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Multilateral Investment Court project - Relevant documents

Documents related to the European Commission's work to establish a Multilateral Investment Court.

Trade topics
Dispute settlementInvestmentMultilateral Investment Court

2024

2023

  • 9-13 October 2023: Fifteenth meeting (46th session) of UNCITRAL Working Group III (report). 
  • 5 October 2023: View the slides of the stakeholder meeting on the establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court.
  • 7-8 September 2023: 6th intersessional meeting on ISDS reform in Singapore (summary and video recording). 
  • 3-21 July 2023: 56th session of UNCITRAL Commission adopting two codes of conduct, for arbitrators and judges, and Model Provisions and Guidelines on Mediation (report). 
  • 27-31 March 2023: Fourteenth meeting (45th session) of UNCITRAL Working Group III (report and audio recording).
  • 22 March 2023: View the slides of the stakeholder meeting on the establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court.
  • 23-27 January 2023: Thirteenth meeting (44th session) of UNCITRAL Working Group III (draft summaries and audio recordings)
  • 19 January 2023: View the slides of the stakeholder meeting on the establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court.

2022 

  • 5-16 September 2022Twelfth meeting (43rd session) of UNCITRAL Working Group III (draft summaries and audio recordings).
  • 2 September 2022: View the slides of the stakeholder meeting on the establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court.
  • 14-18 February 2022: Eleventh meeting of UNCITRAL Working Group III (report and audio recordings).
  • 8 February 2022: View the slides of the stakeholder meeting on the establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court.

2021

2020

  • 11 November 2020: The EU and its Member States submitted comments to the Secretariat of UNCITRAL on the draft Notes by the Secretariat on appellate mechanism and enforcement issues (also in French and Spanish) and on selection and appointment of investment adjudicators (also in French and Spanish).
  • 9 November 2020: View the slides of the EU presentation at the pre-intersessional meeting of UNCITRAL Working Group III on ‘The use of mediation in ISDS'.
  • 9 October 2020: The EU and its Member States submitted comments (also in French and Spanish) to the Secretariats of ICSID and UNCITRAL on a draft code of conduct for investment adjudicators.
  • 5-9 October 2020: Seventh meeting of UNCITRAL Working Group III (report and audio recordings).
  • 24 September 2020: View the slides of the stakeholder meeting on the establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court.
  • 20-24 January 2020: Sixth meeting of UNCITRAL Working Group III (report and audio recordings).
  • 20 January 2020: View the slides on 'Structural reform of ISDS: The Establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court'.
  • 15 January 2020Watch the recording of the stakeholder meeting on the establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court, and view the slides

2019

  • 14-18 October 2019: Fifth meeting of UNCITRAL Working Group III (report and audio recordings).
  • 9 October 2019Watch the recording of the stakeholder meeting on the establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court and view the slides.
  • 25-26 September 2019: Third intersessional regional meeting on ISDS reform in Conakry, Guinea (summary).
  • 1-5 April 2019: Fourth meeting of UNCITRAL Working Group III (report and audio recordings; the EU and Member States’ submissions are available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish on the UNCITRAL website).
  • 22 March 2019: Stakeholder meeting on the establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court (video and presentation of the meeting).
  • 23-14 February 2019: Second intersessional regional meeting on ISDS reform in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (summary).
  • 18 January 2019: EU and Member States’ submissions to UNCITRAL Working Group III on work plan (also in Spanish and French) and establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court (also in Spanish and French) in preparation for next UNCITRAL meeting in April 2019.

2018

  • 22 November 2018: EU Trade Commissioner Cecelia Malmström lays out EU plans for a Multilateral Investment Court at a High Level Event hosted by the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs (here and here).
  • 13 November 2018: Presentation on the path ahead in the construction of a Multilateral Investment Court at the Columbia Fall 2018 International Investment Law and Policy Speaker Series (here and here).
  • 29 October-2 November 2018: Third meeting of UNCITRAL Working Group III (draft report and audio recordings).
  • 9 October 2018: Stakeholder meeting on the establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court. (Video of the meeting / Presentation).
  • 10-11 September 2018: First intersessional regional meeting on ISDS reform in Incheon, Republic of Korea (summary).
  • 22 June 2018Speech on the European Union’s approach to Investment Dispute Settlement at the Vienna Arbitration Debate.
  • 23-27 April 2018Report and audio-recordings of the Second Meeting of Working Group III (on the UNCITRAL website).
  • 23-27 April 2018: Second meeting of UNCITRAL Working Group III (the submission from the EU is now available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish on the UNCITRAL website).
  • 13 April 2018: Stakeholder meeting on the establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court. (Video of the meeting / Presentation).
  • 20 March 2018: the Council adopted and published the negotiating directives for a Multilateral Investment Court.

2017

  • 27 November-1 December 2017: First meeting of UNCITRAL Working Group III (EU document).
  • 20 November 2017: Stakeholder meeting on the possible establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court. (Video of the meeting / Presentation).
  • 9 October 2017: Commission hosts the side event 'Multilateral reform of ISDS: Possible paths forward' on the margins of UNCTAD's Annual High-level IIA Conference. (information and Commission's presentation) and watch the video recording of the event.
  • 13 September 2017: Commission released a Recommendation which once adopted by the Council would permit the EU to take part in negotiations for a new Multilateral Investment Court. It also released an Impact Assessment (Summary) and Regulatory Scrutiny Board study.
  • 10 July 2017: the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) agreed to work on the possible reform of investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS). Read the UNCITRAL press release and listen to the audio recordings of the EU interventions in the morning and afternoon sessions.
  • 27 February 2017: Stakeholder meeting on the multilateral reform of investment dispute resolution, including the possible establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court. Read the summary report or watch the video recording. Read the Commissioner's remarks.
  • 20 January 2017: EU Trade Commissioner Malmström and Canadian Minister of International Trade Chrystia Freeland co-host an informal ministerial meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Read the co-sponsored discussion paper and the Commissioner's blog post.

2016

  • 13-14 December 2016: The European Commission and the Government of Canada co-host an inter-governmental expert meeting of investment policymakers from over 40 countries in Geneva, Switzerland. Read the co-sponsored discussion paper.
  • 28 October 2016: The EU and Canada agree in a Joint Interpretative Instrument to CETA to "work expeditiously towards the creation of the Multilateral Investment Court" and the Council states its support for the Commission's work on the establishment of the Multilateral Investment Court.
  • 17 October 2016: The European Commission and the Government of Canada co-chair technical exchanges at the OECD-hosted Investment Treaty Dialogue in Paris, France. Read the co-sponsored discussion paper.
  • 1 August 2016: Launch of Inception Impact Assessment on the Establishment of a Multilateral Investment Court for investment dispute resolution with the Publication of Inception Impact Assessment on 'My Voice in Europe'.
  • 17-21 July 2016: The European Commission and the Government of Canada co-chair a dedicated session in the margins of UNCTAD’s World Investment Forum in Nairobi, Kenya. Read the co-sponsored discussion paper.
  • February 2016: Both the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EUVFTA) include provisions anticipating the transition from the bilateral Investment Court System (ICS) included in the agreements to a permanent Multilateral Investment Court. To ensure policy coherence at EU level, similar transitional provisions are proposed in the context of all other on-going or future bilateral EU trade and/or investment negotiations.

2015

  • 14 October 2015: The 'Trade for all' Communication sets out that the Commission would – in parallel with its bilateral efforts – “engage with partners to build consensus for a fully-fledged, permanent International Investment Court”.
  • 5 May 2015: The Concept Paper 'Investment in TTIP and beyond – the path for reform' specified that work should start towards the establishment of a multilateral system for the resolution of investment disputes.

2014

  • 27 March 2014-13 July 2014: The idea of establishing a multilateral investment dispute settlement system is put forward by a number of stakeholders in the public consultation conducted at EU level in 2014, in the context of the development of the EU's policy on investment protection and investment dispute settlement in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement. The results of the 2014 public consultation are summarised in a report.

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