Introduction

This article will focus on the investment protection and dispute resolution provisions of the ECT. With the increasing globalization of the world's economy, the interdependence of the energy sector, and the long term and highly capital intensive nature of energy projects, multilateral rules for international cooperation are needed. The ECT was negotiated to meet that need. As the arbitral tribunal stated in Plama Consortium Limited vs. Republic of Bulgaria, the ECT is the "first multi-lateral treaty to provide as a general rule the settlement of investor-state disputes by ...