Article: Spain Fails to Set Aside Registration of intra-EU ECT ICSID Award in the English Commercial Court

In Infrastructure Services Luxembourg and another v. Kingdom of Spain 2023 EWHC 1226 (Comm), the English Commercial Court handed down a significant judgment in high profile proceedings seeking the enforcement of an ICSID award issued in a renewable energy sector dispute pursuant to the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). The same parties have been engaged in multiple proceedings around the world, including in Australia, where the High Court recently rendered an important decision with regard to the waiver of a state’s enforcement immunity. The English Commercial Court provides a detailed assessment (and rejection) of Spain’s ‘intra-EU’ objection to the viability of investment treaty arbitration of its disputes with investors domiciled in EU Member States. The Infrastructure judgment has been heralded as a statement of the English courts’ readiness to straightforwardly enforce intra-EU awards in circumstances when enforcement through the courts of EU Member States may no longer be such an attractive prospect for intra- EU award creditors.