by Prof. Nikos Lavranos[1] In June 2022, an agreement “in principle” was achieved among all Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) contracting parties (including the European Union (EU) and all of its Member States) on the modernized ECT text. Withdrawal of the EU and EU Member States from the ECT Despite this agreement “in principle” several EU… Read More Saving the Modernized Energy Charter Treaty Helps Save the Climate
The first quarter of 2024 proved full of developments and surprises in the realm of international investment law and arbitration. Our editorial board has collected some of the significant highlights for your consideration in this Quarterly Review. Case Law Updates At the start of the year, we have learnt that one of the most contentious… Read More Quarterly Review: January – March 2024
by Jiawen Wang[1] In September 2023, the European Commission (“Commission”) published a non-paper on model clauses for the future negotiation or re-negotiation of bilateral investment treaties (“BITs”) between EU Member States and third countries. This non-paper, presenting the model clauses, may reflect the Commission’s broader approach to investment protection and the best practice for EU Member States, although it… Read More The European Commission’s Model Clauses: Highlighting Human Resource Sustainability for EU Investment Treaties
By Agata Daszko[1] On 27 July 2023, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof or BGH) issued a long-awaited decision (I ZB 43/22, I ZB 74/22 and I ZB 75/22) pertaining to intra-EU arbitration on the basis of the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”). The decision? “Upstream national legal protection is possible against intra-EU investor-State ICSID arbitral… Read More Germany’s Highest Civil Court Affirms “Primacy of Application of Union Law – Also Vis-à-Vis Public International Law” in Intra-EU Investment Arbitration
By Anastasia Choromidou[1] and Mark Konstantinidis[2] In May 2023, an ICSID ad hoc committee contributed the latest episode to the Spanish solar arbitration saga, by rejecting Spain’s arguments based on the CJEU Komstroy ruling on intra-EU arbitration. The BayWa v Spain annulment decision reflects the tense, from a doctrinal and institutional perspective, relationship between EU… Read More BayWa v Spain: No annulment for old objections
By Emma A. Iannini[1] It was not so long ago that many attorneys, academics, and European intellectuals might have described the EU and the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) as one of the crowning achievements of public international law. Despite its self-described sui generis nature, there is no doubt that the EU,… Read More Euroscepticism: A Driver of the EU’s Clash with ISDS and Public International Law?
By Herbert Woopen[1] I. Introduction: The EU’s ambition The EU has for a long time wished to be the frontrunner for innovative investments in green technology and strived to secure future economic growth for European companies exporting products for a sustainable world economy, products that are and will be invented in Europe. These intentions deserve… Read More Why Komstroy Cannot be the Last Word: more investment into greening the economy requires to bury Achmea, Komstroy, Micula and others (Part I)
By Dr. Philipp Stompfe, LL.M. (London)* In March 2018, following an initiative of Germany, France and Italy, the Council of the European Union (“EU”) approved a Regulation on establishing a framework for screening of foreign direct investments (“FDI”) into the European Union (“Regulation”). The new Regulation entered into force on 10 April 2019 and will… Read More Practical Implications of the New Legal Framework for Foreign Direct Investment in the European Union
José Rafael Mata Dona1 As in the previous session of the stakeholder meeting organized by the European Commission (see here), this roundup started with a brief recap of the whole process of the UNICTRAL Working Group III (for a more detailed review of the EU’s proposal for a MIC and ISDS reform under the auspices of UNCITRAL… Read More Stakeholder meeting on a possible future Multilateral Investment Court: Establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court (Brussels, 15 January 2020)
José Rafael Mata Dona[1] A week before the autumn session in Vienna of the UNCITRAL Working Group III, the EC held a Stakeholder meeting in Brussels on the subject of the establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court. The initiative took place as part of the EC Commitment to Transparency. During the introductory speech, Collin Brown (Dispute… Read More Stakeholder meeting on a possible future Multilateral Investment Court: Establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court (Brussels, 9 October 2019)