The outcome of the latest round of negotiations towards the modernisation of the Energy Charter Treaty reveals that there will be sufficient flexibility to allow natural gas to remain in place for the coming years as an energy source in Europe.
Author: Nikos Lavranos
UNCITRAL: ISDS ‘code of conduct’ negotiations meet first hurdles
UN Commission for International Trade and Investment Law Working Group III negotiations on ISDS reforms in Vienna started in earnest last week as diplomats got into the thick of talks on an arbitrator investment code. So far there has been little progress as divisions emerged over the scope of the …
ECJ pre-empts circumvention of intra-EU ISDS prohibition
The European Court of Justice confirmed that investor-state arbitration between European Union investors and member states is illegal, even if such arbitration is based on domestic legislation of an EU member state. Whilst EU investors can pursue arbitration internationally under new EU investment protection treaties, a major rule-of-law gap has …
ECJ puts paid to intra-EU Energy Charter Treaty investor-state arbitration
The European Court of Justice declared in a judgment on Thursday (2 September) that the investor-state arbitration system under the Energy Charter Treaty is not applicable within the European Union. This effectively puts an end to ECT arbitration within the EU and will significantly increase the pressure on the ongoing …
Comment: Will Solvit-Invest solve it?
The European Commission is planning to propose a mechanism to investors based in the EU that would at least partially compensate for the loss of investment protection guarantees included in bilateral investment treaties signed in an era before Central and Eastern European member states joined the European Union.
ECJ Advocate General: Intra-EU Energy Charter Treaty investor-state arbitration is illegal
The European Court of Justice’s Advocate General Szpunar opined that the investor-state arbitration system under the Energy Charter Treaty is not applicable within the European Union. This will further increase the pressure on the ongoing ECT modernisation process and might very well herald the end of the ECT within the EU.
UNCITRAL investor-state reform talks: appeals tribunal solution – more questions than answers
The latest round of negotiations among the member states of the UNCITRAL Working Group III on ISDS reforms held last week (8-12 February 2021) revealed increasing diversity rather than more unity among the parties on the future of investor-state dispute settlement and EU-sponsored plans for a multilateral court system. The …
CETA investment court rules reflect wider multilateral dispute settlement reform goals
The European Union and Canada agreed on joint rules for their planned Investment Court System which is to become part of CETA. Any such court won’t see the light for a long time, but its rules reflect EU ambitions in other areas, namely hopes for a multilateral investment court and …
EU China investment agreement: a thin deal
The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment is of limited scope compared to other recent trade and investment agreements concluded by the European Union, writes Nikos Lavranos. The deal essentially focuses on investment facilitation and transparency rather than investment protection.
EU UK TCA: level playing field, disputes, energy and climate
Nikos Lavranos analyses the EU UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement’s much-discussed level playing field, governance and dispute settlement provisions, with a related detour via climate change and energy.
