Investor-State Tribunal Dismisses EU Law Jurisdictional Objections, Interpreting for the First Time EU Member State Declarations to Terminate BITs
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Key takeaways:
- On 7 May 2019, the Tribunal in Eskosol v Italy (ICSID Case No. ARB/15/50) dismissed Italy’s objection to its jurisdiction on the basis that the Energy Charter Treaty does not provide for arbitration between an EU Member State and an investor of another EU Member State.
- In the first-known decision to consider the jurisdictional effect of the declaration signed by 21 EU Member States in January 2019, undertaking to terminate bilateral investment treaties concluded with fellow EU Member States by 6 December this year (as previously reported by us here), the Tribunal also rejected Italy’s request to terminate the arbitration on this basis.
- It remains to be seen whether these developments will prompt further jurisdictional objections, as well as the effect they may have on the enforcement of intra-EU investor-State arbitration awards.