Ugovor arbitrabilnosti kot posledica sodbe Achmea in pravne posledice Pogodbe o prenehanju veljavnosti intra-EU BIT-ov

Presker, Ana (author), Sancin, Vasilka (mentor)

V zadnjih desetletjih so bilateralni investicijski sporazumi (BIS) z namenom spodbujanja in zaščite investicij postali izredno priljubljen instrument mednarodnega investicijskega prava, ki preko materialnih standardov in arbitražne klavzule investitorjem omogočajo visoko stopnjo zaščite, na katero se lahko investitorji na podlagi klavzule o podaljšani veljavnosti zanašajo še leta po prenehanju BIS. S pristopom držav kandidatk k EU, v letih 2004, 2007 in 2013, je okoli 200 BIS postalo intra-EU BIS. Zaradi povečanega števila sporov, ki so bili predloženi arbitražnim tribunalom na podlagi intra-EU BIS, se je vnel politični in pravni spor med državami članicami, arbitražnimi tribunali in EK, saj naj bi intra-EU BIS s pristopom držav k EU postali avtomatično neveljavni. Mejnik predstavlja odločitev v zadevi Achmea, kjer je Sodišče EU (SEU) razsodilo, da je arbitražna klavzula, ki jo vsebuje nizozemsko-češkoslovaški BIS, nezdružljiva z 267. in 344. členom PDEU ter ne more služiti kot veljavna pravna podlaga za spore na podlagi navedenega BIS. Države članice EU so na podlagi sodbe Achmea, leta 2020 sprejele Sporazum o prenehanju veljavnosti bilateralnih investicijskih pogodb med državami članicami EU. Praksa arbitražnih tribunalov in nacionalnih sodišč ter SEU je zavzela različna stališča glede veljavnosti intra-EU BIS in arbitražnih klavzul intra-EU BIS. Magistrsko diplomsko delo se osredotoča na odnos mednarodnega investicijskega prava in prava EU ter skladnost Pogodbe o prenehanju veljavnosti intra-EU BIS z mednarodnim javnim pravom. Analizira učinke sporazumnega prenehanja BIS na klavzule o podaljšani veljavnosti ter prakso arbitražnih tribunalov. Magistrsko diplomsko delo se osredotoči tudi na potencialno zaščito investitorjevih pravic znotraj EU na podlagi nekaterih institutov mednarodnega javnega prava ter na razvoj aktualne prakse SEU. Hipoteza tega magistrskega diplomskega dela je, da investitorja iz EU, ki investira v drugo državo članico EU, kljub sprejetju SEU sodbe Achmea in Pogodbe o prenehanju veljavnosti intra-EU BIS s katero so intra-EU BIS prenehali veljati, varuje klavzula o podaljšani veljavnosti, ki vse do izteka obdobja njene veljavnosti, investitorju zagotavlja zaščito na podlagi materialnih standardov in arbitražne klavzule intra-EU BIS.

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: mednarodno investicijsko pravo, mednarodna investicijska arbitraža, sodba Achmea, klavzula o podaljšani veljavnosti, bilateralni investicijski sporazum, Pogodba o prenehanju veljavnosti intra-EU BIS
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Organization: PF - Faculty of Law
• Year: 2023
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-146861
• COBISS.SI-ID: 160957955
• Publication date in RUL: 15.06.2023

Secondary language

• Language: English
• Title: Objection to arbitrability as a result of the achmea judgment and the legal consequences of the agreement for the termination of intra-EU BITs

Abstract

In recent decades, bilateral investment treaties (BITs) have become an extremely popular instrument of international investment law with the aim of promoting and protecting investments, providing investors with a high level of protection through substantive standards and arbitration clause, on which investors can rely for years after the termination of the BIT by means of a sunset clause. With the accession of candidate countries to the EU, in years 2004, 2007 and 2013, around 200 BITs became intra-EU BITs. Increased number of disputes, submitted to arbitral tribunals under intra-EU BITs, has led to a political and legal disputes between Member States, arbitral tribunals and the EC, as intra-EU BITs are supposed to become automatically invalid upon accession. A landmark decision was the Achmea judgment, where the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruled that the arbitration clause, included in the Dutch-Czechoslovak BIT, is incompatible with Articles 267 and 344 TFEU and cannot not serve as a valid legal basis for disputes under that BIT. Following the Achmea decision, EU Member States adopted the Agreement on the Termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties between EU Member States in 2020. The practice of arbitral tribunals and national courts, as well as the CJEU, has taken rational positions on the validity of intra-EU BITs and intra-EU BIT arbitration clauses. The focus of the Master's thesis is on the relationship between international investment law and EU law and the compatibility of the Agreement on the termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties between EU Member States with public international law. It analyses the effects of the consensual termination of the BIT on sunset clauses and the practice of arbitral tribunals. The Master's thesis also focuses on the potential protection of investor's rights within the EU, under certain public international law instruments and on the development of the current case law of the CJEU. The hypothesis of this Master's thesis is that an EU investor, who is investing in another EU Member State, despite the adoption of the CJEU's Achmea judgment and Agreement on the termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties between EU Member States, terminating the intra-EU BITs, is protected by sunset clause, which until its expiry provides the investor with protection of intra-EU BIT's substantive standards and arbitration clause.

• Keywords: international investment law, international investment arbitration, Achmea judgment, sunset clause, bilateral investment treaty, Agreement for the termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties between the Member States of the European Union