CYIL 2015

POSTǧLISBON EXERCISE OF EU COMPETENCE IN THE FIELD OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT… POST-LISBON EXERCISE OF EU COMPETENCE IN THE FIELD OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT: COPING WITH THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTION OF INTRA-EU COMPLEXITY Abstract: This article assesses the post-Lisbon exercise by the Union of its foreign investment-related competence. It turns first to intra-EU adaptation of Union Member States relations to the newly tailored legal environment before addressing the corresponding international action undertaken by the Union. The first part of this article focuses on the regulation adopted in respect of the Member States’ BITs concluded with third countries as well as on the regulation allocating financial responsibility that will possibly arise under international instruments to which the Union is or will be party. While both of these instruments are intra EU legal acts, they aim at regulating international relations established, or to be established, by the Member States and/or the Union and are therefore scrutinized from the international-law perspective too. The latter is then fully embraced by the second part of this paper which reviews the international-law aspects of the post-Lisbon implementation of the Union’s foreign investment-related competence. It looks at currently available drafts of the CETA and EUSFTA to comment on the “right respondent” mechanism provided thereunder. It notes that while this mechanism avoids the pitfalls of the unsettled practice in the field of law of international responsibility, it points to several questions that international arbitrators will have to answer in order to bridge the gap that may possibly arise between the currently adopted model of the Union’s and Member States’ international status under these instruments, on one hand, and the requirements of international law as well as of the CJEU, on the other. Resumé: Článek analyzuje způsob, jakým Evropská unie vykonává svou pravomoc v oblasti zahraničních investic od vstupu Lisabonské smlouvy v platnost. První část se zabývá „vnitroevropským“ právním vývojem, který se projevil jednak přijetím nařízení o přechodné úpravě pro dvoustranné dohody o investicích mezi členskými státy a třetími zeměmi, jednak přijetím nařízení o finanční odpovědnosti vzniklé, respektive která vznikne, v důsledku investičních arbitráží dle mezinárodních do hod, jichž se účastní či bude účastnit Evropská unie. První z uvedených nařízení funguje, jak se zdá, bez větších obtíží, nicméně jeho aplikace se může do budouc na zkomplikovat v okamžiku, kdy bude nutné, aby členské státy ukončily svoje Magdalena Ličková 1

1 I am thankful to Mathias Forteau, Magda Olyšarová and Ana Carolina Simões e Silva for inspiring comments and discussion. All errors are my own. Text finalized in Aug. 2015.

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