Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, grade: 1,0 (A), Diplomatic Academy of Vienna - School of International Studies (International Law and EU Law), course: External Economic Relations and Foreign Policy of the European Union, language: English, abstract: The aim of this seminar paper will be to firstly give an overview of the role of investment treaties in general, followed by a retrospective on the legal situation of the foreign direct investments (FDI) prior the Treaty of Lisbon (TOL) and an analysis of the current legal framework. Based on primary and secondary sources, the scope of the Union’s exclusive FDI competence of Art. 206/207 TFEU will be inquired as well as questions of legal implementation centred on the issue of financial responsibility within ISDS. By addressing the legal status of the Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT) concluded by MS the legal basis is set to analyse the Austrian Nigerian Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investment which was authorized by the Commission (COM)and concluded by the Republic of Austria in 2013. In this context it will be interesting to assess the potential for the template of this agreement to become a kind of EU-third country model BIT to be concluded by the Union and to which extent the content of the agreement would be covered by the Unions FDI competence. With the entering into force of the TOL the European Union was massively changed in order to take on the challenges that lie ahead in the future. Among many of those institutional changes, the powers of the Union in the field of investments have been enlarged, with FDI now being part of the Common Commercial Policy (CCP). The motivation for such a an empowerment is manifold, reaching from FDI attraction and facilitation both important for European economic growth, the establishment of a level playing field for investors, to the beneficial effect of an increased negotiation leverage. Four years have passed since the new FDI competence has been established and on the face of it not much has been achieved. Only one piece of regulation addressing questions of legal implementation has been adopted. Exclusive EU Free Trade Agreements (FTA) containing comprehensive investment provisions are still to be concluded. Nevertheless a lot of preparatory work has been conducted by the COM and the European Parliament (EP). Of course the academic debate regarding the scope of the competence is vivid as well as the other obstacles regarding the legal implementation, mainly in the field of Investor to State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).

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.

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.

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.

Until 2009, the legal regime of international investments in the EU was characterised by its very high degree of fragmentation due to the complex division of competences between the EU and its member states. While the former has mainly intervened to promote greater liberalisation of capital markets, member states have usually been concerned with the post-establishment aspects of international investments. Only since 2009, with the entrance into force of the Treaty of Lisbon and the consequent extension of the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) to cover FDI, has the EU has gained full competence in FDI. However, the exclusive competence of the EU as regards FDI is still under construction and its full implementation by the EU will take time. Fears about Chinese State Controlled Enterprises (SCEs) have increased steadily in Europe over time. There are growing concerns about investment projects from this and other countries, in many cases sovereign-driven investment, targeting certain strategic areas of the EU economy. This situation has supported the debate about the need for a common EU response to foreign investment in certain strategic sectors. Growing concerns about the potential control of large areas of the economy of EU member states by foreign corporations have increased the popularity in some EU countries of national screening systems to determine on the grounds of national interests what FDI is and is not acceptable: France or Germany are good examples of this move. At the same time, FDI originating from the PRC and other emerging countries has provided a forceful push for the development of a common European screening system to evaluate FDI on national security grounds. EU and national authorities are aware of the fact that foreign investors are in many cases interested in acquiring certain technology or patents rather than in running a firm. In order to prevent this situation, the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for screening of foreign direct investments into the European Union was published by the European Commission on 13 September 2017. This article analyses in depth the Proposal and its relationship with the development of the EU Common Policy on Investment.

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.

This timely book gives an overview of the main legal issues the EU faces in negotiating, concluding and implementing so-called ‘New Generation’ free trade agreements. Featuring contributions by international specialists on EU external action, this book demonstrates why these FTAs have become challenging for the EU, as well as analysing how the EU has dealt with its institutional constraints, and addresses contemporary debates and future challenges for EU institutions and Member States.