Description
Following its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the United States (US) re-imposed unilateral sanctions against Iran, some of which are extra-territorial in nature and prohibit non-US natural and legal persons from trade with and investment in Iran. Non-complying European businesses face fines and US access restrictions. The extra-territorial sanctions not only put pressure on individual economic operators, but they also interfere with the foreign policy choices of the European Union (EU) who supports legitimate trade with Iran.
The experienced severity of the negative impact created by unilateral extra-territorial sanctions is highlighted by the language used by the EU, who started to link their use to the security of the Union. In particular, the EU has started to view the use of soft powers such as trade as a weapon and as an instrument of political competition, and it has expressed the aim to increase its strategic autonomy in the fields of finance and economics in response. The economic sovereignty of the EU is viewed to be central for the EU’s common foreign and security policy. The paper will discuss the impact of unilateral extra-territorial sanctions on the strategic autonomy of the EU and will address the effectiveness of the EU’s current and planned responses to counter their negative effects.
