The State of Play in Vattenfall v. Germany II: Leaving the German public in the dark

The document examines the Vattenfall v. Germany II arbitration, initiated by the Swedish-owned energy company Vattenfall after Germany accelerated its nuclear power phase-out following the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Vattenfall is claiming compensation for the shutdown of the Krümmel and Brunsbüttel plants, with claims reported as high as 4.68 billion EUR. The briefing highlights a lack of transparency in the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) process, noting that procedural orders and submissions remain confidential despite the significant public funds at stake. It argues that ICSID rules do not mandate confidentiality and that the public interest in environmental and energy policy should justify the release of case documents.

• Vattenfall, a Swedish state-owned company, initiated arbitration against Germany under the Energy Charter Treaty following the decision to accelerate the nuclear energy phase-out to be completed by 2022, which led to the immediate shutdown of the Krümmel and Brunsbüttel power plants.
• The ICSID tribunal has issued four procedural orders regarding the confidentiality of documents between February and May 2014, but the contents of these orders and the parties' positions on transparency have not been made public.
• Under ICSID rules, there is no general duty of confidentiality nor a general rule of transparency; disclosure depends on the agreement of the parties or the tribunal's case-by-case decision.
• The German government has restricted access to case information, keeping documents in a high-security building and providing parliamentarians only with a one-page summary of Vattenfall's arguments.

APA

Bernasconi-Osterwalder, N., & Brauch, M. D. (2014). The State of Play in Vattenfall v. Germany II: Leaving the German public in the dark. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/state-of-play-vattenfall-vs-germany-II-leaving-german-public-dark-en.pdf

Chicago

Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Nathalie, and Martin Dietrich Brauch. The State of Play in Vattenfall v. Germany II: Leaving the German public in the dark. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2014. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/state-of-play-vattenfall-vs-germany-II-leaving-german-public-dark-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bernasconi-Osterwalder |first1=Nathalie |last2=Brauch |first2=Martin Dietrich |title=The State of Play in Vattenfall v. Germany II: Leaving the German public in the dark |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=December 2014 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/state-of-play-vattenfall-vs-germany-II-leaving-german-public-dark-en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bernasconiosterwalder2014state, author = {Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Nathalie and Brauch, Martin Dietrich}, title = {{The State of Play in Vattenfall v. Germany II: Leaving the German public in the dark}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2014}, month = dec, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/state-of-play-vattenfall-vs-germany-II-leaving-german-public-dark-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }