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Members of the European Parliament led by a British Labour MEP is approaching Washington in a bid to arrive at a common approach to Cuba

Alan Donnelly, who is President of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with the United States has approached members of the US Congress in an attempt to defuse the apparently intractable stand-off over trade linked to the Helms Burton and Kennedy D'Amato legislation.

Helms Burton penalises foreign firms which invest in Cuba and the D'Amato laws threaten similar sanctions against companies which trade with Libya and Iran.

"It's up to us politicians to deal with the US Congress," he says.

EU Commissioner Leon Brittan has welcomed the move saying that the Congress's "inward looking and unilateral approach to foreign policy" made finding common solutions difficult.

Rumours abound about a meeting in London between Congressional leaders and the Donnelly group, but a spokesperson for the Tyne and Wear MEP told CubaSi that these were wholly wrong:

"There has been no date set," he said in early January, " The initiative is still on the drawing board and if there is a meeting, it will be in Washington, not London."

The spokesperson would not be drawn on Mr. Donnelly's views on Cuba, but Stan Newens, the former President of the Parliament's Central America Delegation fears a compromise which could be damaging to the island's economy:

"I fear that Leon Brittan is moving towards approving a settlement which involves the EU agreeing to dissuade businesses from investing in Cuba," he told CubaSi, "It is extremely important that there should be no concessions whatsoever to the United States and especially discouraging investment in Cuba."

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