THE Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Spring, said last night he had noted "with considerable concern" that the US had adopted "legislation with extra territorial effect" penalising non US companies that invested in the oil and gas sectors in Iran and Libya.
In a statement, Mr Spring pointed out that the European Union's objections to such measures had already been clearly stated in response to the HelmsBurton legislation last month on Cuba.
The EU would be examining the measures on Iran and Libya "in the same spirit", he said.
Mr Spring said the statement by, the EU Trade Commissioner, Sir Leon Britain, in favour of united action by the member states was "very relevant in this regard".
Mr Spring said he deplored terrorism in any form, anywhere in the world he fully supported international efforts to counteract terrorism and he shared the concerns of the US in this area.
But he added a note of caution. "Those efforts, including the efforts of the member states of the European Union, will be enhanced if they are taken jointly and if they respect each other's rights and interests."
Although the Tanaiste's statement was issued on European presidency notepaper, a spokesman pointed out that Mr Spring was speaking in his capacity as deputy head of the Irish Government and not as president of the EU Council of Ministers.
In an RTE interview, Mr Spring said the EU was "extremely worried" about the new US legislation, which was "fundamentally wrong".
Ireland was discussing the issue with its EU partners at the present time. We certainly will be taking it up with Washington. It's not the right way to go about business. There's a very strong relationship between the United States and Europe which we want to cultivate but this is not going to help matters."
There had been rumours that the legislation was imminent but nothing that he would describe as consultation. "In matters like this I believe, in the interests of everybody, there should be consultation," Mr Spring said.
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said they understood it was most unlikely any Irish companies would be affected by the legislation.
