Prof. Nikos Lavranos & Prof. Loukas Mistelis (Co-Editors in Chief)
We are very pleased and proud to present the fifth issue of the European Investment Law and Arbitration Review (EILA Rev) 2020.
As of 23 December 2020, all articles of this volume can be ordered online at Brill Publishers:
The stormy developments of the past years regarding international investment law and arbitration broadly understood, which to a large extent were driven by various EU institutions – European Commission, Court of Justice of the EU and the European Parliament – have confirmed the need for a legal journal such as this Review that exclusively tracks these developments and provides a forum for debate on the current state of affairs and future developments.
The Achmea judgment, the termination agreement regarding intra- EU BITs, CETA, Opinion 1/17, Brexit, the ISDS reform efforts in the UNCITRAL Working Group III and the ECT, are just a few of the topics that have been featured and continue to feature in a broad range of different contexts in this Review.
This issue opens with an article by Sarah Vasani and Nathalie Allen, which highlights the need of effective investment protection in order to ensure that the Paris Climate targets are reached by an increase in foreign direct investments in renewable energy. Often investment protection and environmental protection are presented as opposing, mutually exclusive interests; however, the authors convincingly argue that the contrary is true.
Elizabeth Chan’s article turns to Brexit and its potential for post- Brexit UK to design its foreign investment policy anew – independent from the EU.
Subsequently, Alexander Leventhal and Akshay Shreedhar analyze the practice of the European Commission intervening in arbitration proceedings by way of using amicus curiae briefs. They discuss the question whether, and if so, to what extent the European Commission can be considered a neutral friend of the tribunal or rather must be considered a third party with a particular interest – usually in support of the Member State concerned – which would have to be qualified as a potential abuse of the amicus curiae briefs tool.
Brady Gordon’s article provides a critical and sceptical analysis of the CJEU’s case law regarding CETA.
This is followed by David Sandberg and Jacob Rosell Svensson’s article regarding the implications of Achmea for national court challenge proceedings. They highlight the huge impact of Achmea for many on- going proceedings before domestic courts in various jurisdictions.
Samantha Rowe and Nelson Goh (former Managing Editor of this Review) explain how perceived norm conflicts regarding the January 2019 EU Member States Declarations on the consequences of the Achmea judgment can be resolved through principles of treaty interpretation.
Nikos Lavranos concludes this series of Achmea related articles by offering his analysis on the recently signed termination agreement, which would effectively terminate most intra-EU BITs.
As in the past years, we also run an Essay Competition, which resulted in many outstanding submissions. Indeed, this year the quality was so high that the Editorial Team decided to award, next to the first prize winner, two joint second prize winners rather than a second and third prize winner.
Crawford Jamieson is the first prize winner of the Essay Competition 2020 with his submission, which assesses the CJEU’s decisions in Achmea and Opinion 1/ 17 regarding CETA in light of the proposed Multilateral Investment Court (MIC). He shows that there are considerable flaws and inconsistencies in the CJEU’s jurisprudence, which can only be explained by political motivations in order to lend support to the MIC.
Joint second prize winner, Robert Bradshaw, illustrates with his submission that international investment law is in need of a proportionality test. The other joint second prize winners, Florence Humblet and Kabir Duggal, provide an extensive analysis for using Article 37 of the EU Charter as a defence for Climate Change and environmental measures in Investor-State arbitration disputes.
The case-note section is opened by Cees Verburg who analyses the Hague Court of Appeals’ decision, which overturned the lower courts’ decision to annul the USD 50 billion Yukos award. This decision reinstated the award, while at the same time triggered an appeal by the Russian Federation before the Dutch Supreme Court. Thus, there will be another, final, round.
Bianca McDonnell examined the Adamakopoulos v. Cyprus Decision on Jurisdiction by the ICSID arbitral tribunal. This decision is particularly interesting regarding the dissenting opinion of one arbitrator concerning the alleged incompatibility of the bit s and the EU Treaties as well as regarding the aspect of the mass claim nature of the proceeding.
Finally, Alesia Tsiabus and Guillaume Croisant discuss the lessons learned from the Micula saga for the relationship between international investment law and EU competition law.
The focus section on the Young ITA event on investment arbitration and the environment continues the theme, that was initiated by the first article in this Review. The focus section encompasses several written contributions of the presentations given at the Young ITA event held on 5 November 2019 in London.
This section is opened by an extensive analysis of Laura Rees-Evans in which she explains the recent developments and prospects of reform regarding the protection of the environment in international investment agreements.
Crina Baltag looks at the doctrine of police powers in relation to the protection of the environment, while Anna Bilanova explains the option of using environmental counterclaims. This is followed by a discussion of Guarav Sharma on environmental claims by States in investment treaty arbitration.
Finally, Nikos Lavranos, the other Co- Editor-in-Chief of this Review, looks at the (ab)use of third- party submissions in investment treaty arbitration proceedings.
The EFILA focus section contains a summary of the keynote delivered by Meg Kinnear at the 5th EFILA Annual Conference with a particular focus on using ADR tools in investment disputes.
This is followed by the text of the 5th EFILA Annual Lecture delivered by Prof. Laurence Boisson de Chazournes on navigating multiple proceedings in the light of the proliferation of courts and tribunals.
Finally, three book reviews wrap up this issue. Nikos Lavranos looks at the new Practical Commentary on the ICSID Convention, while Nelson Goh (former Managing Editor of this Review) reviews a Case Book on International Law in Domestic Courts and Trisha Mitra (Co- Managing Editor of this Review) examines the book on the future of Investment Treat Arbitration in the EU.
We are confident that this year’s 480 page volume underscores again the raison d’être for publishing this Review, which covers such a dynamic field of law.
In order to produce an interesting volume next year yet again, we invite unpublished, high-quality submissions (long and short articles as well as case notes) that fall within the scope of this Review.
The Call for Papers and the house style requirements are published on the Review’s website:
In addition, we will also again run an Essay Competition. All information regarding the 2021 Essay Competition will be published on the Review’s website:
Table of Contents of the European Investment Law and Arbitration Review 2020
Articles
1 No Green without More Green: The Importance of Protecting FDI through International Investment Law to Meet the Climate Change Challenge 3
Sarah Z. Vasani and Nathalie Allen
2 The UK’s Post- Brexit Investment Policy: An Opportunity for New Design Choices 40
Elizabeth Chan
3 The European Commission: Ami Fidèle or Faux Ami? 70
Alexander G. Leventhal and Akshay Shreedhar
4 A Sceptical Analysis of the Enforcement of ISDS Awards in the EU Following the Decision of the CJEU on CETA 92
Brady Gordon
5 Achmea and the Implications for Challenge Proceedings before National Courts 146
David Sandberg and Jacob Rosell Svensson
6 Resolving Perceived Norm Conflict through Principles of Treaty Interpretation: The January 2019 EU Member State’s Declarations 167
Samantha J. Rowe and Nelson Goh
7 The World after the Termination of intra-EU BITs 196
Nikos Lavranos
Essay Competition 2020
8 Assessing the CJEU’s Decisions in Achmea and Opinion 1/ 17 in Light of the Proposed Multilateral Investment Court – Winner of the Essay Competition 2020 215
Crawford Jamieson
9 Legal Stability and Legitimate Expectations: Does International Investment Law Need a Sense of Proportion? – Joint 2nd Prize Winner of the Essay Competition 2020 240
Robert Bradshaw
10 If You are not Part of the Solution, You are the Problem: Article 37 of the EU Charter as a Defence for Climate Change and Environmental Measures in Investor- State Arbitrations – Joint 2nd Prize Winner Essay Competition 2020 265
Florence Humblet and Kabir Duggal
Case- Notes
11 The Hague Court of Appeal Reinstates the Yukos Awards 299
Cees Verburg
12 Theodoros Adamakopoulos and Others v. Republic of Cyprus, ICSID Case No Arb/15/49, Decision on Jurisdiction, 7 February 2020 315
Bianca McDonnell
13 Investment Arbitration and EU (Competition) Law – Lessons Learned from the Micula Saga
Alesia Tsiabus and Guillaume Croisant 330
Focus section on the Young ITA Event: Investment Arbitration and the Environment – Emerging Themes
14 The Protection of the Environment in International Investment Agreements – Recent Developments and Prospects for Reform 357
Laura Rees- Evans
15 Investment Arbitration and Police Powers: Emerging Issues 392
Crina Baltag
16 Environmental Counterclaims in Investment Arbitration 400
Anna Bilanová
17 Environmental Claims by States in Investment Treaty Arbitration 412
Gaurav Sharma
18 The (ab)use of Third- Party Submissions 426
Nikos Lavranos
Focus Section on EFILA
19 ADR in Investment Disputes: The Role of Complementary Mechanisms – Keynote to the 5th EFILA Annual Conference 2020 439
Meg Kinnear
20 The Proliferation of Courts and Tribunals: Navigating Multiple Proceedings – 5th EFILA Annual Lecture 2019 447
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes
Book Reviews
21 The ICSID Convention, Regulations and Rules – A practical Commentary 471
Nikos Lavranos
22 International Law in Domestic Courts: A Case Book 473
Nelson Goh
23 The Future of Investment Treaty Arbitration in the EU: intra-EU BITs, the Energy Charter Treaty, and the Multilateral Investment Court 475
Trisha Mitra