Mainly due to historical events, the EU member countries located on or between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black seas (also knowns as the Three Seas countries) remain surrounded by the emerging, on the east, and developed countries, on the west, thereby becoming an attractive region for investments. Although economically stable, the Three Seas countries require substantial investment in infrastructure in order to reach the present level of development in Western Europe. According to the recent studies, this region requires an investment of EUR 650 billion – most specifically, in the sectors of energy, transport and digital infrastructure. Furthermore, investment in these sectors is particularly important as a result of the war in Ukraine, and the effectiveness of assistance and facilitation of the country’s post-war reconstruction and cross-border cooperation.
Established in 2015, the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) has emerged as an international economic and political initiative with the primary objective to address infrastructural and economic imbalances in the common European market, as well as to strengthen links in Central and Eastern Europe along its north-south axis. 3SI has the potential to create investment opportunities, as well as enhance sustainable and secure national and regional connectivity. Additionally, it can make the Three Seas countries more competitive as a whole by the modernization of infrastructure networks and the enhanced energy security and socio-economic development.
At the 8th 3SI Summit and Business Forum, which took place in September 2023, Greece joined 3SI, bringing the total number of member countries to 13 – namely: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
The ambitious projects developed under the auspices of the 3SI will demand coordinated, high-quality legal assistance throughout the region. This is one of the primary reasons a group of leading independent law firms in the Three Seas countries have recently created Three Seas Legal Alliance (TSLA).
TSLA presence in each of the Three Seas countries enables a most comprehensive legal support across the entire 3SI region. The 13 member law firms, all recognized internationally and experienced in cross-border cooperation, have collaborated with each other on many multi-jurisdictional projects, involving, among others, financing, permitting, procurement, project documentation, real estate, regulatory, state aid and taxation – the foregoing representing all essential service areas in the transport, energy and digital sectors. With the size and experience, TSLA is poised to deliver the expertise and resources needed by all participants in 3SI projects, including investors, governments and other stakeholders.
* Our member firms cooperate on a case-by-case and non-exclusive basis, thereby enabling the full optimization of their respective legal expertise and client services.
