On Monday 24 September, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini announced that the EU countries that are members of the Iranian nuclear deal would set up a "special purpose vehicle" (or SPV) in order to help European companies that are still signatories to the deal to do business in Iran despite the US sanctions.
"In practical terms this will mean that EU member states will set up a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran and this will allow European companies to continue trade with Iran, in accordance with European Union law, and could be opened to other partners in the world", Mogherini said at the end of the ministerial meeting between China, Germany, France, the UK and Russia which took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York (see other article).
Technical meetings will take place to set out the details of the modalities for such a financial instrument, which the Commission was not able to explain in detail on Tuesday. Acting as a clearing house, the mechanism would enable revenues generated by the export of Iranian oil to pay the foreign suppliers of companies situated in Iran, according to French news agency AFP.
As regards the timetable, a European Commission spokesperson nevertheless made a link with the entry into force, in early August, of the swift update of the Blocking Law, the 1996 regulation aiming to neutralise the extra-territorial effects of US sanctions in the EU (see EUROPE 12077).
In May, the US decided unilaterally to leave the Iranian nuclear deal and to sanction companies active on its territory that continued to trade with Iran. In early November, new sanctions will directly hit Iranian oil exports and banking operations with this country.
In their joint statement adopted on Monday 24 September, the countries still party to the Iranian nuclear deal underlined their "determination to protect the freedom of their economic operators to pursue legitimate business with Iran". They also said that they were "mindful of the urgency and the need for tangible results" and that they "welcomed practical proposals to maintain and develop payment channels, notably the initiative to establish a Special Purpose Vehicle, to facilitate payments related to Iran's exports (including oil) and imports". (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)