European Parliament receives petition against blockade of Cuba

The petition was presented by Cuba Coopération France, the State Movement of Solidarity with Cuba in Spain, the National Association of Friendship Italy-Cuba and the Swedish-Cuban Solidarity Association, and requests concrete answers from European Union (EU) institutions and the use of the legal tools available to deal with the siege and its consequences.

It includes a request to the European Commission to submit an initiative to the European Parliament as soon as possible allowing the designation of banks in the EU Member States to carry out financial transactions with Cuba, an almost impossible scenario at present due to the fear of sanctions and pressure from Washington.

The promoters of the petition recall that between 2009 and 2016, European banks paid 16 billion dollars in fines imposed by the United States under cover of the extraterritoriality of their attacks on Cuba.

It also urges the Commission to develop a mechanism aimed at putting into practice the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Cuba, especially in its economic and commercial aspects and in those related to the neutralization of the extraterritorial effects of the policy, while it remains in force.

The petition also includes the call for the Commission to investigate the direct economic consequences of the blockade for European banks and companies.

It also contains the demand that the Committee on Petitions analyze the issue and formally notify the competent US authority of the EU’s rejection of the blockade and its extraterritoriality, transmit the initiative received to the concerned committees of the European Parliament and assess the possibility of convening a hearing on the situation.