Bélgica libera 75 millones embargados a Enaire por pleitos de renovables contra España

Belgian courts have overturned a freezing order imposed by the Blasket fund on renewable energy rates managed by Eurocontrol, reinforcing EU community law that prohibits executing intra-community judgments. This judicial review is part of the ongoing offensive by renewable energy claimants against Spanish assets abroad. Belgian justice has fully accepted the appeal submitted by the General Council of the State and Enaire, annulling the embargo order on the income Spain receives from managing its air traffic control and transferring to Enaire monthly.

In a sentence dated October 20th, the ninth civil division of the Belgian First Instance Court in Brussels declared illegal and irregular the authorization of the embargo granted to the American fund Blasket and ordered the immediate release of the 75.7 million euros that Spain had deposited as collateral. This resolution halts the strategy by Blasket to collect the award won by RREEF in 2019 by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which condemned Spain to pay a compensation of 59.6 million euros.

The fund acquired the right to collect this arbitration ruling from affected investors who lost premium waivers. The sentence emphasizes that since investment arbitration is incompatible with EU law, such awards cannot be executed within the EU. Moreover, it concludes that the compensation fixed constitutes an illegal state aid while the European Commission has not yet ruled otherwise.

Brussels' stance on such arbitrages is clear: the European Commission has already approved Spain's refusal to pay the 101 million recognized to Antin, transferred to the Centerbridge fund, calling them unauthorized state aid. The Belgian court also reminds that a foreign subsidiary's presence does not bypass EU regulations, as the arbitral tribunal did not quantify compensation per investor individually.

Therefore, this resolution makes impossible one of the main paths used by Blasket to achieve Spain's indemnification and blocks Eurocontrol's transfers to Enaire. Indeed, the court describes Blasket's strategy as judicial fiction aimed at evading EU law, condemns the fund to pay the full costs of the proceedings and attributes the expenses derived from execution.

The legal battle sparked by the withdrawal of subsidies for renewable energies has resulted in judgments recognizing compensation exceeding 1.800 million euros. Despite the condemnations, Spain remains firm and has only paid the compensation recognized in a single lawsuit, derived from the arbitration with the Japanese company JGC, where Blasket also had the right to collect.