[sh_light_text ]The EU and China are discussing their planned bilateral investment treaty on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Italy this week. Both want to conclude an agreement that mutually opens markets and better protects investors’ rights. But negotiations will likely be protracted and Beijing does not appear to prioritise this deal with Brussels, Jennifer Freedman …
Investment liberalisation agreements
Fit for the city? Trade policy and today’s urban economy
[sh_light_text ]Cities are increasingly the locus of the world economy. Since 2007, more than half the world population has been living in cities. The world is continuing to urbanise rapidly. But are today’s trade policies and free trade negotiations up to the task of catering to cities’ needs? A panel …
A $ 50 bn award concludes long-standing Energy Charter Yukos case
[sh_light_text ]A Hague tribunal US$ 50 bn award concludes one of the world’s most high-profile expropriation cases, that of Yukos, the former biggest Russian oil company previously owned by Michail Khodorkovsky, reports Iana Dreyer.[/sh_light_text]
Mega-regionals muddy investment-protection landscape
[sh_light_text ]Mega-regional trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) may complicate rules designed to protect investors, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development says.[/sh_light_text] By Jennifer Freedman
Investor-state disputes in the US & EU – beyond the myths
[sh_light_text ]Iana Dreyer comments on a new note published by UNCTAD, the Geneva-based UN body dealing with trade and investment, analysing investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases where the United States (US) and European Union (EU) member states have been involved. [/sh_light_text]
Blog: UNCTAD & WTO reports on investment & trade measures – EU in all this
Yesterday, new facts and numbers of about international trade and investment policies came out of Geneva. A short UNCTAD-OECD report on G20 Investment Measures was published, and the WTO released its semi-annual report on trade measures as a means to track down protectionist tendencies. Borderlex is interested in how Europe is …
State-owned companies and weak rule of law a rising concern of European firms invested in China
The latest report by the EU Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, the Business Confidence Survey 2014 reveals increasing pessimism of European companies invested in China as to their future business prospects in the country. The current economic slowdown is an important factor in explaining this perception, but a deteriorating business environment stands …
Comment: Why an EU-China investment agreement would not be such a bad thing
[sh_light_text ]China and the European Union (EU) are currently negotiating an international investment agreement (IIA). Both parties place a lot of hopes in the treaty’s effects on foreign investment flows. But these effects will likely be limited. Nonetheless, concluding the agreement is a real opportunity to improve both bilateral and international investment rules, says …
