The EU–China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment: A Model for Investment Coverage in the World Trade Organization?
24 Pages Posted: 7 Jul 2021
Date Written: June 2021
Abstract
Historically, foreign investment policies have been a fiercely contested issue for the international trade regime. The launch of discussions on investment facilitation under WTO auspices suggests greater willingness among some WTO members to discuss investment issues. The China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) provides a possible basis for negotiating investment policy disciplines in the WTO on a plurilateral basis. While the prospects for ratification of the CAI by the EU are uncertain, the CAI provides a baseline for possible investment rules in the WTO. Investment rules anchored both against the CAI outcomes and structured on a plurilateral basis are a logical part of a WTO resuscitation strategy.
JEL Classification: EU, China, investment policy, WTO, comprehensive agreement on investment.
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