Intra-EU investment disputes—an introduction

Published by a LexisNexis Arbitration expert

Practice notes

Intra-EU investment disputes—an introduction

Published by a LexisNexis Arbitration expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note provides an introduction to the regime for the resolution of intra-EU investment disputes.

The use by investors of intra-EU bilateral investment treaties (BITs) to bring claims against respondent EU Member States (typically, and historically, resolved by international arbitration) has been a source significant debate in recent years. The debate has highlighted a tension between the rights and protections established by EU law and those provided for in BITs between EU Member States. As discussed in greater detail below, that debate has now been largely settled, and a intra-EU investment disputes regime now applies.

For discussion of the resolution of intra-EU investment disputes by arbitration, see the (archived) Practice Note: Arbitration in intra-EU bilateral investment treaties [Archived].

Background to the regime for the resolution of intra-EU investment disputes

A number of EU institutions, notably the European Commission (the Commission) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), took the view that intra-EU BITs were incompatible with EU law. In particular, the CJEU found in Slovakia v Achmea that investor-state settlement provisions which typically refer