Tag: ISDS
Want to build an international investment court that won’t go up in flames? Fix the underlying system!
Whether or not you are a trade aficionado or aficionada, you have likely noticed the glaring headlines about free trade deals between the European Union and Canada or the United States. A root cause of the controversy around these deals...
Whipping up a transatlantic trade agreement? Shop wisely.
The EU and US negotiators of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) meet in New York this week for the 13th round of negotiations. In the media storm that accompanies TTIP it is not easy to keep a bird’s-eye...
Lessons to learn from TPP: What the EU shouldn’t do in TTIP
What is TPP? TPP stands for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and it is the most important free trade agreement ever negotiated. It covers a vast number of sectors and involves 12 countries in the Pacific[1] region, including the United States (US)....
From ISDS to ICS: Still a long way to go
Following a heated debate, the European Commission has finally recognised the risks inherent in the proposed Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): namely that it lacks transparency and that its arbitrators are prone...
Who is going to pay the bill for regulatory cooperation in TTIP?
Ever since I read the European Commission’s proposal on regulatory cooperation I have been trying to figure out how this system will work in practice. One thing which intrigued me was the price tag for engaging in this kind of...
Postponing the European Parliament’s TTIP resolution is not what consumers want to hear
The European Parliament has been working for months on its recommendations to the Commission on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. No less than 14 committees were involved. At the last minute, the vote was postponed. In this...
What kind of TTIP does the European Parliament want?
After almost two years of negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal, Members of the European Parliament are now assessing progress and will make recommendations to the negotiators. Those recommendations should not be taken lightly because they will...
“TTIP won’t lower standards” – Well then let’s break down how – UPDATE
Update: 11 September 2015 In this blog, I urged EU policy-makers to give us strong and tangible reassurances that TTIP wouldn’t lower standards. Well, they need to do a better job. The peace of the Brussels’ summer was indeed troubled...
Confirmed intra-EU ISDS mess: An update of the Micula case
In a previous blogpost, I wrote about the European Commission’s Competition authorities’ serving of an injunction on Romania provisionally ordering the country’s government not to pay Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) compensation to a Swedish investor, Micula. The rationale was...
New year, new TTIP?
January kicked-off with three exciting developments on TTIP. It seems that in the wake of the 8th negotiating round of February TTIP has finally left its extended winter sleep. European Commission transparency “offensive” It started last week Wednesday when Commissioner...