DC district court reaches conflicting decisions whether EU high court’s landmark decision deprives US courts of jurisdiction to enforce investors’ arbitral awards against Spain.
9REN Holding SARL v. Kingdom of Spain, No. 1:19-cv-1871-TSC (D.D.C. Feb. 15, 2023); Blasket Renewable Investments LLC v. Kingdom of Spain, No. 21-3249 (RJL) (D.D.C. March 31, 2023).
The Slovak Republic v. Achmea B.V., the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) held that arbitration agreements in European Union Member States’ bilateral investment treaties violate EU law if they vest arbitrators with the authority to decide questions of EU law without review by EU courts. In Republic of Moldova v. Komstoy, the CJEU held that its decision in Achmea extends to arbitration agreements in multilateral treaties between EU Member States, such as the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), a multilateral agreement intended to promote cooperation and investment in the energy sector.
