Reforming the Present International Legal Framework for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Basic Elements for an Analytical and Policy Framework

Abstract

There is already a substantial body of literature on the reform of the whole landscape of International Investment Agreements (IIAs). Recent UNCTAD’s work in this area (in particular the Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development – IPSFD) is welcomed and is promising. However, there is the danger that analysis becomes polluted by political viewpoints, policy recommendations are based on insufficiently clear and rigorous reflection gives way to routine thinking. Very schematically, this very short Policy Brief intends, first, to put forward some analytical conclusions that should be either accepted or rejected on purely analytical grounds and, second, to offer some coherent, but only very basic, framework for IIAs reform, balancing the different and conflicting perspectives and interests.

Keywords: International Investment Agreements,IIAs, framework for IIAs reform