US rejects EU calls for global investment court
Press TV | 11 May 2015
US rejects EU calls for global investment court
The United States has rejected a European Union proposal to establish a global investment court aimed at resolving disputes arising from a massive free trade treaty with the US.
The EU’s trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem called last week for the establishment of an international arbitration court to hear disputes between investors and governments.
The proposal would allow investing firms to bypass national courts if they feel their investments are under threat, and take their complaints to the international court.
However, US Undersecretary for International Trade at the Commerce Department, Stefan Selig, on Monday defended the existing mechanisms for resolving investor-state disputes.
So-called “Investor-State Dispute Settlement” mechanisms (ISDS) have been a part of trade and investment treaties for decades. Under ISDS, foreign investors can bring governments before arbitration tribunals.
"The criticisms that they undermine governments’ right to regulate, I think are just misguided," Selig said during a visit to Paris, according to AFP.
Malmstroem called of “the most significant overhaul of investment arbitration in decades," one that would make the ISDS arbitration panels more like traditional courts, paving the way for creation of a permanent global investment court.
The European Union is discussing a free-trade area with the United States. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will allow big companies to do business without restriction.
However, the two sides appear increasingly unlikely to meet a year-end deadline to wrap up talks on the world’s biggest trade deal.
HRJ/HRJ
