Abstract
AbstractThe present chapter focuses on the role of the Visegrád group (or V4, comprising Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic) in international investment law-making. The chapter starts with a brief overview of the V4 group as a sub-regional system in Europe, including its modus operandi and main achievements in the field of economic cooperation. Subsequently, it turns to the regulation of foreign direct investment (FDI), both at the level of each V4 state and at EU level—with particular regard to the implication of the EU’s exclusive competence on FDI. Special attention is paid to the approach of the V4 countries towards the question of termination of intra-EU bilateral investment treaties (BITs)—including an overview of the related objections to jurisdiction that the four countries have raised over the years in investor-state arbitrations based on intra-EU BITs—and to the relationship of the V4 group with non-EU countries—especially with (selected) East Asian countries. The main question is whether—and to what extent—the V4 group as a sub-regional system has a role to play in international investment law-making. The chapter highlights the proactive and advocacy role that the V4 group has traditionally played in manifold subject-matters, including the promotion and protection of FDI, and supports the positive “soft power” the V4 may exercise in this respect.
Highlights
Enough, while the V4 group tends to speak with one voice when promoting foreign direct investment (FDI) from non-EU countries in the region, the four countries seem to adopt a member-specific approach on issues related to intra-EU FDI—as in the case of the question of the termination of intra-EU bilateral investment agreements (BITs)
In the field of economic cooperation at the sub-regional level, it is worth recalling that the V4 countries signed the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) on 21 December 1991, which came into force on 1 March 1993.25 CEFTA aimed to create a free trade area in the region and to prepare the countries for their accession to the EU.26
While it is beyond the scope of this chapter to enter into the details of the debate, it is worth recalling the milestone judgment that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued on 6 March 2018 in the Achmea case,57 where the Court found that “the arbitration clause in the [intra-EU The Netherlands-Slovakia] BIT has an adverse effect on the autonomy of
Summary
The Case of the Visegrád Group and Its Role in International Investment Law-Making. This chapter focuses on the role of the V4 in the context of international investment law-making. The relevance of this topic is twofold: on the one hand, the four Visegrád countries attract foreign investments from around the world and, it is important to understand how they shape their relationship with the home countries of their foreign investors; on the other hand, the four countries are members of the European Union. Enough, while the V4 group tends to speak with one voice when promoting FDI from non-EU countries in the region, the four countries seem to adopt a member-specific approach on issues related to intra-EU FDI—as in the case of the question of the termination of intra-EU bilateral investment agreements (BITs).
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