The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into an arbitration award that ordered Romania to pay €42.2 million plus interest and costs to ten energy investors over changes to a renewable electricity support scheme.
Romania set up a support scheme for electricity from renewable sources using “green certificates” — tradable credits designed to encourage renewable generation — which the Commission approved under EU state aid rules in July 2011, the Commission explained in a release on Wednesday.
Romania amended the scheme several times from 2013 onwards, with changes approved by the Commission under state aid rules in May 2015 and December 2016.
The dispute involves ten companies that invested in five solar photovoltaic power plants that benefitted from the scheme, including LSG Building Solutions GmbH, Green Source Consulting GmbH, Core Value Investments GmbH & Co. KG Gamma, Core Value Capital GmbH, Anina Pro Invest Ltd. and others listed by the Commission.
The investors launched arbitration proceedings after the amendments, seeking compensation for support they said they would have received if the scheme had not been modified.
An arbitral tribunal found Romania had infringed the Energy Charter Treaty — an international agreement covering energy investment — and on 20 February 2024 ordered Romania to compensate the investors.
The award totals €42.2 million plus interest and additional costs.
Romania notified the award to the Commission under state aid rules and said it had made a payment under the award into an account opened in the name of the beneficiaries.
What the Commission is looking at
At this stage, the Commission’s preliminary view is that the arbitration award and its implementation amount to state aid under Article 107(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and are incompatible with the EU internal market.
The Commission said it will investigate whether the measure can be compatible with the internal market, including whether it breaches the EU Treaties.
The Commission stated further that the dispute was an intra-EU case, meaning it was between investors and an EU member state within the EU.
It said it will assess whether the award and its implementation could breach EU treaty provisions linked to the ultimate jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union, including Article 19(1) of the Treaty on European Union and Articles 267 and 344 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Opening an in-depth investigation allows Romania and third parties to submit comments and does not prejudge the outcome.
The Commission also pointed to Court of Justice case law stating that intra-EU investor–state arbitration is contrary to EU law, citing the 2018 Achmea judgment and the 2021 Komstroy judgment, which found the Energy Charter Treaty’s arbitration clause cannot apply within the EU.
The EU’s withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty took effect on 27 June 2025, while Romania withdrew on 22 May 2026 with effect from 23 May 2027.
