| Summary: | With the provisional entry into force of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the free trade agreement between Canada, the European Union and its Member States, the legal framework for EU investment protection is in the spotlight as never before. The EU itself is at the very forefront: as policymaker in its new role as guardian of EU investment protection since the Lisbon Treaty, as lead negotiator and party to CETA and the other emerging agreements with third countries, and since recently also as investment treaty case respondent: the first investment treaty claim was lodged against the EU at the end of 2019 by the Swiss entity Nord Stream 2 under the auspices of the Energy Charter Treaty.In CETA, the EU has sought to implement a number of policy goals, including a new tribunal mechanism for resolving investment disputes, more precision in the wording of legal standards of protection in order to achieve better consistency in decision-making, and the inclusion of requirements on conflicts of interest of arbitrators and transparency of proceedings. This work provides a comprehensive article-by-article commentary on these ground-breaking agreements and Regulations, deconstructing the legal issues and providing practical insights. With a broader legal framework also in place in the form of three EU Regulations which underpin the investment protection law framework, the work also provides comprehensive commentary on (i) Regulation (EU) No 912/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for managing financial responsibility linked to investor-to-state dispute settlement tribunals established by international agreements to which the European Union is party, (ii) Regulation (EU) 1219/2012 establishing transitional arrangements for bilateral investment agreements between EU countries and non-EU countries and (iii) Regulation (EU) 2019/452 establishing a framework for screening of foreign direct investments into the European Union. --
|
|---|
