The Commission has decided to open infringement proceedings against Austria, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and Italy for failing to effectively remove from their legal orders the intra-EU Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) to which they are contracting parties, so that they cease to produce any legal effects. It has been the Commission's long-standing position that BITs between EU Member States constitute a parallel treaty system overlapping and conflicting with Union law, thereby preventing its full application. Following the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Achmea (C-284/16), all Member States committed in 2019 to terminate their intra-EU BITs in a coordinated manner by means of either plurilateral agreementor expedient bilateral terminations. The Commission notes that Austria and Sweden did not sign the plurilateral agreement with other Member States and have not finalised the bilateral termination of their intra-EU BITs. Meanwhile, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and Italy signed the plurilateral agreement in May 2020, but have not yet completed its ratification process, necessary to ensure legal certainty for investors and businesses. The Commission urges the above mentioned Member States to urgently take all necessary action to remove the intra-EU BITs from their legal order, bearing in mind their incompatibility with Union law. Without a satisfactory response from them within two months, the Commission may decide to address reasoned opinions. In addition, the Commission has sent a complementary reasoned opinion to Sweden for failing effectively to ensure that its Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with Romania ceases to produce legal effects. Although Sweden removed the BIT from its legal order formally and unambiguously via mutual agreement with Romania, it has failed to ensure the required degree of legal certainty for investors and businesses, as it did not eliminate in practice all legal effects that the BIT had produced since its incompatibility with Union law first arose. This has enabled arbitral tribunals to take their own view as to the validity of the BIT, so far upholding its applicability and accepting jurisdiction based on its provisions. The Commission urges Sweden to take all necessary actions to ensure that its BIT with Romania ceases to produce legal effects, bearing in mind the incompatibility of the BIT with Union law. Without a satisfactory response from Sweden within the next two months, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The Hanwha Group, a major South Korean arms manufacturer, intends to build an arms factory in Romania's southern Dâmbovița county within two years, with the prospect of it becoming a regional hub for systems, maintenance, and repairs. The announcement was made by Michael Coulter, CEO of Hanwha Global Defense, during a meeting with Romanian journalists. "In […]
The 10th edition of the Jazz in the Church festival will be held at the Lutheran Church in Bucharest from May 8 to 11, 2025, featuring a mix of artists recognized for their contributions to European jazz, as well as new artists. Among the major names on the lineup are Swiss artist Nik Bärtsch and […]
The famous Constanța Casino on the Romanian Black Sea coast has been fully restored and will be officially handed over to the Constanța City Hall in the coming days, the Ministry of Development has announced. The final inspection for the completion of the restoration work is scheduled for March 20, marking the last step before […]
Romania is one of five countries - alongside Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, and Slovakia - where the executive has "deliberately undermined the rule of law in almost every aspect," according to a report by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, or Liberties. Liberties launched its annual exercise in 2019 to track the European Commission’s rule-of-law reports, […]
Artiss Gallery is set to open a new exhibition, Temporal Harmonies: From Classical to Contemporary in Visual Art, at the Noblesse Palace in Bucharest on March 26. The event will feature a diverse selection of works from iconic classical painters like Theodor Aman to internationally recognized contemporary artists such as Adrian Ghenie. The exhibition highlights […]
Romania is assisting North Macedonia after the deadly nightclub fire on Sunday, March 16, by transporting four patients to hospitals abroad. The fire that broke out at a club in Kočani claimed the lives of at least 59 people and injured 155 others. The four young people in critical condition are being flown to Lithuania […]
