欧盟国际投资协定政策的革新及其对中欧BIT谈判的影响

The Re-Calibration of EU InternationalInvestment Agreement Policy and Its Impacton China—EU BIT Negotiation

欧盟综合性国际投资政策的实施是近年国际投资法领域最重大的发展之一。2009年《里斯本条约》生效后,外国直接投资成为欧盟的专属权能。依据新增加的权能,欧盟决定将国际投资协定的范围扩至投资自由化条款、投资保护条款和可持续发展条款,逐步取代成员国缔结的双边投资协定。《欧盟—加拿大综合经济和贸易协定》和《欧盟—新加坡自由贸易协定》是实施新政策后最先签署的综合性国际投资协定。相较于成员国双边投资协定,新的欧盟投资协定引入了诸多革新举措,意在实现投资者利益和缔约国公共利益的再平衡,增强投资争端解决机制的合法性。中欧双方晚近投资协定的实践日益趋同,但在具体规则层面,仍然有不少差别。这些差别可能成为中欧投资协定谈判中的焦点。

T he launch of the EU comprehensive investment policy represents one of the most significant development in the area of international investment law in recent years.Since the entry into force of the T reaty of Lisbon in 2009,the scope of the EU’s exclusive competence has been extended to include policies over foreign direct investment.T he EU then decided to exercise this new competence by negotiating comprehensive investment agreements covering investment liberalization,investment protection and sustainable development.T hese agreements will gradually replace BIT s signed by individual Member States.T he freshly concluded CET A with Canada and FT A with Singapore are the first two products of the EU comprehensive investment policy.Compared to Member State BIT s,these two agreements substantially recalibrated investment protection provisions,with a view to rebalancing investors’rights and host countries’public interests and improving the legitimacy of ISDS regime.T his suggests an ongoing trend of convergence between the EU and China on treaty practice.However,divergence remains deep on a variety of rules,which might be the key challenges to successfully negotiating a China—EU BIT.