Romanian procedural and administrative particularities of the sale of lands to foreign persons

• Author: Titus Prescure/Ioan Schiau
• Position: Professor/Professor
• Pages: 27-40

Romanian procedural and administrative particularities

of the sale of lands to foreign persons

Professor Titus PRESCURE1 PhD,

Professor Ioan SCHIAU2, PhD.

Abstract

This study aims to examine the particularities o f the procedures and legal

instruments through which foreign persons, in the broadest sense of this term, 3 may

acquire, especially through sale-purchase contracts, agricultural lands situated outside of

the built-up area, after Romania joined the European Union (1st of January, 2007).

Likewise, this paper analyses specific international private law problems that may arise in

relation with the application of the Romanian law regarding the legal transfer of

agricultural and non-agricultural lands.

Keywords: sale, land outside of the built-up area, foreigners, residents, member

States, third States, pre-emption right.

JEL Classification: K11, K33

1. Introductory and methodological considerations

1.1 It is already an understatement that the attractiveness and the

coagulating force of the European Union reside primarily in the four great

freedoms: free movement of people, goods, services and capital. These freedoms

are, as well, instruments of elimination of any form of discrimination between the

citizens of the member states of the European Union.

Therefore, the possibility that citizens of a member state will acquire land

on the territory of any other member state – in this case, Romania – arises issues

that are not only of regional or national interest, but as well of European interest,

and not only geographically. The adequate regulation and resolution of legal

relationships involving extraneous elements, regarding the acquisition of

agricultural land situated outside of the built-up areas presents maximum

1 Titus Prescure - ”Transilvania” University of Brasov, Faculty of Law, Romania, prescure@schiau-

prescure.ro.

2 Ioan Schiau - ”Transilvania” University of Brasov, Faculty of Law, Romania, schiau@schiau-

prescure.ro .

3 For an analysis of th e notion of foreign person and of its legal regime, please see, e.g.: I. Filipescu,

Drept internațional privat, Actami, Bucharest, 1999, p. 214 and A. Fuerea, Drept internațional

privat, 2nd edition revised and enlarged, Universul Juridic, Bucharest 2005, pp. 81-151. For the

same issue, see: T. Prescure, S. Codruț, Drept internațional privat, Lumina Lex, Bucharestm 2005,

pp. 114-128.