[JURIST] The European Union [official website] announced Friday its unanimous approval of a measure to end penalty sanctions imposed on $4 billion worth of US exports. The European Council recommended the sanctions end on February 1 and approved a program to reimburse all penalty fees collected in January. The penalty sanctions were put in place after the Senate approved a $5 million annual tax break for US exporters that was later ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization [official website]. Approval of the measure is in response to passage of a corporate tax reform bill [Washington Post report] by the Senate in October that repealed the tax break. AP has more.