Mitigating the risk of disputes in the renewable energy sector in North Africa: Lessons learned from solar energy claims brought against European States.

This article provides an analysis of arbitration claims brought by foreign investors against European States—such as Spain, Italy, and the Czech Republic—that adopted investor-friendly renewable energy regulations but later amended them, sometimes retroactively. It examines how international arbitral tribunals interpret the States’ obligations under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), focusing on standards like fair and equitable treatment (FET), full protection and security (FPS), and indirect expropriation in the context of regulatory changes affecting renewable energy investments. The article highlights that while investors may have legitimate expectations based on initial regulatory frameworks, States retain a sovereign right to regulate and adapt laws to changing circumstances, enjoying a broad “margin of appreciation” as long as changes are not unreasonable, arbitrary, discriminatory, or fundamentally destabilizing. Lessons drawn from European cases aim to inform North African countries pursuing renewable energy transitions on balancing investor protection with regulatory flexibility.