International Investment Agreements

State-to-state investment treaties protect foreign investment against host country policy measures that significantly reduce the investment value. They typically allow investors to litigate against host countries regarding violations of the agreements (“ISDS mechanisms”). These undertakings have been at the core of the critique against the EU-Canada CETA agreement and the proposed TTIP between the EU and the US. This debate raises a number of issues: What type of measures should be compensable? Do the agreements cause “regulatory chill”? Who benefits and who loses from the agreements? The economic literature hardly sheds any light on these issues. The purpose of the agreement is to contribute to filling this void.