The Diplomat The Belgian courts have authorised the seizure of 32 million euros from Spain for non-payments on renewables and their collection by the US fund Blasket Renewable Investments. Specifically, the Belgian courts are following in the footsteps of the British courts and have authorised the seizure of the income that Spain obtains as a result of the management of its air traffic control, according to legal sources. These payments, transferred monthly by Eurocontrol to the public company Enaire, will now pass into the hands of one of the companies affected by the non-payment of 26 awards that condemned Spain to pay 1,560 million euros to companies that suffered the retroactive withdrawal of renewable energy premiums, reports Europa Press. The British courts have already recognised the existence of these debts in the past and have authorised the precautionary seizure of the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute in London, the British office of economic promotion of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the building of the Vicente Cañadas International School, four bank accounts and the right to collect compensation for the Prestige disaster, valued at more than 900 million euros. In this new decision, the Belgian Justice responds to a petition originally filed before the Court of First Instance of Brussels and finally resolved by the 17th Chamber of the Belgian Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal issued a ruling on 18 June authorising the seizure requested by Blasket Renewable Investments, one of the 26 companies affected by the non-payments, which is the owner of the Infrared case. In his decision, Judge Degreef points out that articles 1,412 and 1,539 of the Belgian Criminal Code open the door to the seizure of assets from third countries. Thus, this mechanism has been invoked by the creditors to request the seizure of the revenues received by Spain by virtue of the air traffic control fees that Eurocontrol channels month by month in its payments to the public company Enaire. In his ruling, the judge concludes that "the plaintiff has a collection right that makes Spain susceptible to the seizure claimed" and also considers that "there is no doubt that Spain has been ordered to make the corresponding payments arising from fully enforceable proceedings". For their part, sources from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge indicated that Spain has not been notified of this attempt at enforcement in Belgium by the American fund of the arbitration award. However, they stressed that, in its defence, Spain "will oppose the Belgian court decision, handed down in proceedings to which it was not a party, on the grounds that it contravenes European regulations on State aid, as well as the unattachability of the credit rights that Enaire holds against Eurocontrol, an international organisation". Furthermore, they considered that the American fund, in contravention of European Union law on State Aid and in full knowledge of Spain's obligation not to make any payments arising from the awards imposed by the European Commission, has requested the Belgian jurisdictional authorities to enforce the award. It has also requested the attachment of Enaire's claims against Eurocontrol, the international organisation responsible for providing air navigation services. The debt accrued by Spain with the complainant company amounts to 32 million euros. The original award amounted to 28 million euros, but since then an additional four million euros has been accrued, due to interest on late payment. In addition, Spain has had to pay more than €4.6 million for the same case in costs. In total, the accumulated bill for this dispute would be around 41 million euros, according to the same sources.The 26 renewable energy companies affected by the non-payments have revealed that the sum of compensation, interest and legal costs currently stands at around €1.8 billion.
