European Court of Justice cancelled Investor-State Dispute Settlement in Free Trade Agreements

The European Court of Justice has decided on 6th of March 2018 that the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clause within Free Trade Agreements are not compatible with European law and so are cancelled. Now this ISDS clause have to be removed out of all nearly 200 European FTAs and specially out of TTIP, CETA, TISA a.o.

 

Europäischer Gerichtshof entmachtet Schiedsgerichte (Article by FAZ-Journalist Hendrik Wieduwilt,  March 6th 2018)

 

This ruling confirms the correctness of the sustainable and vast numbers of public protests in Germany and Europe against the so called Free Trade Agreements and specially against ISDS. The danger of the ISDS clause has as well been shown very clearly in the documantary film „Konzerne klagen – wir zahlen“ by Michael Wech in 2015.

Three interview partners from this film: Prof. Gus van Harten (Professor of international economic law in Torornto, Canada), Prof. Markus Krajewski (Professor of public law and international law in Erlangen, Germany) and advocate Selvyn Seidel (CEO of Fulbrook Capital Management LLC in New York, USA) I have contacted and suggested to together organise an international symposium to abolish ISDS clauses from each FTA worldwide.

 

A first constructive meeting was held on 21st of November 2015 in New York, but unfortunately without Markus and Gus. Gus just in these days unmasked the EU Commissioner Malmström’s alternative suggestion to ISDS, ICS (investment court system), as the same unlawful in his essay:

 

Key flaws in the European Commission’s Proposals for Foreign Investor Protection in TTIP. (http://ssrn.com/abstract=2692122)

 

The symposium was decided to be held in the Center of Civil Justice in New York. But during the following weeks there unfortunately arose deep disagreements so that the project to abolish ISDS clauses in FTAs worldwide was no longer continued.

 

So it makes me even happier to learn that the European Court of Justice has canceled the ISDS clause, which at least concernes all European FTAs.