A joint statement from the U.S. Treasury Department and the European Union outlining their intentions to work more closely together on sanctions was released and made public on the U.S. department’s website.

The parties declared that they are « committed to tighter coordination on sanctions as a critical tool to accomplish shared foreign policy goals. »

In order to coordinate sanctions enforcement, encourage compliance, and bolster enforcement, representatives from the EU Financial Services Authority, the European External Action Service, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department met in Brussels in April, according to the statement.

The parties also looked at ways to ensure that people living in sanctioned countries may still exercise their online freedoms, and that sanctions do not prevent humanitarian trade and aid from reaching those in need, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

Sanctions are most effective, the department noted, when planned with a « wide range of international partners » who can amplify their political and economic effects.

source: reuters.com