A report by Notre Europe Jacques Delors Institute, a think-tank working on European Union issues, summarizes important numbers related to bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and ISDS.
The report puts numbers into perspective – with some of its findings as follows:
- The number of BITs increased five-fold between the late 1980s and the end of 1990s.
- In parallel, the external stock of FDI demonstrates a ten-fold increase over 20 years with a growth from USD 2,400 billion in 1992 to USD 23,600 billion in 2012.
- There is now a total of 3,200 investment agreements worldwide, 93% of them provides an ISDS clause.
- Out of the 98 countries who have been a respondent in an ISDS proceeding, about three-quarters were developing countries or economy in transition. Less than one-third of claims were brought against developed countries.
- The average compensation claimed was USD 343.5 million, however the average amount awarded was USD 10.4 million.
The European Union member states have signed a total of 1,356 BITs with non-EU member states, in addition to around 190 BITs between themselves.
With regards to the EU – United States relationship, the report notes that nine member states have signed investment agreements with the U.S – all include ISDS as dispute resolution mechanism. These member states consist of Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. There have been so far 9 known ISDS claims between the U.S and the EU, all submitted by US investors (4 against Poland, 3 against Romania, 1 against the Czech Republic and 1 against Estonia).
ISDS is included in the EU’s upcoming agreements, including free trade agreements with Canada and Singapore – the negotiations of which have been concluded. According to the report, ISDS is also mentioned in agreements currently negotiated between the EU and China, Myanmar, Morocco, Thailand and Vietnam.
