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.
Romania, which for years ranked last in the EU for packaging waste recycling, now stands at the forefront of Europe’s circular economy, proving that a country with initially fragile infrastructure can implement, in record time, one of the most effective collection and recycling systems in Europe. This rapid transformation is taking place in a European […]
Tucked inside Radisson Blu Hotel, Bucharest, Ginger Sushi Bar & Lounge marks the turn of the year with an intimate New Year’s Eve dining experience built around a multi-course tasting menu. From 19:00 onwards, guests are welcomed to a carefully paced evening that blends Japanese inspiration with premium ingredients, from scallops and Wagyu to Chilean […]
Romanian non-profit Dăruiește Viață has completed a new renovation project at the “Louis Țurcanu” Emergency Children’s Hospital in Timișoara, upgrading the Pediatric Onco-Hematology Transplant Unit to modern medical standards. The investment, worth approximately EUR 150,000, was funded by Linde Gaz Romania and Atos Global Delivery Center. The organisation has been working with the Timișoara hospital […]
The multimedia exhibition Aici Se Vede Jazz (Here You Can See Jazz), set to open at SAC Berthelot in Bucharest, explores how jazz found its way in the pre-1990 Bucharest and “the contemporary ways to listen, visualize, perform and relate artistically to its world of sounds and ideas.” Bucharest had improvised studios, rehearsals with the […]
Aon Romania, part of the global group Aon plc, draws attention to the urgent need for structured solutions to protect trade receivables in an economic context characterized by high volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. The subject was central to the discussions at TRADE CREDIT TALKS - Receivable Protection in the Age of Volatility, where business leaders […]
Bucharest’s shopping centres posted mixed financial results in 2024, with major discrepancies between the city’s largest malls and mid-sized retail centres, according to financial analysis platform RisCo.ro. The data shows contrasts in profitability and turnover, as well as significant losses among some of the capital’s biggest retail projects. AFI Cotroceni recorded the highest turnover of […]
