Europe

European Union (EU) member states have signed over 1300 investment treaties with third countries, in addition to some 200 between EU members. Non-EU European states are party to over 500 treaties. Most of these contain investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions, which enable foreign corporations to take ISDS claims against states if they deem their profits or potential investment to be affected by new laws or changes in policy.

The EU has ratified four agreements with an ISDS mechanism: the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), to which 53 European and Central Asian countries are party, the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada, and agreements with Vietnam and Singapore. Only the ECT has been fully in force. The ISDS provisions in the three others will be implemented after all member states have ratified them.

These three deals also include a revised ISDS mechanism created by the European Commission, known as the investment court system. Many critics say that this new system is largely window-dressing and does not address the core of the problem behind investor-state dispute measures.

In 2015, the European Commission asked the EU member states to terminate their intra-EU bilateral investment treaties (BITs), arguing they are incompatible with EU law, which was confirmed by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its “Achmea” decision.

As of April 2020, the number of intra-EU ISDS disputes amounted to 170, approximately 17% of all cases globally, 76 of which having been brought under the ECT.

Overall investors from European countries have initiated over 600 ISDS cases, half of which are against non-European states. European countries have been targeted in about 350 cases. Grouped together, investors from EU member states have launched the majority of total disputes (over 400).

Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Ukraine have been among the ten most frequent respondent states, while the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Italy and Switzerland have been among the ten most frequent home states of the investor.

The most well-known cases include:

Yukos (Isle of Man) vs. Russia: US$50 billion awarded in 2014 to majority shareholders of the oil and gas company (ECT invoked).

Eureko (Netherland) vs. Poland: case settled in 2005 for about €2 billion in favour of the investor, a large European insurance company (Netherland-Poland BIT invoked).

Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka (Czech Republic) vs. Slovak Republic: €553 million awarded in 2004 to the investor, one of the largest commercial banks in the Czech Republic (Czech Republic-Slovak Republic BIT invoked).

Photo: War on Want

(April 2020)

The Citizen | 11-Jul-2023
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Novethic | 11-Jul-2023
La Commission européenne a proposé de sortir de cet accord, considéré comme une épée de Damoclès pour la transition énergétique du continent. Alors que dix pays ont annoncé qu’ils se retiraient du Traité, l’étau se resserre.
CAN Europe | 11-Jul-2023
We call on you to support the Commission’s proposal for a coordinated withdrawal of the EU and all its member states from the Energy Charter Treaty and welcome a discussion of the ECT among energy ministers.
The Guardian | 11-Jul-2023
Climate Change Committee recommends leaving energy charter treaty, which critics say is ‘weaponised’ by fossil fuel firms.
No a los TCI | 10-Jul-2023
Queremos pedirles que apoyen la propuesta de la Comisión Europea para iniciar una salida coordinada de la Unión Europea (UE) y de todos sus Estados miembro del Tratado de la Carta de la Energía (TCE), y que acojan un debate sobre el TCE entre los Ministros de Energía en el seno de dicho encuentro.
Euractiv | 10-Jul-2023
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Periódico de la Energía | 5-Jul-2023
La UE no ha alcanzado acuerdo para reformar dicho Tratado y por tanto se anunciará esta semana su salida completa.
El Diario | 3-Jul-2023
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Reuters | 30-Jun-2023
The European Commission is readying a proposal for EU countries to jointly quit an international energy treaty, after some governments already pledged to leave over climate concerns.
Reuters | 28-Jun-2023
Britain’s investment minister said he would like to see strong investment protections in any future trade deal with India, and that the two countries could work more closely together on financial services even without a trade pact.