Free Trade Agreements Versus Bilateral Treaties

Trade and Investment Policy Paper #6

Free Trade Agreements Versus Bilateral Treaties

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The European Union an United States' Approach to International Investment Agreements with Developing Countries

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the changes that are taking place in the international normative framework on investment through surveying the European Union and United States’ Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with developing countries. This exercise is especially important since FTAs are no longer limited to investment issues per se, but also deal with related matters such as industrial policy, trade in services (e.g., energy or environmental services), competition, and intellectual property.  This paper analyses the EU and US approach to FTAs and examines the interactions between their provisions and those of bilateral investment treaties.  Over the last decade, more than 130 FTAs have come into existence, a large number of which the United States (U.S.) and the European Union (EU) negotiated with developing countries.  At the same time, there are about 2,619 Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) in force.

Click here for the policy paper (39 pages, pdf, 300KB)

 
 
 
 
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