Romania has recently revised its Constitution in view of its anticipated EU accession, which is forecast to take place in 2007. The constitution dates back to 1991 and the amended version of the Constitution came into force on 29 October 2003 following a national referendum. Various provisions of the revised Constitution were drafted to ensure the ability of the Romanian State to accede to NATO and the EU, and to further harmonise its legislative system with European standards.
Under the original Constitution a foreign citizen or a person without citizenship could not, under any circumstance and by no method of transfer, personally acquire ownership rights over land located in Romania.
The same situation applied where someone was acquiring land in Romania through a company registered abroad. This is due to the fact that the nationality of a legal person (or a company) is equivalent to the citizenship of a natural person. Romanian courts and legal academics were unanimous that there were no exceptions from the prohibition.
However, as a result of much debate on this prohibition, the constitutional legislator has now modified the relevant provisions of the Constitution to allow for the future acquisition of land by foreigners, provided that certain conditions are met.
The circumstances in which a foreign citizenship (or someone without a citizenship) may acquire land are:
- firstly following Romania's accession to the European Union, or as a result of other interested treaties to which Romania is a party where there is reciprocity and
- secondly through legal inheritance (that is inheritance which is not based on a will).
Although Romania's accession to the EU, or entrance into relevant international treaties means that this change will take some time to achieve its maximum effect, the amendment has the absolute prohibition on foreigners obtaining title to EU land. Upon Romania's accession to the EU, it will entitle (at minimum) citizens to acquire land in Romania. The amendment also addresses the situation of foreign citizens who have inherited land from their Romanian relatives, but who, until now, were unable to enjoy fully their inherited estate.
It remains to be seen whether Romanian legal practice and doctrine will extend this change to enable foreign companies to acquire land in Romania for business purposes.
For further information please contact Ana Radnev at [email protected] or +40 21 2316470
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