International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Dresden Conference on Mega-Regionals

Some details on an upcoming conference on mega-regionals: On 23rd and 24th October 2014 the Research Centre for International Economic Law at the University of Dresden led by Professor Thilo Rensmann and the affiliated research project “Global TranSAXion” will be hosting a conference on “Mega-Regionals and the Future of International

CETA: Limits on Domestic Wine Preferences

From a Canadian news report: A trade deal between Canada and the European Union could restrict Canada’s wine sales by limiting the number of privately run outlets selling domestic products, if a leaked document turns out to be close to the finalized treaty. A German website posted the 521-page

Is the Appellate Body Trying To Discourage DSU Article 11 Appeals?

I haven't crunched the numbers on this, but it certainly feels as though DSU Article 11 appeals have increased in recent years. Yet almost all of them get rejected. This seems like a strange state of affairs. Why pursue a course that is virtually certain to fail? In

CETA, ISDS, and Religious Discrimination: The Burqa Ban

In the comments of this post, we talked about the scope of the "targeted discrimination" aspects of the fair and equitable treatment obligation in the leaked CETA investment chapter. The relevant language is as follows: Article X.9: Treatment of Investors and of Covered Investments ... 2. A Party

Legal Aspects of Domestic Economic Integration: Canadian Reform Proposals

This is from a paper by some Canadian business groups on promoting internal free trade within Canada through reform of Canada's Agreement on Internal Trade: A more effective and efficient dispute resolution mechanism should include ... a domestic equivalent of investor-state dispute settlement, ... . Investor-state dispute settlement normally grants foreign

What Should the U.S. Judge in the Argentina Debt Case Have Done?

I'm still trying to sort out what I think should happen in the Argentina debt crisis case. I gather that a lot of people are mad at the U.S. judge who prevented Argentina from making payments to those creditors who had agreed to restructure the debt, allowing

CETA, Investment Obligations, and Exceptions

With each attempt to clarify the "minimum standard of treatment" in investment obligations, the scope becomes less clear to me. Here's what the leaked CETA text says (page 158): Article X.9: Treatment of Investors and of Covered Investments 1. Each Party shall accord in its

CETA Dispute Settlement: Reference to WTO Jurisprudence

From Article 14.10 of the leaked CETA text (page 474): 5. The panel shall interpret the provisions referred to in Article 14.2 in accordance with customary rules of interpretation of public international law, including those set out in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The panel

CETA Text: The Treatment of Water

A fairly recent version of the CETA text has been leaked. The document date is August 1, 2014. No doubt there is some legal "scrubbing" still to do, and perhaps some actual negotiating as well, but this text seems pretty advanced, and thus ready for blogging. I'

Guest Post: Russian Sanctions, Polish Apples and the EU’s Litigation Strategy

This is a guest post from Boris Rigod, who has a Ph.D. from the EUI and is currently a law clerk at the Berlin Regional Court Poland announced its intention to initiate WTO proceedings against Russia over its import prohibition on Polish apples. The ban is Russia’s reaction