Unrivalled coverage of European trade policy
Monday, December 9, 2019
The EU’s international investment protection policies are not 100% consistent, Nikos Lavranos concludes after examining the relevant chapters of the bloc’s trade agreements with Vietnam and Singapore and CETA. The perceived inconsistency in existing bilateral investment agreements and the jurisprudence of international arbitral tribunals established under those BITs have been …
So far, six World Trade Organization members have lodged complaints challenging President Donald Trump’s assertion that tariffs on steel and aluminium are needed to protect US national security. They are broadly similar, but hardly identical, and some of the differences are quite noteworthy. More members have ganged together in …
The European Commission has released an 18-page document on the EU-Mexico free trade deal that was concluded over the weekend. Here are the distilled contents of the modernisation exercise, with yours truly’s knee-jerk reactions and annotations. Negotiators will work over the coming months on a final pact ready to …
So what are the wider implications Tuesday’s Court of Justice of the European Union’s Achmea vs Slovakia ruling? Nikos Lavranos discusses the consequences for the EU’s investment court plans in CETA or at the multilateral level, Energy Charter Treaty arbitration, and the state of the rule of law in the EU.
Be prepared to run away from Britain, and to run fast. That is, in short, the message the European Commission is sending to non-EU exporters and to UK exporters as part of its ‘Brexit preparedness’ activities with businesses representatives. The commission has been issuing a long list of notices to …
The European Commission published the bulk of the text of the EU Japan Economic Partnership Agreement in early December last year. Below some highlights of the pact and some comments – result of your truly’s Christmas break reading. The deal favours significantly EU exporters and is relatively unambitious in services.
The EU Commission is preparing the ground for negotiations towards a multilateral investment court – MIC. Member states will be working on a negotiating mandate in the coming weeks and months. Nikos Lavranos explains that the Commission hopes to fast-track the process by taking the so-called ‘Mauritius approach’. On …
A first piece of commentary on the deal that was agreed today in Brussels.
In this Borderlex ‘In Depth’ report, Nikos Lavranos explains in detail the key conclusions of Opinion 2/15 of the CJEU on the status of the 2014 EU Singapore Free Trade Agreement under the EU’s division of competences under EU law released on 16 May 2017. Nikos Lavranos is Guest Professor …
The silent turf war between the EU Commission and intra-EU investor-state arbitral tribunals and member states that back the bilateral investment treates – BITs – that underpin them is continuing. But resolution of the conflict will likely need to wait until 2018. A Borderlex long-read.
ESF 20th Anniversary Event – 10 December 2019 – Brussels. More here.
