After more than 50 years of frozen relations, on 1 July 2015, the United States and Cuba announced the re-opening of embassies in each other’s capitals. The U.S.-Cuba thaw can also benefit the European Union’s relations with the island, which have been partly hindered by the American sanctions. The EU should enhance its contacts, mainly economic, with Cuba to support the U.S.-Cuba reconciliation and lead to the abolition of existing trade barriers that negatively affect European companies.