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 BCR Romania Manufacturing PMI index has further slipped to 47.2 in November from 47.6 in October, signalling that the downward momentum which began last month has persisted. Not only the output sub-indicator, but also the new orders have deteriorated marginally compared to October and significantly compared to September, when the index neared the 50-point […]
Prime minister Ilie Bolojan will travel to Vienna on December 3-4 for an official visit mainly focused on energy cooperation and strengthening bilateral ties. The visit takes place at the invitation of Austria’s federal chancellor, Christian Stocker, according to the official announcement from...
Nhood, an integrated real estate services and solutions company present in 10 European countries, including Romania, has appointed Mihaela Petruescu as the new Country Director for Property Services Romania & Poland as of October. With nearly 20 years of experience in the real estate sector, Mihaela brings robust expertise in property management and leasing, operational […]
“Catane,” a dark comedy inspired by real events and directed by Ioana Mischie, is set to have its first special screenings in Romania after a successful festival circuit. The film had its world premiere at the IFFI Goa festival in India and was nominated this year at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards for Best […]
Romania is among the European countries where water reserves are decreasing at an alarming rate, according to an analysis carried out by researchers from University College London in collaboration with The Guardian and Watershed Investigations. Scientists analyzed data from the period 2002–2024 provided by satellites that monitor changes in the Earth's...
George Smyth, 18, went missing on a hike near Romania’s famous Bran Castle more than a week ago. On November 23, the British citizen started to suffer from hypothermia and exhaustion and called the emergency services. Trying to locate him, mountain rescue services conducted searches over the next few days but were only able to […]
