EU calls on US to adhere to agreement to grant consistent waiver for EU firms

The European Union on Wednesday reiterated its opposition to European firms and citizens being caught out by U.S. sanctions on Cuba, calling on Washington to adhere to a 1998 agreement to grant a consistent waiver for EU companies and citizens.

"The EU reiterates a strong opposition to the extraterritorial application of unilateral restrictive measures which is considers contrary to international law," a spokesman for the EU executive told a briefing in Brussels. The EU has serious concerns over the decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the practice of suspending on a rotating six-month basis a section of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act that would allow such suits, principally from Cuban-Americans.