Press Release: EU regrets extension of US sanctions law against Iran and Libya

In a statement on 31 July 2001 the European Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten, expressed his regrets about the decision of the US Congress on 27 July to extend the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) for another five years. As a matter both of principle and policy, the European Union has long opposed unilateral sanctions laws with extraterritorial effects. Such laws, designed to impose US requirements on economic operators of foreign countries, threaten the open international trading system.