Nikos Lavranos shares his insights with Borderlex into the current status of the ongoing UN Commission for International Trade and Investment Law Working Group III negotiations on investor-state dispute settlement reforms.
ISDS MIC ICS
UNCITRAL: ISDS ‘code of conduct’ negotiations meet first hurdles
UN Commission for International Trade and Investment Law Working Group III negotiations on ISDS reforms in Vienna started in earnest last week as diplomats got into the thick of talks on an arbitrator investment code. So far there has been little progress as divisions emerged over the scope of the …
ECJ pre-empts circumvention of intra-EU ISDS prohibition
The European Court of Justice confirmed that investor-state arbitration between European Union investors and member states is illegal, even if such arbitration is based on domestic legislation of an EU member state. Whilst EU investors can pursue arbitration internationally under new EU investment protection treaties, a major rule-of-law gap has …
ECJ puts paid to intra-EU Energy Charter Treaty investor-state arbitration
The European Court of Justice declared in a judgment on Thursday (2 September) that the investor-state arbitration system under the Energy Charter Treaty is not applicable within the European Union. This effectively puts an end to ECT arbitration within the EU and will significantly increase the pressure on the ongoing …
Week in Brussels: EP in Washington, ISDS Advisory Centre, TSD chapter consultation
Trade policy activity is quieting down somewhat in Brussels ahead of the usual summer lull. Here nonetheless some interesting trade policy highlights for you. Iana Dreyer and Nikos Lavranos.
Comment: Will Solvit-Invest solve it?
The European Commission is planning to propose a mechanism to investors based in the EU that would at least partially compensate for the loss of investment protection guarantees included in bilateral investment treaties signed in an era before Central and Eastern European member states joined the European Union.
Week in Brussels: TRIPS, EU-India summit, ISDS reform
Overview of key news items this week in EU trade by Iana Dreyer and Nikos Lavranos.
ECJ Advocate General: Intra-EU Energy Charter Treaty investor-state arbitration is illegal
The European Court of Justice’s Advocate General Szpunar opined that the investor-state arbitration system under the Energy Charter Treaty is not applicable within the European Union. This will further increase the pressure on the ongoing ECT modernisation process and might very well herald the end of the ECT within the EU.
UNCITRAL investor-state reform talks: appeals tribunal solution – more questions than answers
The latest round of negotiations among the member states of the UNCITRAL Working Group III on ISDS reforms held last week (8-12 February 2021) revealed increasing diversity rather than more unity among the parties on the future of investor-state dispute settlement and EU-sponsored plans for a multilateral court system. The …
CETA investment court rules reflect wider multilateral dispute settlement reform goals
The European Union and Canada agreed on joint rules for their planned Investment Court System which is to become part of CETA. Any such court won’t see the light for a long time, but its rules reflect EU ambitions in other areas, namely hopes for a multilateral investment court and …
