CETA: EU court rules ISDS is incompatible with EU law . . .

CETA: EU court rules ISDS is incompatible with EU law . . .

Postby Oscar » Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:47 am

Top EU court rules ISDS is incompatible with EU law

[ http://www.foeeurope.org/eu-court-isds- ... law-060318 ]

6 March 2018

The European Court of Justice ruled today that controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clauses in the Netherlands-Slovakia bilateral investment treaty are not compatible with EU law, raising fundamental questions about the legality of other EU trade deals which include the measure. [1] [ https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/doc ... 0026en.pdf ]

While the ruling applies to intra-EU trade deals, it could have a significant impact on the future of the EU-Canada trade deal, CETA, which includes a similar measure – the Investment Court System. After a request from the Belgian government, the ECJ will rule on whether the Investment Court System is compatible with EU laws.

Paul de Clerck, trade campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe said, "This ruling confirms what citizens across Europe have been saying for years – there is no place for corporate courts to supersede the public interest. It also makes it even more uncertain if trade deals that include parallel legal systems like the EU-Canada agreement CETA are even legal under European law. National parliaments across the EU should pull the plug now and reject these unfair trade deals."
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Re: CETA: EU court rules ISDS into compatible with EU law .

Postby Oscar » Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:53 am

The arbitration clause in the Agreement between the Netherlands and Slovakia on the protection of investments is not compatible with EU law

[ https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/doc ... 0026en.pdf ]

That clause removes from the mechanism of judicial review of EU law disputes which may relate to the application or interpretation of that law

http://www.curia.europa.eu Court of Justice of the European Union PRESS RELEASE No 26/18 Luxembourg, 6 March 2018 Judgment in Case C-284/16 Slowakische Republik v Achmea BV

EXCERPT: On those grounds, the Court finds that, by concluding the BIT, Slovakia and the Netherlands established a mechanism for settling disputes which is not capable of ensuring that those disputes will be decided by a court within the judicial system of the EU, only such a court being able to ensure the full effectiveness of EU law.
In those circumstances, the Court concludes that the arbitration clause in the BIT has an adverse effect on the autonomy of EU law, and is therefore incompatible with EU law.
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Re: CETA: EU court rules ISDS into compatible with EU law .

Postby Oscar » Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:58 am

New ECJ ruling could spell the end of 200 intra-EU investment agreements

[ https://www.clientearth.org/new-ecj-rul ... on-europe/ ]

News / 6 March 2018

EXCERPT: “The judgment is also a hopeful sign in the case over EU-Canada trade deal CETA. Belgium was right to get CETA legally checked by the ECJ and the Achmea judgment is yet another sign that Belgium’s request will spell the end of CETA as we know it.”

ISDS is used by foreign investors to side-line domestic courts and sue governments for any measure that affects their investment contrary to their investor rights – these measures include laws and decisions protecting health and the environment.

These tribunals, which sit outside our judicial system, let businesses huge pressure on public-interest decision making. Instead of using ISDS, conflicts should be settled by public courts, which better understand local circumstances and laws.
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