Sunday

24th Sep 2023

Brussels backs more transparency on investor claims

  • The European Commission has called on governments to adopt the UN's transparency rules on investor claims (Photo: ec.europa.eu)

The European Commission has called on governments to sign up to UN transparency rules giving public access to controversial investor protection cases.

In a statement on Thursday (29 January), the EU executive said that EU governments should agree to a UN Convention on Transparency Rules in investment treaties.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

If backed by governments, the rules, which were agreed by the UN general assembly in December 2014, would apply to all existing investment treaties - numbering over 1400 - that the EU and Member States have in place.

The commission says that the regime, which includes access to documents and making hearings open to the public, as well as allowing interested third parties to make submissions to Investor State Dispute Settlement cases, have been incorporated into free trade agreements struck recently with Canada and Singapore.

Signing up to the UN rules would be a “welcome and necessary reform of the ISDS system worldwide, making old agreements more transparent,' said EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom.

The commission proposal, which will likely be discussed by ministers in March, is the latest attempt by the Brussels executive to demonstrate it is being open and transparent when negotiating international treaties on behalf of the EU.

"The need for more transparency, independence of arbitration judges and room to regulate for governments is broader than only TTIP," said Dutch MEP Marietje Schaake, who speaks for the liberal ALDE group on trade.

"European governments must show that they take the criticism of ISDS seriously and that they are willing to act to improve it."

"It's positive that the Commission puts pressure on EU member states to open up investor-state disputes," Corporate Europe Observatory spokesperson, Pia Eberhardt, told EUobserver.

"But lets not lose sight of the forest for the trees," she added. "The commission is pushing for more transparency to make the investor-state dispute settlement system more acceptable - but it does nothing to address its basic flaws."

EU and US trade officials convene in Brussels next week for the eighth round of talks on a transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP). At their December EU summit, leaders gave negotiators a deadline of the end of 2015 to conclude talks on the pact, which the commission estimates could be worth €100 billion extra to the EU’s economic output.

Talks on TTIP have progressed in the 18 months since talks began, but the ISDS mechanism has been the main cause of public scepticism about an EU-US trade agreement, amid concern it would allow US firms to erode EU consumer standards and intimidate governments against regulating.

ISDS, together with plans to harmonise regulation by establishing ‘mutual recognition’ of EU and US rules by the two blocs’ jurisdictions, were the main topics of discussion at a hearing in the European Parliament on Wednesday (January 28).

German centre-left MEP Bernd Lange, who chairs the parliament’s international trade committee, and has been tasked with drafting the parliament’s position at the half-way stage of talks, has indicated that investor protection can be guaranteed by their national courts.

“Should ISDS provisions be included in the TTIP, it seems to be clear, that further reforms to the current model, are critical to avoid the problems that have arisen under the provisions in existing free trade agreements (FTA)s,” Lange’s report notes.

Lange has also warned that “absolute transparency” would be needed in order to convince a sceptical public of TTIPs value.

EU-US trade talks in 'troubled waters'

EU-US trade talks are “in troubled waters” and need a “fresh start for parliament to approve an agreement”, its trade committee chairman has said.

Opinion

Europe's energy strategy: A tale of competing priorities

Enhancing energy security empowers nations to heavily invest in renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric power. But with a stable supply of LNG, Europe can also speed up its shift away from fossil fuels.

Why Greek state workers are protesting new labour law

Thousands of Greek state workers are protesting against changes to the labour law proposed by the conservative Mitsotakis government. These include a six-day week, working hours of up to 13 hours and 'on-call' contracts.

Opinion

Europe's energy strategy: A tale of competing priorities

Enhancing energy security empowers nations to heavily invest in renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric power. But with a stable supply of LNG, Europe can also speed up its shift away from fossil fuels.

Latest News

  1. Europe's energy strategy: A tale of competing priorities
  2. Why Greek state workers are protesting new labour law
  3. Gloves off, as Polish ruling party fights for power
  4. Here's the headline of every op-ed imploring something to stop
  5. Report: Tax richest 0.5%, raise €213bn for EU coffers
  6. EU aid for Africa risks violating spending rules, Oxfam says
  7. Activists push €40bn fossil subsidies into Dutch-election spotlight
  8. Europe must Trump-proof its Ukraine arms supplies

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us