On 13 November, the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU adopted conclusions on Venezuela, including the imposition of an arms embargo. On the back of a UN report that described a “worsening human rights situation … within a wider severe economic and social crisis in the country and an increasingly unstable and polarized national political situation”, the EU concluded that the setting up of an “all-powerful Constituent Assembly” contributed to the erosion of democratic and independent institutions.

The Council unanimously adopted restrictive measures, including an arms embargo, travel bans and asset freezes. It added that the measures will be employed in a “gradual and flexible manner”, and may be expanded or reversed depending on how the situation in Venezuela develops (see Council Regulation (EU) 2017/2063 and Council Decision (CFSP) 2017/2074).