The past months and weeks have been extra-ordinarily busy. This is a short summary of the past activities and outlook to some upcoming events. In September & October I taught again my course “International Investment Law” at the Free University Brussels – Brussels Diplomatic Academy, with many very enthusiastic students. At the beginning of October…
Q2 of 2019 has been busy again and lots of developments have happened. I have commented on the long-awaited Opinion 1/17 of the Court of Justice of the EU in which it approved the CETA-style Investment Court System (ICS). Here is my blogpost for the Practical Arbitration blog and an earlier version in Borderlex. The…
The first quarter of 2019 has been very busy indeed. Here are some highlights. On 31 January EFILA hosted its 4th Annual Conference in London. More than 100 participants attended the conference. The keynote speaker was Colin Brown of DG Trade focusing on the Multilateral Investment Court (MIC). As Secretary General of EFILA I am…
The past year has been very exciting and successful regarding all my various activities. In this blog I highlight some of the most important developments and achievements and will provide an outlook for 2019. NL-Investmentconsulting’s growing portfolio My legal advisory has been significantly growing over the past work, focusing mainly on intra-EU BIT and intra-EU…
On Thursday, 25 October 2018, Prof. George A. Bermann (Columbia University New York) will deliver the 4th EFILA Annual Lecture. The title is: “Recalibrating the European Union—International Arbitration Interface” Click here to register! On 18 October, the Dutch Arbitration Day will take place in Amsterdam. The theme of this year’s conference will be: Technology and…
After having digested the Achmea judgment, I reflect in this blog, which was published on the Kluwer Arbitration blog, on the possible way forward. The Achmea judgment, passed on the 6th of March 2018, and addressed in the Kluwer blog posts available here and here, prompted us to think about what could be the way…
The CJEU’s Achmea judgment has prompted me to write several blogposts. This one was published by Practical Law Arbitration Blog and provides a first – rather pessimistic – assessment of the CJEU’s judgment. Below I discuss the wider implications of the Achmea judgment, for example also for the ECT. In his Opinion, Advocate General Wathelet…
In November 2017, the European Commission (EC) issued its decision on the Spanish support measures for renewable energy sources. As will be recalled, Spain is currently facing about 30 investment-treaty disputes based on the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and various bilateral investment treaties (BITs) for the retroactive withdrawal of its support measures for the production…
A look back at NL-Investmentconsulting’s year 2017 was a very busy year with a nice mix of different activities and achievements. On the arbitration side, I am glad to have been able to provide my legal expertise on the interaction between EU law and investment law in 2 ICSID disputes (including one Annulment procedure). On…
On 12 October 2017, ICJ Judge Sir Christopher Greenwood delivered the 3rd EFILA Annual Lecture in Brussels. The title of his Lecture was “MFN clauses – their real purpose and real effect”. As in previous years, the Lecture took place at the Press Club in Brussels. His excellent Lecture can be viewed at the YouTube…
The poison pill for maintaining intra-EU BITs arbitration The long-awaited Opinion of Advocate General (AG) Wathelet in the Achmea case has resulted in an unexpected and rather surprising Opinion. Many observers (including the present writer) had expected that the AG would hammer the final nail on the coffin of intra-EU BITs and arbitral tribunals based…
Lecturing investment law at the VUB Since two weeks I have been lecturing as Guestprofessor international investment law at the Free University Brussels – Brussels Diplomatic Academy (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, VUB). 7 weeks of intensive international investment law The course spans 7 weeks and each lecture takes 3 hours. We cover all main aspects of…
