Unless otherwise specified, all redactions in this document are justified under
Article 4.1(b) of Regulation 1049/2001.
Ref. Ares(2017)3713825 - 24/07/2017
Ref. Ares(2018)6087220 - 28/11/2018
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Trade
Directorate F - WTO, Legal Affairs and Trade in Goods
Dispute Settlement and Legal Aspects of Trade Policy
Brussels, 24 July 2017
F.2/
(2017) 3257764
Subject:
Meeting with AFEP (Association française des entreprises privées)
and Cercle de l'industrie on the multilateral investment court
(1 June 2017)
Participants
(COM TRADE F2)
(AFEP)
(Cercle de l'industrie)
The aim of this meeting was to exchange on the points that AFEP and Cercle de
l'industrie had raised in their joint submission to the public consultation on the
multilateral reform of investment dispute settlement.
Summary
COM explained the context of the multilateral investment court initiative including
background (milestones since Treaty of Lisbon, rationale of the initiative) and state of
play (EU ongoing internal and external work). COM elaborated on the expected next
steps once the Impact Assessment is finalised.
AFEP's main concern is to ensure speedy proceedings and that the adjudicator is neutral
and competent. To AFEP, priority should be ensuring a system granting effective
protection to EU investors in other countries. AFEP is concerned that generalist
adjudicators and the possibility to appeal may delay proceedings. A discussion ensued on
why, instead, a system where adjudicators do not need to be appointed by the disputing
parties and there is consistency of case law will shorten proceedings. The role of an
appeal instance was put in this context. Participants agreed that the emphasis must be on
the competences of adjudicators rather than on whether they are qualified judges or not.
C.c.: D. Redonnet,
.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Electronically signed on 24/07/2017 11:16 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 4 2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563