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In a landmark decision issued in March 2025, the EC ruled that the €101 million ICSID arbitration award granted to Antin Infrastructure for changes to Spain’s renewable energy subsidies constitutes unlawful state aid under EU law.
In an April 2025 note, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) explores the possibility of inter se modifications of the ICSID Convention to allow appeals of ICSID awards before a standing Appeals Tribunal under the UNCITRAL Draft Statute on ISDS reform.
In March 2025, the European Commission (EC) sent a reasoned opinion to Hungary “for undermining the Union’s position on the international stage with regard to the prohibition of intra-EU investor-State arbitrations related to the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).”
A working group established to propose reform of the French arbitration law published its report in March 2025.
The United Kingdom has adopted a revision to its Arbitration Act.
Ecuador and Canada reportedly concluded a free trade agreement in January 2025.
The 4th Session of the UNIDROIT-ICC Working Group on International Investment Contracts took place in October in Rome.
The 20th Annual General Meeting of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) convened in Geneva on November, 18-20, 2024, with a focus on balancing the surging demand for critical minerals with environmental protection and community well-being.
The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade, and Sustainability (ACCTS) was signed on November 15, 2024.
In a recent opinion, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has called for the EU to negotiate an ‘inter se’ agreement with the UK and other third states to neutralize the sunset clause of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).
On December 3, 2024, the Energy Charter Conference adopted and approved the decisions on the modernisation of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) at the Statutory Session of its 35th Meeting.
Experts and policy-makers convened at a recent conference to discuss the crucial need to integrate sustainable development into international investment agreements (IIAs).
The European Union (EU)-Angola Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (SIFA) enters into force on September 1, 2024.
The second meeting of the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Multistakeholder Platform on IIA Reform took place in September 2024.
On September 10-13, 2024, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Public Forum took place in Geneva.
The 49th session of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) Reform took place on September 23-27, 2024, in Vienna.
According to a press release, the European Commission (EC) decided to open an infringement procedure against Hungary, “for undermining the Union’s position on the international stage with regard to the prohibition of intra-EU investor-State arbitrations related to the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), and for contradicting the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.”
On September 25, 2024, the EU, Euratom, and Member States exercised their right under Article 17 of the ECT to deny benefits of the Part III of the treaty which deals with investment protection and promotion to Russian and Belarussian investors.
IISD has developed a model inter se agreement to neutralize the sunset clause between the EU and non-EU contracting parties of the Energy Charter Treaty.
In September 2024, the German Constitutional Court has published two orders dated from July 2024 together with a public statement rejecting the Dutch insurer’s challenge to the decision annulling the award in its favour.
On May 30, 2024, the Council of the European Union adopted a set of decisions greenlighting the withdrawal of the EU and Euratom from the ECT. The step follows several […]
On April 26, 2024, the United Kingdom notified its withdrawal from the ECT. This follows an earlier announcement of this step by the British government in February, in which Minister […]
On April 24, 2024, the European Parliament voted to adopt the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), following months of negotiations between EU institutions and member states. While such an […]
In a referendum on Sunday, April 21, the citizens of Ecuador emphatically voted to keep Article 422 of the country’s 2008 constitution, which prevents Ecuador from using international arbitration to […]
On April 30, 2024, ICSID’s Administrative Council appointed Martina Polasek as the new ICSID Secretary General. Her term begins on July 1, 2024, when she succeeds Meg Kinnear, who served […]
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has delivered its much-awaited advisory opinion regarding climate change obligations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea […]
In a landmark judgment, the European Court of Human Rights found that Switzerland was not acting timely, sufficiently, and consistently to fulfill its positive obligations under the European Convention on […]
As opposed to the approaches taken by various EU member states’ courts (see, e.g., here), the Swiss Federal Tribunal upheld an intra-EU investment award based on the ECT. The highest […]
On 22-26 January 2024, UNCITRAL Working Group III on Reform of ISDS held its 47th session in Vienna. The majority of the session was devoted to the Draft Statute of […]
The 4th Joint Committee of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) held its meeting on 9 February, 2024, leading to, among other things, a joint interpretation on investment. The […]
On 22 February 2024, the UK government announced that it is leaving the ECT after the failure of efforts to align it with net zero. The withdrawal announcement by Slovenia […]
The 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the WTO took place on 26 February-2 March 2024, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with close to 4,000 participants. The ministers ended the […]
UNCTAD held the first of its newly established Multi-stakeholder Platform on IIA Reform on 4 March, 2024, with over 40 participants. The platform was launched at the 8th World Investment […]
The 7th Inter-sessional Meeting of Working Group III was held in Egmont Palace in Brussels, Belgium on 7 and 8 March, 2024. The overarching theme of the meeting was “a […]
On 11 March, 2024, the OECD held its 9th Investment Treaty Conference focusing on methods to align investment treaties with the Paris Agreement. The main reform proposal discussed was a […]
On 13-15 March, 2024, the UNIDROIT and ICC Institute of World Business Law Working Group on International Investment Contracts held its Second session in Paris. The Working Group, composed mostly […]
For the first time, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is discussing a consolidated text of the draft deep-sea mineral exploitation regulations. Commercial deep-sea mining has been attracting increased attention, particularly […]
Based on a draft resolution submitted by Nigeria on behalf of the African Group, the recent United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolution on the UN tax treaty aims to bolster […]
In September 2023, the European Commission has unveiled a non-paper presenting model clauses for BITs between EU member states and third countries. These model clauses, accompanied by annotations, aim to […]
In October 2023, UNCITRAL delegates to Working Group III gathered again in Vienna to continue their work on ISDS reform. Two topics were discussed—(i) draft provisions on the establishment of […]
From October 15 to 20, 2023, UNCTAD organized its eighth World Investment Forum in Abu Dhabi. The World Investment Forum highlighted global investment challenges and opportunities. Discussions focused on sustainable […]
The English High Court upheld Nigeria’s challenge against controversial awards in favour of Process & Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) by finding significant irregularities in the arbitration process. The arbitration awards […]
As we reported earlier, in 2021, the German energy company RWE filed for a controversial ECT arbitration challenging the Netherlands’ coal phase-out. In the context of the arbitration, the Netherlands […]
EU appears as a respondent in one of the three arbitrations brought by oil-refining companies belonging to Klesch Group (here, here, and here). It has been reported that the trio […]
The Singapore company Zeph Investments Pte, owned by Australian billionaire Clive Palmer, has reportedly filed a notice of intention to commence arbitration against Australia based on the Singapore–Australia Free Trade […]
On July 6, 2023, more than 110 WTO members reached a significant milestone, as the finalization of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement’s (IFDA) text was announced. The IFDA is […]
On July 7, 2023, the European Commission proposed a coordinated withdrawal by the EU, its member states, and Euratom from the ECT, citing the treaty’s incompatibility with the EU’s climate […]
The United Kingdom—a major ECT contracting state outside of the EU—indicated on September 1 that it would consider withdrawing from the ECT if the treaty’s signatories fail to agree on […]
As part of the enforcement saga of investment treaty arbitration awards issued in the renewable energy disputes against Spain, a Luxembourgish investor (formerly known as “Antin”) secured a seizing order […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a decision to enforce an award in favour of Devas based on a long-running dispute between Devas and Antrix. The […]
