The CJEU’s Achmea judgment has prompted me to write several blogposts. This one was published by Practical Law Arbitration Blog and provides a first – rather pessimistic – assessment of the CJEU’s judgment. Below I discuss the wider implications of the Achmea judgment, for example also for the ECT. In his Opinion, Advocate General Wathelet…
In November 2017, the European Commission (EC) issued its decision on the Spanish support measures for renewable energy sources. As will be recalled, Spain is currently facing about 30 investment-treaty disputes based on the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and various bilateral investment treaties (BITs) for the retroactive withdrawal of its support measures for the production…
A look back at NL-Investmentconsulting’s year 2017 was a very busy year with a nice mix of different activities and achievements. On the arbitration side, I am glad to have been able to provide my legal expertise on the interaction between EU law and investment law in 2 ICSID disputes (including one Annulment procedure). On…
The poison pill for maintaining intra-EU BITs arbitration The long-awaited Opinion of Advocate General (AG) Wathelet in the Achmea case has resulted in an unexpected and rather surprising Opinion. Many observers (including the present writer) had expected that the AG would hammer the final nail on the coffin of intra-EU BITs and arbitral tribunals based…
AG: Intra-EU ISDS arbitration is compatible with EU law According to Advocate General Wathelet, the arbitration clause in the investment protection agreement concluded between the Netherlands and Slovakia is compatible with EU law! That clause does not constitute discrimination on grounds of nationality, is compatible with the preliminary ruling mechanism and does not undermine either…
I am very pleased to announce that I have been appointed as Of Counsel and member of the international arbitration, trade and infrastructure group of Wöss & Partners. Wöss & Partners is an international law firm based in Mexico, with offices in Washington and Lima. Under the guidance of Herfried Wöss, the firm has over the…
I am pleased to have been invited to speak again at the 3rd Annual GAR Live BITs event, which is going to take place on 23 May 2017 in Washington, DC. I will be one of the debaters on the following motion: “This house believes that investor-state arbitration will remain an essential component to the…
The Dutch Advisory Council on International Affairs (Adviesraad Internationale Vraagstukken) has just published (only in Dutch) a report on the Brexit negotiations. The report focuses mainly on the consequences of Brexit for the Netherlands and the best negotiation strategy for the Netherlands. The report is extensive and contains some interesting points, which should be of interest…
As indicated in an early post, a summary report of the OECD meeting held two weeks ago has been published on the EFILA blog. At the OECD, Global Forum on International Investment (6 March) more than hundred stakeholders from businesses, trade unions, academics and OECD member states gathered together for a one-day meeting considering ways…
I have written a new blogpost focusing on an interesting dispute between two NGOs. This dispute using the Swiss NCP within the context of the OECD Guidelines illustrates that the NGOs wish to have other standards applied to them than for foreign investors. It is another illustration of the dubious hypocritical position of the anti-ISDS/anti-trade…
