The European Union and Cuba signed a political accord on Monday that the EU hopes will position its companies for Cuba's transition to a more open economy and allow it to press for political freedoms on the island.

In the biggest diplomatic breakthrough since the EU lifteds anctions on the communist-ruled island in 2008, the so-called political dialogue and cooperation agreement is the first accord between Cuba and the 28-nation bloc.

Although modest in scope, it follows more two decades of EU diplomacy to set out a framework for stronger ties and comes twoweeks after the death of Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro, whose imprisonment of dissidents long hampered better relations.

“We are starting to write a new chapter together,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said at signing ceremony with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla in Brussels, along with EU foreign ministers and ambassadors.

Offering condolences for Castro's death, Mogherini said the European Union was moving closer to Cuba as it underwent"profound change". EU officials say the deal gives European diplomats and officials the right to raise human rights issues directly with Cuba and to gently press for reforms.

She said the bloc also repealed its “common position” policy on Cuba dating from 1996 that set human rights and democracy as conditions on improved economic relations and which Cuba saw as interference in its internal affairs.

Rodriguez said the agreement would develop commercial,cultural, financial and scientific links across the Atlantic,saying the accord the proof both sides could “rise above our differences” and return to “mutual respect".

Normalization of relations has been tortuous partly because of resistance from the EU's eastern members due to their own communist past, while Havana's arrest of dissidents in 2003 led the bloc to impose diplomatic sanctions, limiting contacts.

The EU's strategy has been less trumpeted that Barack Obama's push for better ties with Havana, which culminated in his historic visit this year, the first by a U.S. president to Cuba in 88 years.

But EU officials say that given the United States economic embargo on Cuba since 1962 remains in place, Europe's new accord may do far more to end the island's isolation, with the EU already the top foreign investor in Cuba.

Rodriguez and Mogherini, at a joint news conference,dismissed any risk to the agreement following the U.S. election victory of Donald Trump, who has threatened to reverse Obama's easing of travel and other restrictions on Cuba.

“EU-Cuba relations do not go via Washington,” Rodriguez said.</s>Brussels (AFP) - The European Union and Cuba on Monday signed a deal to normalise ties that had been blocked for decades by human rights concerns under revolutionary icon Fidel Castro.

Cuba was the only Latin American country not to have a "dialogue and cooperation" deal with the 28-nation EU covering issues such as trade, human rights and migration.

But EU ministers last week dropped a policy in place since 1996 which stated that Cuba first had to improve its human rights record before getting closer links with the bloc.

Monday's accord was signed by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and representatives from the EU member states at a Brussels ceremony capping years of difficult negotiations.

Mogherini offered condolences on Castro's death, telling reporters it was "only natural that we are closer to Cuba as it undergoes profound change."

She said she was also "very encouraged" by dialogue with Havana on human rights and the accord would help foster Cuba's social and political modernisation.

Castro died last month after more than 50 years at the helm of a self-styled Socialist paradise reviled by the West, with Cuba gradually opening up to the world, including bitter foe Washington.

In 2003, the EU imposed sanctions on Cuba and suspended cooperation over a crackdown on journalists and activists and it took until 2008 to get talks going again.

- Trump election, no impact -

Rodriguez Parrilla said "we have had a few differences on the way but the removal of the (1996 EU) common position re-establishes normal relations based on mutual respect."

Asked what impact Donald Trump's election might have on US policy, he noted angrily that despite easing tensions, Washington had kept its economic embargo against Cuba.

"EU-Cuba relations do not go via Washington," he added.

Mogherini said she saw no reason for concern although Trump's shock election victory has stoked doubts in Europe about Washington's global stance and its crucial security guarantee.

"Developments in Washington will not affect in any way relations between the EU and Cuba," she said, stressing Brussels had and would continue to raise concerns about the impact of the US economic blockade on other countries.

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She also highlighted Europe's wider ties with the region as a whole.

"We are talking about a transatlantic link not only with the United States, but also with Cuba and Latin America."

On the campaign trail, Trump had threatened to end the thaw in US ties backed by President Barack Obama unless Havana made concessions on human rights and opened up its still largely state-run economy to private business.

"Economic links with Europe will continue to be a priority for Cuba as we build a socialist economy," Rodriguez Parrilla said at the signing ceremony.

He recalled a speech in 2003 in which Castro hailed the historical importance of the EU as a counterweight to the United States which imposed the trade embargo and other sanctions on Cuba after it sided with Moscow in the Cold War.</s>BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and Cuba signed a first-ever agreement on closer ties on Monday, and vowed that the arrival in office of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump would not impact on their future relations.

“This is a historic day, we’ve turned a page. Today we’re starting to write together a new chapter,” said EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini as the 28-nation EU’s top diplomats and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez signed the pact in Brussels.

The accord, aimed at supporting economic development and promoting democracy and human rights on the island, will form the legal platform for future ties between Brussels and Havana. The EU’s official stance toward Cuba dates from 1996.

Rodriguez said the priority would be to develop the Cuban economy, but he noted “one major obstacle to trade relations between the EU and Cuba” — the U.S. economic and financial blockade.

“We’ll have to see how things develop. But we very much hope that relations between the European Union and Cuba will continue to grow and enrich both sides,” he said, adding that ties “between the EU and Cuba do not go by Washington.”

Mogherini said the agreement is the result of a long process and that Trump’s inauguration in January “will not affect in any way relations between the European Union and Cuba.”

She also underlined that “the European Union has raised concerns about the extraterritorial effect of U.S. sanctions on Cuba. We will continue to do so because we believe that this is not only in the interest of the island and its people — all of them — but most of all in our case, it’s in the interest of Europeans to tackle this issue.”

Cuba puts the total cost of the 55-year-old embargo at $125.9 billion, including $4.6 billion last year.

The new pact must now be ratified by national and regional parliaments in all EU member states before it can enter completely into force, although the bloc has decided to provisionally apply parts of it immediately.</s>BRUSSELS: The EU and Cuba on Monday signed a deal to normalize ties that had been blocked for decades by human rights concerns under revolutionary icon Fidel Castro.

Cuba had been the only Latin American country that did not have a so-called “dialogue and cooperation” deal with the EU covering issues such as trade, human rights and migration.

But EU ministers last week agreed to drop a policy in place since 1996 which stated that Cuba first had to improve its human rights standards before getting closer links with the bloc.

The new agreement was signed by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and representatives from the 28 EU member states at a Brussels ceremony capping years of difficult negotiations.

“Economic links with Europe will continue to be a priority for Cuba as we build a socialist economy,” Parrilla said.

Castro died last month after more than 50 years at the helm of a self-styled Socialist paradise reviled by the West, with Cuba gradually opening up to the world, including bitter foe Washington.

In 2003, the EU had imposed sanctions on Cuba and suspended cooperation over a crackdown on journalists and activists and it took until 2008 to get talks going again.

Parrilla said the agreement “demonstrates that with good will and respect it is possible to make progress and resolve differences.”

He recalled a speech in 2003 in which Fidel Castro had hailed the historical importance of the EU as a counterweight to the United States which imposed a damaging trade embargo and other sanctions on Cuba after it sided with Moscow in the Cold War.

“The sovereignty and dignity of a people cannot be up for negotiation with anyone,” he said. AFP
Cuba and the European Union sign an accord in Brussels to normalize relations, formally ending the Common Position which was adopted by the Council of the European Union in 1996.