The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty entails sweeping changes with respect to foreign investment regulation. Most prominently, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) now contains in its Article 207 an explicit competence for the regulation of foreign direct investment as part of the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) chapter. With this new competence, the EU will become an important actor in the field of international investment politics and law. The new empowerment in the field of international investment law prompts a multitude of questions. This volume analyzes in depth the new “post-Lisbon situation” in the area of investment policy, provokes further discussion and offers new approaches.
Regulation of foreign investment is one of the most topical and controversial subjects in EU law and international investment law. This book examines the legal foundations upon which EU investment policy is based, addressing the legal, practical, and political concerns created by the establishment of a common investment policy.
The rapidly growing number of investors’ disputes with states and the approach of arbitral tribunals, perceived by some, whether rightly or not, as being too investor-friendly, underlie a contentious debate about the need to strike a more effective balance between investors’ rights under international investment agreements (IIAs) and the right of states to pursue legitimate regulation in the public interest. In this regard the European Union, with the exclusive external competence in foreign direct investment vested in it under the Lisbon Treaty, is emerging as the leader and driving force in the future development of international investment law. This book examines the competence of the EU to conclude investment treaties in the light of the investment protection rules of IIAs, explores how far the EU regime for cross-border investment and investors’ rights under IIAs can be considered comparable, and brings about an extensive analysis of existing agreements of Member States and their compatibility with EU law, with detailed investigation of how the potentially conflicting obligations of Member States under the two regimes can be reconciled. The book covers such elements of the debate as the following: • ‘standards of treatment’ under IIAs; • investment-related provisions of EU law; • dispute settlement mechanisms and the conduct of investment disputes; • how recent controversies over bilateral investment treaties (BITs) shape emerging EU international investment policy; • effect of political and institutional interests; • transitional arrangements for BITs between Member States and third countries established by Regulation 1219/2012; • CJEU decisions concerning BITs concluded between EU Member States and third countries; • significant arbitral awards involving intra-EU BITs; • allocation of international responsibility for breaches of investors’ rights; • intra-EU dimension of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT); • possibilities for review of arbitral awards by courts of Member States; • desirability of international protection of foreign investment in developed countries; and • role of the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention) The author provides a number of well-grounded recommendations, taking into account throughout the legitimate interests and expectations of individual investors. As an invaluable commentary on developments related to the interplay between international investment law and EU law, and a guide to ameliorating the tensions and controversies surrounding this relationship, this book will appeal to a wide variety of readers. The questions dealt with are faced not only by negotiators and others involved in policymaking in the area of foreign investment, but also by specialists in international investment law, investment arbitration, EU international relations law, and anyone involved in cross-border law, as well as others who encounter these questions in the course of their professional or academic activities.
The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty entails sweeping changes with respect to foreign investment regulation. Most prominently, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) now contains in its Article 207 an explicit competence for the regulation of foreign direct investment as part of the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) chapter. With this new competence, the EU will become an important actor in the field of international investment politics and law. The new empowerment in the field of international investment law prompts a multitude of questions. This volume analyzes in depth the new “post-Lisbon situation” in the area of investment policy, provokes further discussion and offers new approaches.
This book explores the interaction between the EU and international investment law, both at the internal level, namely within the EU internal market, and at the external level, i.e. in the context of its relations with third States. The joint treatment of these dimensions reveals that the EU has assumed an ostensibly ambivalent attitude towards international investment law. At the internal level, it has consistently asserted that intra-EU international investment agreements (IIAs) are not compatible with EU law and advocated their termination. At the external level, by contrast, it has eagerly deployed IIAs to develop its post-Lisbon international investment policy. The book finds that beneath this apparent ambivalence towards international investment law ultimately lies the EU's attempt to impose, both internally and externally, its own original model of regulation of cross-border investment. It then argues that the EU adopted this approach with a view to supporting its internal market, enhancing its external influence, and, ultimately, pursuing long-term 'federal aspirations'. Finally, the book identifies the legal and political obstacles that have curtailed the EU's efforts at both the internal and the external level.
International Arbitration Law Library The fragility of the relationship between international law and European Union (EU) law comes to the fore when a dispute arises between an EU Member State and a multinational corporate investor. This book analyzes the legislative and jurisprudential backbone affecting both policy and practice in this area, showing in the process how both the autonomy of the EU legal order and the sovereignty of Member States can be strengthened through a common investor protection policy inside the EU with an efficient adjudication mechanism promised by the EU’s “new generation” agreements. With a thorough analysis of the parameters that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) arbitral tribunals have set for the interplay between EU law and international investment law, the following salient issues and topics and more are covered: operation of the EU’s exclusive competence regarding foreign direct investment; EU rules on capital movements related to investments; potential conflicts between EU law and extra-EU bilateral investment treaties; intra-EU bilateral investment treaties viewed from the perspectives of both international and EU law primacy; role of arbitral tribunals in intra-EU dispute settlement and ramifications in the light of applicable law; and problems arising when the lex arbitri in the proceedings is the law of a non-EU state. The relevant jurisprudence of the CJEU is analyzed against ISDS case law, and detailed attention is paid to scholarship in the relevant fields. The author presents substantial and procedural solutions that will prevent the violation of EU law without sacrificing the substantial protection that arbitration provides for the protection of investments. The book goes largely beyond existing literature and is the first to jointly address EU law, international investment law, and integration theories with actionable solutions. It will allow all concerned with international judicial decision-making to acquire an arsenal of available normative responses to issues raised by EU law’s autonomy, primacy of EU law, EU competences, international EU responsibility, compatibility of ISDS with EU law, and other issues, addressing all the challenges likely to be raised in arbitral or court proceedings. Practitioners will discover viable ways to identify, prevent, or resolve legal impasses stemming from the overlap of EU law and other international law regimes when structuring an investment inside the EU.
Sustainable Development in EU Foreign Investment Law offers a clear and convincing assessment of how the EU contributes to the ongoing debate on sustainable development integration in international investment agreements.
International investment law is a subject of growing importance and complexity. Anyone interested in international investment law will appreciate the comprehensive, thoughtful and detailed exploration of this area which this distinguished group of German scholars have provided.
Due to the ongoing recent expansion of public interest issues worldwide, the state’s right to regulate has been recaptured as a prominent concept in international investment law. The fair and equitable treatment (FET) standard provision in the text of an international investment agreement (IIA) has become a detailed clause clarifying the specific obligations of a state towards an investor under the FET standard. However, striking the right balance between the interests of host states and investors in these new treaty formulations has proved to be challenging. This book greatly clarifies the field by offering the in-depth analysis of the application of the state’s right to regulate in relation to FET standard provisions in IIAs and to decisions by arbitral tribunals in FET cases. Recognising that the role of tribunals is to balance the state’s public interests and the interests of the investor when interpreting and applying the FET standard, the author pursues such seminal issues and topics as the following: the legitimacy of the objective of the state’s measure; obligations and responsibilities of investors towards a host state; the nature and impact of a change to a national regulatory framework; special economic and sociopolitical circumstances in a host state; and due diligence and risk assessment as a condition for the protection of an investor’s legitimate expectations. Multiple IIAs concluded by the OECD Member States, as well by Russia and China between the developing countries, and the prominent investment law cases on the FET standard are examined in detail. The analysis pays particular attention to how investment jurisprudence in FET cases has been reflected in such new IIAs as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Canada (CETA), the EU-Vietnam FTA and the EU-Singapore FTA. These case studies demonstrate the evolution of the IIAs’ FET standard provisions and how they balance the application of the FET standard and the state’s right to regulate. Suggestions are provided for drafting formulations of the FET standard that can contribute to achieving such a balance. In the clear light it sheds on the legal conditions under which states may regulate in the public interest and its contribution to the reforms that are currently taking place in the field of international investment law, this book constitutes an exemplary framework to evaluate investment decisions on the FET standard and the right to regulate. It is sure to prove extremely useful for practitioners who work on investment cases, policymakers involved in negotiating and drafting of IIAs, policy advisors of governmental and non-governmental organisations and academics in international investment law.
EU Law and International Investment Arbitrationthoroughly examines the compatibility of ISDS provisions in extra-EU BITs and the Energy Charter Treaty with the autonomy of EU law, and is a must read for all magistrates and investment practitioners involved in investment arbitrations in or with the EU, as well as for academics interested in the participation of the EU to international dispute resolution or the constitutional construction of the EU judicial system.
