ERDEM-NEWSLETTER-2018-metin

179 ARBITRATION LAW Impact of the Achmea Judgment on Investment Arbitration * Att. Tilbe Birengel Introduction The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) rendered a highly disputed judgment in the Achmea case on March 6, 2018 1 . The decision ruling on the incompatibility of the arbitration clause in the 1991 the Netherlands-Slovakia bilateral investment treaty 2 (“BIT”) with EU law is likely to create long-lasting discussions in the field of investment arbitration. The previous phase of the Achmea judgment, the foreseen impact of the judgment in arbitration community and post- Achmea awards including the tribunals’ assessments with regards to this matter in sev- eral investment disputes will be dealt below. The Background of Achmea Judgment A Dutch insurer, Achmea B.V. (formerly Eureko B.V.), initiated arbitration proceedings before an ad-hoc arbitral tribunal seated in Frankfurt against Slovakia in 2008, by claiming that the reversed lib- eralizations in the market of health insurance prohibited distribution of profits for the investors in Slovakia, which eventually infringed the BIT. * Article of October 2018 1 The Judgment of the Grand Chamber of the CJEU: Slovak Republic v. Achmea B.V., Case C-284/16, https://www.italaw.com/sites/default/files/case-documents/ italaw9548_0.pdf, (Access date: October 2018). 2 The Agreement on Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investments be- tween the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Czech and Slovak Federal Repub- lic, signed on 29 April 1991, entered into force on 1 October 1992, https://www. italaw.com/browse/international-investment-agreement-name?field_case_trea- ties_tid=383 (Access date: October 2018).