Brussels, 17/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Seriously concerned by the plan to seize control of the Spanish oil company Repsol's Argentinean subsidiary YPF, put forward by Argentinean President Cristina Kirchner on Monday, the Commission is urging Buenos Aires to respect its obligations contained in its bilateral investment agreements.
On Tuesday 17 April, the Commission provided an unequivocal response to the nationalisation of the Argentinean subsidiary of the Spanish oil company Repsol, YPF, unveiled the previous day by the Argentinean president. Commission President José Manuel Barroso warned: “We expect the Argentinean authorities to uphold their international commitments and obligations, in particular those resulting from a bilateral agreement on the protection of investments in Spain”. He strongly criticised Argentina's decision, which creates harmful uncertainty on bilateral economic relations and the economy as a whole. His spokesperson, Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, said that two measures had been immediately taken by the European Commission: a letter had been sent by Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht to his Argentinean counterpart expressing the EU's serious concerns and, secondly, the indefinite postponement of a joint EU/Argentinean committee meeting planned for 19-20 April.
Although the Lisbon Treaty stipulates that the EU should to settle bilateral trade disputes between EU member states and third countries on investment, the new architecture introduced has not yet come into operation. It is therefore up to Spain to find the best response possible through its bilateral agreement with Argentina, the Commission acknowledged on Tuesday. (EH/transl.fl)