The Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia (United States) has rejected Spain’s request for a plenary review of three cases related to the registration of arbitration awards issued by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in the that the country is condemned for the cut in renewable premiums that Mariano Rajoy’s Government carried out in 2013 to alleviate the tariff deficit in the electricity sector.
In total, there are a total of 25 arbitration awards pending payment by Spain, amounting to more than 1,560 million euros, a figure that continues to grow with interest and legal costs, in line with a series of financial and legal extra costs that They add almost 330 million to the amount owed.
Specifically, the unanimous vote of the United States judicial body means that not a single judge has agreed with the State Attorney’s Office, as legal sources told Europa Press.
The first of the cases reviewed is linked to NextEra, an American firm that Spain must compensate with 290 million euros, in addition to another five million in late payment interest.
Another of them refers to 9REN, an investment vehicle based in Luxembourg to which Spain must compensate with 40 million, in addition to 3.5 million in interest; and a third to JGC, for which another 23.5 million must be paid, as well as 5.5 million in late payment interest.
This decision, issued on December 2, resolves a procedure initiated by the State Attorney’s Office on February 12 of this same year and marks another setback for Spain in its attempt to annul the international recognition of arbitration decisions against it.
For their part, sources from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge told Europa Press that the Court of Appeal’s resolution is “susceptible to appeal before the Supreme Court of the United States and that possibility is currently being analyzed.”
The Government of Spain submitted to these procedures as a signatory of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) when the retroactive withdrawal of renewable premiums took place, which explains the convictions that occurred in the courts of the United States, as well as in the courts of Australia, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
The same sources stressed that the rejection has been unanimous, since no judge of the court considered it necessary to take any of the three cases analyzed to the complete review process requested by Spain. Furthermore, the ruling highlights that not even the support of the European Commission as ‘amicus curiae’ managed to persuade the court.
Likewise, they specified that, with this decision, the arbitration awards in favor of the investors “are closer to their execution in the United States, increasing the pressure on Spain to comply with the million-dollar payments derived from these disputes.”
In the case involving JGC, the North American courts have already indicated that they will recognize the award as their own sentence. In addition, similar treatment is expected for the litigation of NextEra and 9REN, as well as for other whistleblowers who may bring their claims to justice in the United States.
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