The EU Investment Policy: How to ensure a fair regulation of the concerned interests?

Abstract

Until the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon (ToL), the discipline of international investments at the European level has been characterized by an extreme fragmentation. The European Institutions have intervened to promote capital market liberalization, while Member States have been mainly concerned with the post-establishment aspects of international investments. As a result, the EU was unable to promote the protection of the host-State’s public interest as well as play a major role in the field of FDIs. To that extent, the paper argues that the changes made by the ToL to the content and scope of the Common Commercial Policy, through which the EU acquires an exclusive competence on FDIs, can represent a good opportunity to develop a new European Investment Policy aimed at balancing the rights of the investors with the host-State’s public interests, at the same time reinforcing internationally the EU political and economic role.