At an informal dinner in Sofia on Wednesday 16 May, the European heads of state and government will discuss the Iranian nuclear deal and, notably, the measures the Europeans could take to counter the extraterritoriality of the US sanctions. On quitting the deal on 8 May, US President Donald Trump announced he would reimpose sanctions on Iran (see EUROPE 12018).
"We are studying the options to protect the economic interests, in a context of preserving the nuclear deal", the spokesperson for the European External Action Service, Maja Kocijancic, said on Tuesday 15 May. "To say the EU is staying in the deal means also covering the economic interests" of European businesses in Iran, a senior European official said. According to a source from the French Presidency, the objective is not "to return to a logic of confrontation but to preserve the interests of the Europeans".
During the dinner in Sofia, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is due to give his opinion "on the best way to preserve the interests of European businesses engaged in economic cooperation with Iran", according to the letter of invitation from European Council President Donald Tusk. This presentation will follow the discussion of the E3 foreign ministers (France, Germany and UK) with High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini on Tuesday evening, 15 May, and also a discussion of the college of commissioners on Wednesday 16 May.
Meetings follow one after another but the Europeans refuse to give in to panic. "We are not in a panic. We are not working under extreme time pressure", the senior official stated. The US sanctions will be re-instated in a little less than three months, and six months for the measures linked to energy. No decision is therefore expected to be taken at the dinner. "We will stay calm. It is not necessary that the meeting on Wednesday take decisions on the specific modalities on a mechanism to preserve European businesses, but the consensus on the need to protect these interests will be reconfirmed", the official said. He added that there would be a "complex and complete model of options both at the EU level and national level and, consequently, some time will perhaps be needed to put them in place".
"There is no magic option that can be implemented", he recognised, giving details of several options. The Europeans highlight the possibility of updating the "blocking statute". This regulation, from 1996, allows member states to bypass the US measures, enabling businesses not to comply with regulations concerning sanctions taken out by third countries. This regulation could be amended by the European Commission in order to include the new US measures. But its implementation would be complex because a business that is sanctioned by the US for its activity in Iran could be the subject of restrictive measures from its member state of origin, under this regulation, if it pays the fine imposed by Washington. The Europeans could also negotiate "exemptions" to the US sanctions.
The senior European official furthermore highlighted measures of trust, at a time when Iran is asking for "assurances" from the signatories of the nuclear deal. The European commissioner for energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, has confirmed his trip to Iran at the end of the week, in order to show that there is still a possibility of discussing cooperation on energy, at a time when the US sanctions focus on this subject.
According to the senior European official, "there are a certain number of actions taken at the national level". He said that some member states were considering the possibility of setting up "specific financial tools" that could also be useful for financing economic cooperation with Iran.
More generally, this source also said he expected the 28 EU member states to support the E3, both concerning the maintenance of the nuclear deal and also the possibility of conducting dialogue with Iran on its ballistic programme, on its role in the region and on the definition of a "long-term framework for Iran's nuclear programme after the expiry of some of the arrangements from 2025". "We are aiming to maintain the deal and to broaden the framework of work with Iran", a French source summed up.
Middle East invites itself to dinner
In his letter of invitation, Tusk furthermore said that the leaders would discuss the tragic events in Gaza. On Monday 14 May, dozens of Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire as they were demonstrating against the inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem (see EUROPE 12019). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)