LEGAL AMENDMENTS CONCERNING THE ACQUISITION PROCESS OF AGRICULTURAL LAND OUTSIDE THE CITIES LIMITS

Law no 68/2014, which amends the new regulation concerning the acquisition of agricultural land situated outside the cities limits, eliminates all conditionality imposed to foreign citizens and legal entities belonging to a EU State Member or those that are part of ASEE, respectively the Swiss Confederation, regarding the existence of bilateral condition in order to be allowed to purchase agricultural lands in Romania.
Equally, the civil sanction to be applied in the event of noncompliance of the essential form of the Pre-sale Agreement (that of being concluded in authenticated form) is relative nullity. The initial form of the Law no 17/2017 sanctioned the non-compliance of this form condition with absolute nullity.
Another legislative novelty regards the pronouncement of a Decision to take place of a Sale-purchase Agreement, in terms of conditionality imposed through the initial form of Law no 17/2014 that the Pre-sale Agreement shall be concluded in an authenticated form.
Up to the date, the claims through which is solicited the pronouncement of a Decision to take place of a Sale-purchase Agreement shall admissible in the following conditions:

a. The Pre-sale Agreement shall respect all the substance and form conditions imposed through the Civil Code’s provisions;

b. The exercise of the preemption right with the respecting of preferential order of preemptors, of the price, as well as the equal conditions of the translative acts’ conclusion both for the preemptors and for the third parties buyers;

c. Obtaining all the notices and authorizations imposed by the Romanian law (for example, from the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Culture etc.), previously the Sale-purchase Agreement;

d. The land that forms the Pre-sale Agreement’s object shall be
registered in the Land Book and in the fiscal role.

Finally, the alienation of the agricultural lands situated outside the cities limits, with the non-respecting of the preemption right or without obtaining the previous legal notices or authorizations shall be sanctioned with relative nullity. In the initial form of law no 17/2014, the applicable civil sanction was absolute nullity.

Published in the Romania Official Gazette no. 352 of 13.05.2014
The Act has enter into force on 13 May 2014
Issued by: Romanian Parliament