On May 14, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a decision in Ioan Micula et al. v. Government of Romania rejecting an attempt by Romania to avoid enforcement of an award issued under the bilateral investment treaty (“BIT”) between Romania and Sweden, two member states of the European Union.

Through the Achmea line of cases, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) purported to determine that the arbitration provisions in investment agreements between member states are contrary to EU law. This has led EU member states and the European Commission to argue that any offer to arbitrate in an intra-EU BIT is void ab initio and an award rendered by virtue of such a BIT must be invalid for lack of jurisdiction.