On 2 September 2021, in Republic of Moldova v. Komstroy, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”) ruled that Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”) based intra-EU arbitrations were contrary to EU law.[1] Background of the Case Energoalians, a Ukrainian producer initiated, an ad hoc arbitration procedure provided for in Article 26(4)(b) of the […]
Energy Charter Treaty Arbitration
Resolving Energy Disputes Through Arbitration
Energy projects are usually long, complex and require a substantial level of capital. Additionally, the sector has significant exposure to geological events, political changes and environmental regulations. For these reasons, disputes are common in the energy sector, and arbitration has become the preferred method of resolving these disputes, particularly at the international level.[1] As noted […]
Energy Charter Treaty: Current Status between EU States
The Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”), available here, is a multilateral agreement. It was signed in December 1994 and entered into force on 16 April 1998. It created a multilateral framework for energy long-term cooperation between its members. The Energy Charter Treaty is preceded by the European Energy Charter adopted in December 1991, under which signatories […]
Renewable Energy Investment Arbitrations
Many renewable energy investment arbitration disputes have been initiated over recent years, including the cases Charanne and Construction Investments v. Spain, SCC Case No. V 062/2012, Eiser Infrastructure Limited and Energía Solar Luxembourg S.à r.l. v. Kingdom of Spain, ICSID Case No. ARB/13/36, Mesa Power Group, LLC v. Government of Canada, UNCITRAL, PCA Case No. 2012-17 and others. While […]
Croatia Challenges MOL Arbitration Award
As previously announced by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Croatia appealed against the arbitral decision of an UNCITRAL arbitral tribunal, dismissing as unfounded Croatia’s claims against Hungarian State-owned company MOL. The case was brought by Croatia against Hungarian company MOL in 2014 pursuant to an arbitration clause in a 2003 shareholder’s agreement governing MOL’s investment […]
Spain Energy Treaty Arbitrations
On 12 August 2016, another Spain energy treaty arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty was registered at the ICSID. The claimants are two Dutch companies, Cordoba Beheer B.V. and Sevilla Beheer B.V., together with Cross Retail S.L and Spanish Project companies, both registered in Spain.[1] This case is just another in line with dozens of arbitrations […]
International Investment Arbitration
Investment arbitration is a procedure to resolve disputes between foreign investors and host States (also called Investor-State Dispute Settlement or ISDS). The possibility for a foreign investor to sue a host State is considered as a guarantee for the foreign investor that, in the case of a dispute, it will have access to independent and qualified arbitrators who will solve the […]
ECT Remains Available for Intra-EU Investor-State Disputes
European Union (EU) investors can bring investment claims against another EU Member State under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). This is the finding of the SCC arbitral tribunal in the Charanne v. Spain case (Award of 21 January 2016). This award clarifies uncertainties regarding intra-EU investment-states dispute settlement (ISDS) arising under the ECT. Claimants, two companies […]
