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Agreement for the Termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties Between the Member States of the European Union

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2021

Charbel A. Moarbes*
Affiliation:
Charbel A. Moarbes is the managing partner of Moarbes LLP, and head of its international arbitration practice. He is member of the New York, Paris and Beirut Bars

Abstract

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Type
International Legal Documents
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2021

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References

ENDNOTES

1 Out of twenty-seven countries.

2 Ireland had not signed or ratified any Intra-EU BIT after terminating its only intra-EU BIT with the Czech Republic in 2011.

3 Agreement for the Termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties Between the Member States of the European Union, 2020 O.J. (L 169) 1 [hereinafter Termination Agreement].

4 Id., Annex A. That is without counting 22 intra-EU BITs that have already been terminated and where a sunset clause may be in effect (these BITs are listed in Annex B of the Termination Agreement).

5 Termination Agreement, supra note 3, art. 2.

6 “In those circumstances, Article 8 of the BIT has an adverse effect on the autonomy of EU law,” see Case C-284/16, Slovak Republic v. Achmea BV, ECLI:EU:C:2018:158, ¶ 58.

7 Termination Agreement, supra note 3, art. 1.

8 Id.

9 John I. Blanck, European Union Member States Sign Treaty to Terminate Intra-EU Bilateral Investment Treaties, 24 ASIL Insights 18 (July 15, 2020), https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/24/issue/18/european-union-member-states-sign-treaty-terminate-intra-eu-bilateral.

10 Matteo Fermeglia & Alessandra Mistura, Killing All Birds With One Stone: Is This the End of Intra-EU BITs (As We Know Them),” EJIL: Talk! (May 26, 2020), https://www.ejiltalk.org/killing-all-birds-with-one-stone-is-this-the-end-of-intra-eu-bits-as-we-know-them/.

11 Termination Agreement, supra note 3, art. 9(1)(b).

12 Id. art. 9(2)-(14).

13 Id. art. 10(a).

14 See Blanck, supra note 9.

15 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Fact Sheet on Intra-European Union Investor-State Arbitration Cases [Fact Sheet], discussed in Blanck, id.

16 European Commission, Intra-EU BITs: Commission Urges FINLAND and the UNITED KINGDOM to Terminate their Bilateral Investment Treaties with other EU Member States, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/INF_20_859.

17 Even though the UK left the European Union at the beginning of 2019, EU law continues to apply during the eleven-month transition as per the Withdrawal Agreement.