The protection that bilateral and multilateral investment treaties afford to the fossil fuel industry presents a significant roadblock to climate mitigation action. Under these investment law frameworks, foreign investors benefit from a broad range of protections against the impacts of changes to a host State’s regulatory regime.
This legal briefing explains how the implications of the recent landmark decision of the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the Komstroy case on pending and future intra-EU Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims.
While the Komstroy decision may not, on its own, stop pending proceedings or prevent future investor-State disputes from arising in the EU, it does increase the barriers to recognition and enforcement of awards issued in intra-EU arbitration.
The briefing examines how these awards may be challenged following Komstroy, the potential obstacles to their enforcement in the EU, including the obligation of national courts to abide by EU law as set forth by the CJEU, and the possibility that EU state aid rules prevent payment of awards.
Published on December 16, 2021