The Editorial Board of the EFILA Blog is excited to share the first EFILA Blog Quarterly Review! Our editors have gathered and reviewed developments, events and publications from the last quarter of 2022 to highlight some of the most relevant news in the field of international investment law, arbitration and the intersection of ISDS with… Read More Quarterly Review: October – December 2022
By Agata Daszko[1] and Kilian Wagner[2] Introduction The Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT” or “Treaty”), signed in December 1994 in Lisbon, has its origins in the 1990 proposal of the Dutch Prime Minister, Ruud Lubbers, which first resulted in the European Energy Charter of 1991 as a political declaration and continued in the negotiations for a… Read More Modernisation of the Energy Charter Treaty: A necessary turning point for investment protection in the energy sector?
by Iván Levy[1] Introduction On June 16, 2022, the Tribunal in Green Power Partners K/S & SCE Solar Don Benito APS v. The Kingdom of Spain (Green Power v. Spain) issued its award and became the first tribunal to uphold the so-called intra-EU objection.[2] After a large number of decisions historically rejecting the objection, is… Read More Green Power v. Spain: Intra-EU Game Changer or an Exception that Confirms the Rule?
Prof. Dr. Alexander Reuter * The ECJ’s Achmea and CETA rulings [1]; as well as the entire debate conducted on the issue so far, disregard one legal factor, that is, the binding legal effect of investors’ rights under investment treaties. That factor is, however, at the heart of the matter and decisive. Under EU procedural… Read More Taking Investors’ Rights Seriously: The Achmea and CETA Rulings of the European Court of Justice do Not Bar Intra-EU Investment Arbitration
by Dr. David Pusztai (Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP The European Federation for Investment Law and Arbitration (EFILA) held its 5th Annual Conference on 30 January 2020 in London, with a focus on “Investment Arbitration in the EU: Alternatives to Intra-EU BITs”. As the Secretary-General of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, Meg… Read More Report on the 5th EFILA Annual Conference held on 30th January 2020 in London
Description 4th Annual EFILA Conference The EU and the future of international investment law and arbitration With the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty 10 years ago the EU has become a dynamic policy actor in international investment law and arbitration. In particular, within the context of the increasing public concerns against TTIP, BITs… Read More EFILA 2019 Annual Conference: The EU and the future of international investment law and arbitration
Alexandros Catalin Bakos, LL. M.* […] but this is not where or how it ends. Fate promises more twists before this drama unfolds…completely (in-game dialogue from the intro scene of the video game Soul Reaver 2). The EU’s backlash against intra-EU (Bilateral?) Investment Treaties – intra-EU (B)ITs – reached its peak when the CJEU issued… Read More Post-Achmea Energy Charter Treaty Coherence and Stability: Upheld or Hindered?
by Dr. Nikos Lavranos LLM, Secretary General of EFILA* A couple of weeks ago the first award in the series of more than 25 other solar energy cases against Spain was issued. The case was brought by two companies based in Luxembourg and the Netherlands against Spain on the basis of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT)… Read More The Lack of Any Legal Conflict Between EU Law and Intra-EU BITs/ECT Disputes
by Clifford J. Hendel, Araoz & Rueda Abogados Until three or four years ago, both the Energy Charter Treaty in general and arbitration based on it were essentially unknown in Spain. Investment arbitration itself was a rarified specialty, known only to a handful of intrepid companies and a small cadre of advisors. The experience of the… Read More Before the Other Shoe Drops: The Current State of Renewable Energy Arbitration in Spain