.eu.
• Official reference of the notice: C/2026/5410, ELI http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/5410/oj.

Background: a regime renewed days earlier

The notice follows the renewal of the destabilisation regime. Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/2258 of 8 October 2026 amended Decision (CFSP) 2024/2643, extending the measures until 9 October 2027, amending the entries concerning eight natural persons and deleting one entry from Annex I. The accompanying Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2257 implemented the corresponding changes to Regulation (EU) 2024/2642.

In its recitals, the amending decision cites a report approved by the European Parliament on 16 September 2026 that warned against increased hybrid threats against the Union and identified Russia as the gravest hybrid-threat state actor targeting it. A separate notice published on 9 October 2026 (C/2026/5277) confirmed that the measures continue to apply to the persons and entities already listed, who may ask the Council to reconsider their inclusion until 9 June 2027.

For readers, the notice is a procedural step rather than a final designation: it opens a short window in which Social Design Agency can obtain the Council’s file before any decision to list it under the Russia destabilisation regime. If the inclusion goes ahead, the entity would be added to a second EU sanctions list alongside the Ukraine-related measures it already faces.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union (C series), C/2026/5410, 15 October 2026, Section I, p. 1/1 (official reference: CELEX C_202605410).