The Treaty of Lisbon (2009) has brought foreign direct investment (FDI) within the scope of the European Union's common commercial policy (CCP). In light of this development, this book analyses the internal and external dimension of EU law and policy in the field of FDI. It takes four perspectives: (i) the operation of the internal market mechanism to direct investment; (ii) the implications of the Lisbon amendments to the CCP under Article 207 TFEU for the Union's competence and practice in the field of FDI; (iii) the interaction between EU law and Member States' bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with third countries; (iv) the interplay between EU law and BITs that are currently in force between two Member States (intra-EU BITs). The book focuses on the extent to which the European Union operates as a Single Market for EU and non-EU investors. In doing so, it analyses the EU and international regulatory framework on the admission, treatment and protection of FDI within, to and from the Single European Market. It uses close jurisprudential analysis and examines the context, purpose and evolution of EU legal integration in the field of FDI. It thereby traces the principles underlying the European international economic order in the field of FDI.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from third countries—a desirable form of investment to boost the EU’s economy or a threat to important EU and Member State interests that must be mitigated via FDI screening mechanisms? FDI screening is a complex, controversial and highly topical subject at the intersection of law, politics and economics. This book analyzes the political rationale behind FDI screening in the EU, reveals the legal limitations of current FDI screening mechanisms based on security and public order, and identifies legislative options for broader screening mechanisms in accordance with EU and international economic law. In particular, the book identifies the four main concerns in the EU regarding FDI from third countries: distortive competition effects; the lack of reciprocity on FDI treatment between the EU and the investor’s home country; objectives of the investor or their home country that may be detrimental to EU interests; and safety of private information. On this basis, the book analyzes the Screening Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/452) and its newly introduced screening ground “security or public order” and asks whether this and other similar screening grounds based on the notions of security, public order and public policy can address these concerns with regard to foreign investors. Based on an analysis of WTO law and EU primary law, it argues that they cannot. Thus, the question arises: Do the EU and Member States have the flexibility to adopt broader FDI screening mechanisms? To answer this question, the book examines the freedoms of capital movement and establishment in EU primary law, as well as various sources of international economic law such as, first and foremost, the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services, but also other bi- and plurilateral trade and investment treaties, including the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment. In closing, the book identifies various legislative options for broader FDI screening mechanisms—and their shortcomings.
Exploring the relationship and interaction between economic interests and normative non-trade values, this book argues that the emergence and development of non-trade values is based on a complex dialectic interaction between selfish economic interests and normative values, and examines how their structural interdependence has given rise to a remarkable evolution in international trade. Conceiving this relationship as an intricate dialectic one that is neither purely value-driven, nor purely economic-interest-driven, it addresses the emergence, function, and role of non-trade values in international trade with a synthetizing approach and explores the results of their interaction in international economic intercourse. Approaching the non-trade issues of trade in a holistic manner, the book demonstrates that trade can operate smoothly only if it is framed by an architecture of normative value standards and international trade liberalization has reached the level where further development calls for cooperation also in fields that, at first glance, may appear to be non-trade in nature.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) has grown considerably worldwide in recent decades, alongside the no-less considerable development of international ‘supply chains’. In the European Union (EU), stock held by foreign investors exceeds EUR 6 billion, while stock held in the rest of the world by EU investors exceeds EUR 7 billion. This important book analyses the current and proposed regimes of FDI screening in the EU, highlighting mechanisms designed to enhance FDI’s advantages and minimize its drawbacks. Leading practitioners, policymakers and academics discuss the 2017 European Commission proposal on FDI screening and its resulting Regulation, focusing on such issues and topics as the following: the economics of FDI screening; rising protectionism versus further investment liberalization; how the EU framework connects with WTO rules; the dangers of foreign investment in sectors essential to public order and security; how the EU regulatory layer interacts with FDI screening at Member State level; and perceived lacunae in the way the EU addresses incoming FDI. Two detailed examples of how FDI screening works in practice are included, along with a comparative view of FDI screening in the United States. Contributions commenting specifically on the EU Regulation deal with the process of adopting the Regulation and the impact of opposing views, and how the Regulation aligns with EU policy in the areas of trade, investment and competition. Companies engaged in FDI or financial services will appreciate the detailed analysis of issues raised by this new EU policy instrument. Practitioners active in competition law, particularly M&A, will welcome this clear commentary and analysis of a crucial component of EU policy in the related areas of trade and investment, and policymakers will be encouraged to consider whether further regulatory changes are called for.
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.
In this substantially revised and updated second edition, this work examines the intersection of EU law and international arbitration based on the experience of leading practitioners in both commercial and investment treaty arbitration law. It expertly illustrates the depth and breadth of EU lawÕs impact on party autonomy and on the margin of appreciation available to arbitral tribunals. This second edition covers all relevant new developments in law and practice, and tracks the ever-increasing influence of EU law and the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in international arbitration.
EU Law and International Investment Arbitration thoroughly 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.
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 Achmea judgment revolutionised intra-EU investment protection by declaring intra-EU bilateral investment treaties (intra-EU BITs) incompatible with EU law. This incisive book investigates whether intra-EU foreign investments benefit from this alteration, which discontinued the parallel applicability of intra-EU BITs and EU law in the EU internal market. In addition to comparative legal analysis from an investor perspective, Dominik Moskvan puts forward a proposal for a creation of a permanent intra-EU foreign investment court to ensure a balanced economic development of the EU internal market.
