Brussels to the rescue
It’s not the first time creditors have pursued aggressive enforcement tactics against Spain over the renewable energy dispute.
Earlier this year, Blasket obtained rulings in Belgium and the Netherlands allowing the seizure of Spanish-linked assets, including a historic building housing the Cervantes Institute — a state-run cultural diplomacy agency — in Utrecht.
Madrid has resisted paying arbitration awards, arguing the bloc’s state aid rules forbid it from doing so without authorization from Brussels. A spokesperson for the EU executive confirmed: “Spain cannot pay the awarded compensation until the Commission has decided on the compatibility of the notified measure because it is bound by the standstill obligation.”
Brussels has sided with Spain in several of the ECT-related cases it has already reviewed. Last year, the Commission ruled that a €101 million award to Luxembourg-based Antin should not be paid because doing so would constitute illegal state aid.
Brussels has also instructed EU member states not to enforce certain arbitration rulings. In April, the EU executive slammed Belgium for allowing Blasket to seize €482 million in Eurocontrol air traffic management payments owed to Spain and warned it could be referred to the EU’s top court for “failing to comply with its obligations under EU law.”
Simultaneously, Brussels has shown some flexibility in managing the dispute, acknowledging the pressure Spain faces from enforcement actions outside the EU. According to correspondence between the Commission’s competition directorate and Spain, Madrid was permitted to pay Blasket a €23 million settlement to avoid imminent asset seizures in the United States.