EU vows response to US move over confiscated Cuba property

Brussels: The EU vowed to take "appropriate measures", including at the WTO, against the United States' full implementation of the Helms-Burton Act on Thursday, which would open the way for lawsuits in US courts over property confiscated by Cuba.

The EU considers the "application of unilateral restrictive measures to be contrary to international law", the EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement on Thursday.

President Donald Trump's administration announced in April that it would allow lawsuits in US courts over properties seized by Cuba's communist government, enforcing a provision of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act that had been waived by successive presidents.

The European Union and Canada have expressed displeasure over the US action, concerned that the property disputes will ensnare their citizens who do business in the island. "The European Union deeply regrets the full activation of the 1996 Helms-Burton (LIBERTAD) Act by the United States," Mogherini said.

"The decision... is a

breach of the commitments undertaken in the EU-US agreements of 1997 and 1998, which had been respected by both sides without interruption since then.

"This will cause unnecessary friction and undermines trust and predictability in the transatlantic partnership." She said the EU "will draw on all appropriate measures to address the effects of the Helms-Burton Act, including in relation to its (World Trade Organization) rights and through the use of the EU Blocking Statute."