The investor-to-state dispute settlement mechanism in the EU-Canada Agreement

10.11.2014

Question for written answer E-008977-14
to the Commission
Rule 130
Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero Fernández (S&D)

The new Commission took office on 1 November 2014. President Juncker gave a statement before this House on 22 October 2014, in which he announced the following:

‘My Commission will not accept that the jurisdiction of courts in the EU Member State be limited by special regimes for investor-to-state disputes’. ‘In the agreement that my Commission will eventually submit to this House for approval there will be nothing that limits for the parties the access to national courts or that will allow secret courts to have the final say in disputes between investors and States’.

Does the Commission feel that the investor-to-state dispute settlement mechanism in the CETA with Canada limits the jurisdiction of courts in the EU Member States?

Does the Commission feel that the mechanism negotiated as part of the CETA limits for the parties the access to national courts or that it grants arbitration tribunals the final say in investor-to-state disputes?

Does the Commission feel that the mechanism negotiated as part of the CETA constitutes a template for use in future trade agreements?