Analysis Of The International Investor-states Disputes Settlement Under The Treaty Of Lisbon

After the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, competences on foreign direct investment(FDI) fall exclusively within the control of the European Union(EU), which means the Member States of EU could not act in the field of FDI except for implementing the policies agreed by EU. In this context the issue of dispute settlement will be included in future EU Investment Agreements. Therefore, during the time between the effective Lisbon Treaty and the ongoing negotiation of the China-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty, the validity of the existing bilateral investment treaties(BITs) concluded previously by China and the Member States would have an important impact on the Chinese investors in EU. In order to specify the exclusive competences on FDI and settle the uncertainty of the BITs concluded by Member States, EU Commission issued many regulations about the transitional time. There are two important regulations, the transitional arrangements for bilateral investment agreements between Member States and third countries and the allocation of financial responsibilities between Union and Member States under the investor-host state dispute settlement system. Through the analysis of the current BITs between China and the Member States of EU, we could be aware of the overall situation of the investor-states disputes settlement(ISDS). Through the study of the transitional regulations issued by EU Commission, we could give the Chinese investors in EU some guidance and suggestions when they are trapped in investment disputes with EU or Member States.On the basis of clarifying the ISDS between China and EU during the transitional situation, this article will be separated into three sections: preamble, main body and conclusion. The main body includes four chapters.In chapter one, the current ISDS rules in China and Member States BITs will be discussed in detail. Meanwhile, this part will give a general legal framework of the ISDS between China and EU. In chapter two, at first, there will be an discussion on the possible problems triggered by the Lisbon Treaty. At second, the policies about the transitional arrangements will based on several documents issued by EU institutions, mainly concerned with EU’s attitude to the ISDS. At last, the principle of transparency as a new improvement will be extended into ISDS by the effort of EU, which we should pay great attention to. The chapter three will look back to the international arbitration cases about China and make a bold assumption about the investment disputes occurred between Chinese investor and EU, analyzing the risks and choices which Chinese investor should confront with. Through the study of the discovered problems, the last chapter will focus on how to protect the rights of the Chinese investors in EU and the opinion on ISDS under future agreements between EU and China.