Unspoken Truths: The Hidden Logic of Decision 2/15

摘要

abspiThe context within which Opinion 2/15 falls is the legitimacy crisis of ISDS and its particular threat to the autonomy of domestic legal and judicial institutions. While, on the face of it, the ECJ seems to have escaped the risks of weighing into the ISDS-legitimacy debate (for now), Opinion 2/15 nonetheless seems to have given Brussels a tremendous opportunity to achieve rapidly-comprehensive new era trade and investment agreements, bypassing hold out problems, at the small price (if indeed it is a price) of dropping ISDS and portfolio investment (indirect investment). Given todays global political economy, it would be surprising if this opportunity were not seized. My contribution seeks to weigh in on the debate as to what results emanate from Opinion 2/15, by reading between the lines. In doing so, I come to the conclusion that further changes to the European Unions involvement in the international investment regime are to be expected going forward, not least because of the recently-requested opinion by Belgium on the Canada-EU Free Trade Agreement./i/p/abs