CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ

EUǧSINGAPORE INVESTMENT PROTECTION AGREEMENT IN THE LIGHT …

EU-SINGAPORE INVESTMENT PROTECTION AGREEMENT IN THE LIGHT OF THE OPINION 1/17 Miriama Kiselyova Abstract: This article describes and analyses the negotiating process, architecture and content of the EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement, being the first standalone investment protection agreement concluded by the EU and its Member States. Further, it analyses the seminal CJ EU Opinion 1/17, which confirmed compliance of the Investment chapter in CETA with EU law and eventually applies the conclusion of compliance with EU law also on the EU Singapore IPA. Resumé: Tento článok popisuje a analyzuje proces rokovaní, štruktúru a obsah Dohody o ochrane investícií uzavretej mezi EU a Singapurom, ktorá je prvou samostatnou dohodou o ochrane investícií, ktorú uzavrela EÚ a jej členské štáty. Ďalej článok analyzuje kľúčové Stanovisko SD EÚ 1/17, ktoré potvrdilo súlad Investičnej kapitoly v CETA s právom EÚ a napokon uplatňuje záver o súlade práva EÚ aj na Dohodu o ochrane investícií uzavretej mezi EU a Singapurom. Key Words: EU Singapore Investment Protection Agreement, CJ EU Opinion 1/17. About the Author: Miriama Kiselyova is since 2018 an investment expert and legal adviser at the Permanent Representation of the Slovak Republic to the EU, focused on EU investment policy. She is a PhD candidate at the Charles University in the field of Public International Law. Before joining the diplomacy, she was a senior state counsellor at the International Legal Affairs Unit of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, dealing with negotiation of BITs, investment arbitration and related CJ EU proceedings and representation at OECD, UNCITRAL and UNCTAD. She is admitted to the Slovak Bar Association. 1. Introduction Negotiations between the EU and Singapore have origin in the first mandate to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2007. Both the architecture and the content went thought significant changes before the signature of the EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) in October 2018. In the meantime, the Kingdom of Belgium approached in September 2017 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJ EU) with a request to assess whether the Investment Chapter in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is compliant with EU law. The Court issued its Opinion 1/17 on 30 April 2019, confirming compliance of CETA investment chapter with EU law, in particular due to specific and detailed provisions of CETA on applicable law and rules of interpretation, determination of respondent, appellate tribunal, content of final award, right to regulate, independence and impartiality of tribunals, competences of joint committees and accessibility to SMEs . Logically, the Opinion 1/17 may raise questions not only limited to the CETA but other EU trade and investment treaties covering ICS mechanism as well, including EU-Singapore IPA. This article, therefore, focuses on the EU-Singapore IPA from the perspective of the recent Court’s Opinion and attempts to answer whether it “fits” into compatibility criteria set by the CJEU. For this purpose, it

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