The EU and Euratom will withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty with Member States to support modernisation in the future. The European Council has adopted four decisions, confirming that the EU and Euratom will leave the...more
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is a multi-nation investment treaty which protects investors from the nationalization of assets and other arbitrary and discriminatory state conduct made at the expense of investments in the...more
On 22 February 2024, the UK government confirmed the UK’s withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), blaming a failure of efforts to modernise the treaty and align it with net zero aims. The UK joins nine EU member...more
On 22 February 2024, the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) announced that the UK would withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) after a recent failed attempt to modernise its text....more
As of January 2024, France, Germany and Poland have officially withdrawn from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). Their decision to withdraw from the treaty follows a recent European Commission proposal for a mass exodus from...more
The UK has announced that it will review its membership of the Energy Charter Treaty (the “ECT” or “Treaty”) if there is no agreement on modernisation by November 2023. This announcement comes after a second vote on...more
For over two decades, investors in the energy sector have benefited from protections found in The Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”). Investors in hydrogen projects will soon be able to benefit from these same protections....more
In June 2022, the Contracting Parties to the Energy Charter Treaty ("ECT") announced an agreement in principle on the text of a modernized treaty. This modernization may have material consequences for state regulation and...more
The tribunal in Green Power v. Kingdom of Spain declined jurisdiction, finding that the parties had not validly consented to arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty. A tribunal seated in Sweden has become the first...more
On June 24, 2022, the Contracting Parties to the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT” or “Treaty”) reached an Agreement in Principle on the Modernization of the ECT (“Modernization Agreement”). Once approved at the Energy Charter...more
In a judgment handed down on 2 September 2021,1 the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) finally ruled that the investor-state arbitration clause, at Article 26 of the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”), does not apply to intra-EU...more
The last few weeks have seen a raft of new investor-state arbitrations under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), including the first known investor-state claim against the European Union (EU) itself. These claims largely arise...more
In early July 2017, operators of German nuclear power plants initiated the next step in the process of decommissioning by transferring €24 billion to the new state-owned fund for nuclear power plant waste disposal. The...more
International investment arbitration – also known as investment treaty arbitration or investor-State arbitration – is a procedure whereby foreign investors may seek a binding adjudication of claims against host States that...more
In the past three years, the number of claims filed by renewable energy investors under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) has risen significantly. In particular, Spain, who had been the subject of only a handful of...more