A European Union commission spokeswoman has called Cuba's move to re-establish contacts with eight EU countries "a step in the right direction".
Monday's move signalled a thaw in the "cocktail wars" which have stymied Cuba-EU ties since June 2003.
The dispute boiled over when eight European embassies began inviting Cuban dissidents to parties in protest at Cuba's human rights record.
A prominent dissident said the European gesture had served its purpose.
Piecemeal peacemaking
The spokeswoman for the commission - the EU's executive arm - said Cuba's decision to re-establish contacts with eight European capitals was a "positive development".
" Changes in Cuba depend on us, on the people of Cuba "
The Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia remain out of Cuba's favour. Diplomats say those nations have opposed a softening of ties with Havana.
The dispute began over Cuba's imprisonment of 75 dissidents - which Havana says are mercenaries in the pay of Washington - and its execution of three men who attempted to hijack a ferry.
The European Union announced it would limit high-level government contacts in response. It also began inviting Cuban dissidents to national-day celebrations at embassies.
Havana was so enraged by the move that it cut contacts with all European embassies except Belgium, which did not invite dissidents to events.
European rethink
But Spain has spearheaded a new approach calling for increased European dialogue with Cuba.
And last month Brussels proposed a compromise: not to ask any Cubans to future receptions, whether they are government ministers or dissidents.
In Havana, Oswaldo Paya, one of the leaders of the dissident Varela democracy project, played down the apparently conciliatory air.
"The EU had made the decision to invite us as an expression of solidarity with the people of Cuba, as a gesture of displeasure with the detention of our 75 brothers," Mr Paya told the Associated Press news agency.
He said change in Cuba depended "on us, on the people of Cuba".
He said that within the EU there was "the goodwill to contribute" to such change.
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