The silent turf war between the EU Commission and intra-EU investor-state arbitral tribunals and member states that back the bilateral investment treates – BITs – that underpin them is continuing. But resolution of the conflict will likely need to wait until 2018. A Borderlex long-read.
ISDS MIC ICS
In brief: EU and Canada in pitch for international investment court at Davos
The EU and Canada are true to their pledge made during the CETA negotiation process to work together towards the establishment of an international investment court, with the aim to overcome international arbitration – otherwise known as ISDS – to settle disputes between international investors and host states. Trade commissioner …
Analysis : The EU’s 2017 trade challenges
In 2017, trade policy in the EU will most likely be about salvaging what can be salvaged and preparing the ground for better political times in future, writes Iana Dreyer.
Advocate General says BITs with Singapore can only be terminated by member states
The EU Singapore FTA is the first practical test case for the termination of bilateral investment treaties signed by the European countries before 2009 – the year of entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. Twelve member states have BITs in place with Singapore. These treaties cover investment protection and investor-state dispute settlement. …
“Namur declaration” calls for more national involvement in EU trade deals
The leader of the Belgian region of Wallonia, Paul Magnette, who is also an academic, orchestrated a declaration on trade policy by leading professors across the West entitled the Namur Declaration. The three-page text, released on Monday (5 December 2016) calls for greater scrutiny of trade agreements by national and regional parliaments in …
Singapore BIT terminations under question in Court of Justice case on EUSFTA
A detailed report on the EU Law Analysis blog of the first hearing in the Court of Justice of the EU ahead of an eagerly anticipated legal opinion regarding the scope of the EU’s exclusive competence to conclude its 2013 free trade agreement with Singapore reveals that member state bilateral …
In brief: Client Earth criticises European Parliament legal opinion on investment court in CETA
The freshly released European Parliament legal service’s opinion on the EU’s investor court system put forward in its Canadian trade agreement CETA was bound to displease investment arbitration and investment treaty critics: it indeed declared the system compatible with EU law. The environmental NGO Client Earth, an activist critic of international investment protection treaties, released a legal opinion …
What the European Parliament legal service says about CETA’s investment chapter
A report by the European Parliament’s legal service released early September considers that the controversial chapter on investment protection in the Canada EU CETA trade agreement is compatible with EU law. The question of legality of international arbitration tribunals and international courts has become a touchy topic with the controversy over …
EU trade policy August round-up
Two EU wins over Russia at the WTO and the German politics of CETA have dominated the month of August. WTO disputes dominate the picture The EU has imposed retroactive antidumping duties on colled-rolled steel from Russia and China. “The investigation was initiated on 14 May 2015 following a …
EU’s new investment protection provisions in FTAs under renewed civil society fire – ETUC rejects CETA – TNI chastises ICS plans in EU Mexico
The investment court system proposed by the EU its new trade agreements’ investment protection chapters has not placated civil society groups, despite the reforms of the previous system, based on international investor-state arbitration. These reforms were adopted after a civil society and EU Parliament and (in particular) German outcry against …
