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Procedural Posture
This document is a Petition to Enforce an Arbitral Award filed by RWE Renewables GmbH and RWE Renewables Iberia S.A.U. against the Kingdom of Spain in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The Petitioners seek the recognition and enforcement of a €28.08 million arbitral award rendered on December 18, 2020, in ICSID Case No. ARB/14/34, pursuant to the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (the ICSID Convention) and the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).
Legal Issues and Parties' Positions
The Petitioners assert that the District Court possesses subject matter jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), 28 U.S.C. § 1330(a), arguing that Spain waived its sovereign immunity by becoming a contracting party to the ICSID Convention and the ECT. The Petitioners further rely on 22 U.S.C. § 1650a, which mandates that federal courts enforce the pecuniary obligations of ICSID awards with the same full faith and credit as final judgments of state courts, precluding collateral substantive attacks on the award's merits.
Requested Relief
The Petitioners request the entry of a judgment enforcing the arbitral award, including the principal damages of €28,080,000, pre-award and post-award interest compounded monthly at 2.07 percent, and apportioned costs of the arbitration proceedings. The Petitioners acknowledge the provisional stay of enforcement issued by the ICSID ad hoc committee pending Spain's annulment application and stipulate that they will refrain from moving for final judgment until the stay is formally lifted.