THE REVIVAL OF TRANSATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP? EU-US COORDINATION IN SANCTIONS POLICY

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) in sanctions policy. After a brief introduction to the increased use of unilateral sanctions as a foreign policy tool by the EU and the US, the existing mechanisms for transatlantic sanctions coordination are scrutinised. Subsequently, the practice of sanctions coordination in the cases of Iran and Russia is addressed. Finally, the challenges in relation to the extraterritorial application of US sanctions are discussed in light of the EU’s ambition to strengthen its strategic autonomy. Whereas the geopolitical context, with Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and new security challenges from emerging powers such as China and India, explains the revival of transatlantic sanctions coordination, the US practice of secondary sanctions complicates the relations in case of divergence.