EU moots investment court to settle investor- state disputes
European Union has proposed an investment court system to India to resolve investor-state disputes, a substantive change from its earlier proposal, as the two sides thrash out the modalities of the proposed bilateral investment protection pact.
EU commissioner for trade Valdis Dombrovskis also indicated the two sides may resolve their outstanding dispute. The two are involved in a dispute over tariffs imposed by New Delhi on information and communication technology goods outside the World Trade Organization.
Noting India's ambition to become a manufacturing hub and integrate itself with the global value chains which requires a lot of investment, he said: «For this investment to come, there also needs to be proper investment protection and a proper mechanism to solve disputes as they arise.»
India and the EU are negotiating a trade pact, an investment protection agreement and an agreement on geographical indications.
The bloc has proposed the investment court system on the lines of agreements with other countries.
«We are awaiting India's proposal on this,» said Dombrovskis, who is in India for the two-day G20 trade and investment ministers meeting that began Thursday.
«It's a change of EU approach instead of relying on arbitrations where sometimes it was not transparent.
We want a more streamlined, more transparent system, which is protecting investments and also protecting a country's right to regulate,» he said.
The European Union is India's second largest trading partner. India is EU's tenth largest trading partner accounting for some 2% of EU trade in goods.
On the timeframe to conclude the talks, he said substance is more important than speed.
