State-to-State Arbitration in EU Investment Protection Agreements

TY - CHAP

T1 - State-to-State Arbitration in EU Investment Protection Agreements

AU - Kübek, Gesa

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - In the face of the persistent political controversy about investor-state arbitration on the one hand, and the ongoing decline of multilateralism on the other hand, the present chapter revisits the idea of using state-to-state arbitration as an alternative form of investment dispute resolution. It looks specifically at the case of the European Union’s first investment protection agreements with Canada, Singapore, Vietnam and China, and the modernised state-to-state arbitration mechanism contained in these agreements. The chapter demonstrates that several design features included in the EU’s current investment agreements enhance the functionality of state-to-state arbitration. It argues that carefully crafted state-to-state arbitration can be an alternative to investor-state arbitration and should be considered by EU policymakers as one possible avenue to reform the current system. The chapter further examines the current parallel existence of state-to-state and investor-state arbitration in EU IPAs and FTAs and finds that the coordination of multiple proceedings on substantively equivalent or closely related matters requires further clarification, including in the design of such treaties.

AB - In the face of the persistent political controversy about investor-state arbitration on the one hand, and the ongoing decline of multilateralism on the other hand, the present chapter revisits the idea of using state-to-state arbitration as an alternative form of investment dispute resolution. It looks specifically at the case of the European Union’s first investment protection agreements with Canada, Singapore, Vietnam and China, and the modernised state-to-state arbitration mechanism contained in these agreements. The chapter demonstrates that several design features included in the EU’s current investment agreements enhance the functionality of state-to-state arbitration. It argues that carefully crafted state-to-state arbitration can be an alternative to investor-state arbitration and should be considered by EU policymakers as one possible avenue to reform the current system. The chapter further examines the current parallel existence of state-to-state and investor-state arbitration in EU IPAs and FTAs and finds that the coordination of multiple proceedings on substantively equivalent or closely related matters requires further clarification, including in the design of such treaties.

U2 - 10.5040/9781509965885

DO - 10.5040/9781509965885

M3 - Chapter

SN - 978-1-50996-585-4

SP - 155

EP - 172

BT - The EU Law of Investment

A2 - Groussot, Xavier

A2 - Öberg, Marja-Liisa

A2 - Butler, Graham

PB - Bloomsbury

ER -