With the global financial crisis, solar power incentives schemes became unbearably costly and Spain repealed those incentives. Consequently, many investors brought arbitration claims under the Energy Charter Treaty.
Despite the fact that the ECT was initiated and designed by the EU, there are compelling grounds to doubt the compatibility of the ECT’s arbitration clause with the principles underpinning the EU’s judicial system.
In a second international ruling against retroactive cuts in renewables support introduced by the Spanish government in 2013, a Swedish arbitration panel has awarded a Luxembourg-based investment firm €53 million compensation.
Ongoing negotiations to modernize NAFTA must advance our role as a global energy leader by retaining US access to Mexico’s newly-opened oil and natural gas market and providing strong protections, including Investor-State Dispute Settlement.
The case is one of several brought to courts in Europe by Moldovan businessman Anatolie Stati who is attempting to force the Kazakh government to pay up in a dispute about his energy investments in the oil-rich country.