ACSS Benelux Chapter: 2025 Outlook for EU Sanctions & Export Controls

Mr Eeuwke Faber is Director of the Sanctions Unit and Sanctions Envoy in the Netherlands MFA since March 2024. Previously he worked as deputy Director General for International Migration Policy at the NL Ministry of Justice and Security.

Eeuwke studied Law and Criminology at Utrecht University and La Sapienza University in Rome and obtained his Law degree in 1993 in Utrecht, and was a PhD candidate at the same university.

He entered the Dutch foreign service in 1998. He has inter alia been a legal advisor in the International Law department and the deputy head of the counter-terrorism and national security division at the MFA’s Security Department. He has been posted at the Netherlands Permanent Representation to the UN in Geneva and at the Netherlands Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels, first as enlargement counsellor and then as Antici at the Netherlands Permanent Mission to the EU, including during the 2016 NL EU Presidency. From 2016 to 2021 Eeuwke was Head of the EU External Affairs division in the MFA.

Ingrid Breit is currently Deputy Head of Unit at the European Commission, DG Justice, Criminal Law.

The unit ensures, inter alia, the consistency and homogeneity of criminal law policy under the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty, prepares legislative proposals in the field of substantive criminal law and monitors their implementation. It manages relations with EU agencies and bodies, such as Eurojust and EPPO. It also coordinates work related to Ukraine and in particular the work of the Freeze and Seize Task Force and war crimes investigation and prosecution.

Ingrid Breit previously worked in DG Competition, notably in the area of cartels. Prior to joining the European Commission, she worked as a Référendaire at the General Court of the European Union.

She holds a degree in law from the University of Vienna, a Master in European Law from the Catholic University of Leuven and a PhD from the University of Vienna.

Several years of experience as a licensing officer at the CDIU and specialist in the field of export control and European sanctions

Eric (M.R.) Vennekens (1963) has a masters degree in Tax Law from Leiden University and started his career working for the Dutch Tax authorities back in 1986. Via position as auditor at the tax office, investigator and team lead at the investigation branch of the Dutch Tax authorities (FIOD) he moved to the other side of the table as a tax consultant at Deloitte focusing on indirect taxes and customs. In 2000 Eric assumed a position in the tax department of ASML in Veldhoven were he became globally responsible for indirect taxes, customs and export controls. After various functions within ASML he is now a member of the ASML Legal & Compliance team as Director Export Controls & Sanctions with a focus on Europe.

Next to his role at ASML, Eric is a deputy-judge at the Customs Court of the Rechtbank Noord-Holland, a frequent guest speaker at Rotterdam School of Management of Erasmus University and an examiner of the EVO-FENEX course Manager Trade & Customs.

Kester Meijer works at KLM Cargo as Director Operational Integrity, Compliance & Safety. Kester is member of the KLM Cargo management team.

Kester enjoys working with people in industry, regulations, enforcement and technology.
He has extensive knowledge and experience in both Air Cargo Supply Chain Logistics, Compliance and ICT. Putting this unique combination to work on connecting with stakeholders and orchestrating innovative concepts, where processes are combined with new technology and standards. He strongly believes our industry is in the era of a paradigm shift, where Data, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Blockchain will provide new ways to collaborate and connect. The future of Smart Borders and Air Cargo is to pre-check everything upstream and ensure a smooth shipment journey! The design of smart border assessment capacity has proven it's value on several topics like Strategic/Military/Dual-Use goods and on the latest developments on Sanctions.

Then came the Covid crisis: together with the VP Worldwide Ops and Director Cargo Control Center, the three of us reshaped the global operations within the matter of weeks to be a flexible organization with commitment and purpose to Deliver our Promise. Building on operational excellence principles (OpsX) we were able to reduce throughput time and the cost of non-performance. From a high performance team perspective both my colleagues requested me to chair the global OpsX calls, which provide a drumbeat of continuous improvement and balancing workload and resource allocation for higher quality output monitored by Cargo iQ and GDP standards.

Key areas are Compliance, Safety, Customs, Sanctions, Security, Environment, Anti Counterfeit, Wildlife protection, Cargo Knowledge Center, Industry representation, Blockchain innovations.

Gonzalo Saiz is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI, focusing on sanctions and counter threat finance. His research focuses on sanctions implementation, circumvention and evasion tactics, and sanctions enforcement. He leads the research of SIFMANet, the Sanctions and Illicit Finance Monitoring and Analysis Network, as well as RUSI’s UK Sanctions Taskforce and Maritime Sanctions Taskforce. Gonzalo also researches counter terrorist financing, as part of Project CRAAFT (Collaboration, Research and Analysis Against Financing of Terrorism).

Jeff Nielsen is a sanctions and export controls lawyer with over 20 years’ experience representing clients in diverse industries, both at law firms and in-house. His expertise is in both United States and European Union sanctions and export controls laws.

Sebastiaan is one of the founding partners of Bennink Dunin-Wasowicz and he enjoys a stellar reputation as leading expert in the international trade law community. Sebastiaan has vast experience in providing pioneering technical and strategic advice in complex national and cross-border trade law related matters to (inter)national clients operating in a wide range of industries and jurisdictions.

Sebastiaan’s practice focuses on advising and representing clients on export controls and economic sanctions and he also assists clients on other compliance related matters. Sebastiaan conducts internal investigations, prepares voluntary disclosures, and he frequently represents clients in regulatory enforcement actions with national and foreign competent authorities. Clients highly regard Sebastiaan’s direct, clear and practical advice, as well as his sharp legal analyses, his result-driven approach and in-depth knowledge of their business. Sebastiaan has exceptional knowledge of export controls and sanctions and has a great ability to break down the most complex legal challenges into a readily comprehensible advice.

Furthermore, Sebastiaan lectures on economic sanctions and export controls and is a regular speaker at (inter)national conferences and seminars about these and other compliance-related topics. In addition, Sebastiaan frequently publishes articles in legal magazines and is regularly quoted in various (inter)national media outlets.

Jan Dunin-Wasowicz is a founding partner of Bennink Dunin-Wasowicz, a law firm based in Paris and Amsterdam that focuses on economic sanctions, export controls, trade compliance and European security law more generally.

Jan advises clients on the full spectrum of regulatory compliance, implementation and enforcement matters, including risk assessments, design and evaluation of sanctions and export control compliance programs, merges & acquisitions, contractual negotiation and reviews, transaction due diligence, licensing, internal investigations, remediation and related disputes, including assisting clients in connection with pre-litigation matters and disputes arising out of sanctions and export controls, including in international arbitration.. Jan has particular experience with enhanced sanctions and export controls due diligence, particularly in the context of detecting and preventing circumvention risks or evaluating other high-risk projects or transactions. He has unique experience preventing sanctions violations in third countries.

Named among the best investigations lawyers in the world to Global Investigations Review (GIR)’s 2024 40 under 40 list, Jan was recognized as a Power Player in International Trade & Sanctions by Worldwide Financier Magazine in 2023 and 2024. Prior to founding Bennink Dunin-Wasowicz in 2024, Jan was Partner and Co-Chair of Sanctions, Export Controls & Anti-Money Laundering practice group of a New York law firm, based in the Paris office. Fully trained in the civil and common law systems and with a background in policy , Jan is a member of the Paris, New York & D.C. bars. He speaks English, French, Polish and German.

Saskia is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists (ACSS), a professional membership body for sanctions professionals worldwide. She is a Certified Sanctions Specialist (CSS) and an industry leader in financial crime topics. Saskia has over 15 years of Sanctions/AML experience in the U.S., Latin America and Europe. Her global footprint enables Saskia to apply valuable expertise and insight into international training and financial crime compliance projects.

She is a frequent speaker in English, Spanish and Dutch on a variety of financial crime topics.

She earned law degrees from Leiden University (Netherlands) and Universidad La Católica (Lima, Peru), and was admitted to the Lima Bar Association. She also holds an international MBA from Florida International University. She speaks fluent Dutch, English and Spanish, as well as basic German.