6. EU ‘Sovereignty’ in Global Governance: The Case of Sanctions

The US rejection of multilateralism in favour of a unilateral, ‘America First’ strategy is exemplified by Washington’s increasing reliance on sanctions, including extraterritorial or secondary sanctions that prohibit US companies from conducting business with third parties dealing with sanctioned firms, effectively shutting them out of the US financial system. As the EU has become increasingly exposed to various US-led sanction regimes, its leaders have appealed for the construction of a ‘sovereign Europe’ fortified by a closer military and economic integration. Yet, US structural power remains—at least for the present time—very strong and in many respects decisive: there remains a wide gulf between the rhetoric of European assertiveness and the realities of power and economic interest. In the short term, it is highly unlikely that the EU can mount a successful challenge to the United States with respect to either sanctions or more general trade and monetary policies. However, in the longer term, it is possible that continuing US unilateralism will undermine the basis of its own legitimacy and power and that the EU can at least partially free itself from the American superpower.