Region: European Union

The Luxembourg Court of Cassation has quashed the enforcement of the Micula brothers’ ICSID award against Romania on the basis that the arbitration clause in the underlying investment treaty was nullified when the state joined the European Union.

18 July 2022

The tribunal hearing a Gazprom subsidiary’s US$8 billion Energy Charter Treaty claim against the European Union has agreed to suspend the case after the Russian state-owned company said it was unable to proceed due to sanctions.

04 April 2022

After announcing it is ceasing all work associated with the Russian state, Herbert Smith Freehills has withdrawn as counsel to a Gazprom subsidiary in an US$8 billion Energy Charter Treaty claim against the European Union over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

18 March 2022

Belgium’s Court of Cassation has been asked to review a court ruling that found the drafting of an ICC award by a secretary was not an improper delegation of the tribunal’s decision-making powers.

02 February 2022

The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that the European Commission was competent to decide that Romania’s payment of a €178 million ICSID award in favour of the Micula brothers would violate state aid rules – also finding that Achmea is relevant to the case.

25 January 2022

The European Court of Justice has ruled that EU member states are prohibited from entering into ad hoc arbitration agreements identical to those in intra-EU BITs – suggesting that contract-based investor-state dispute settlement is unlikely to escape the impact of Achmea.

26 October 2021

The European Court of Justice has issued a landmark ruling that the investor-state arbitration clause in the Energy Charter Treaty does not cover intra-EU investment disputes.

02 September 2021

The European Commission says it has begun an in-depth investigation to assess whether a €101 million Energy Charter Treaty award requiring Spain to compensate investors for changes to its renewable energy subsidy regime accords with EU state aid rules.

19 July 2021

UPDATED WITH TRIBUNAL: A Belgian court has refused to set aside an ICC award in favour of the European Commission on the basis of allegations that it was partly drafted by a tribunal secretary, ruling there was nothing wrong with the practice so long as their work is reviewed by an arbitrator.

30 June 2021

An advocate general of the European Court of Justice has advised that arbitration of intra-EU investor-state disputes under the Energy Charter Treaty is barred by EU law in light of Achmea, while raising the possibility such claims could be brought in national courts.

03 March 2021