17-09-2015

EU Commission proposes new Investment Court System for TTIP

cep already said in July that an international court is required for TTIP rather than ad hoc arbitral tribunals

The EU Commission on Wednesday proposed a new system for resolving disputes between investors and states – the so-called Investment Court System, it said in a press release. This new system would replace the existing investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism in all ongoing and future EU investment negotiations, including the EU-US talks on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Commission said.

”We want to establish a new system built around the elements that make citizens trust domestic or international courts,” EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström explained. “I’m making this proposal public at the same time that I send it to the European Parliament and the Member States,” she said.

“The new Investment Court System will be composed of fully qualified judges, proceedings will be transparent, and cases will be decided on the basis of clear rules,” First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said. “In addition, the Court will be subject to review by a new Appeal Tribunal. With this new system, we protect the governments' right to regulate, and ensure that investment disputes will be adjudicated in full accordance with the rule of law.”

The cep already said in July that an international court is required for TTIP rather than ad hoc arbitral tribunals. The international court should be set up with independent judges who are also remunerated irrespectively of the cases which come before them. In order to safeguard the consistency of case law and develop the law, there should be an appeals system, the cepInput argued.