欧盟的投资法院体系面临新挑战---比利时政府就CETA提请欧盟法院做出征询意见请求（比利时）

更新时间：2017-09-15 14:55:01   张振安 临时仲裁ADA 编辑：lianluobu  点击次数：1981次

2017年9月6日，比利时副首相兼外交大臣Didier Reynders提交了比利时的请求，希望欧盟法院能对投资仲裁法庭制度（Investment Court System）与欧盟条约的兼容性发表意见。ICS是经改革用于成员国与投资者之间的争端解决制度，该制度被引进欧盟与加拿大签订的全面经济贸易协定（CETA）。2017年9月6日上午，比利时咨询委员会根据Reynders大臣的提议签订了联邦政府和联邦实体政府之间的一项协议。

 该协议基于咨询委员会2016年10月27日签订的原则性协议作出。自2016年12月以来，由联邦政府和联邦实体政府（Governments of the federated entities）的代表组成的工作组一直在为比利时的上述请求作准备。

CETA暂定于2017年9月21日生效，但比利时请求欧盟法院发表意见所涉及的条款已被排除在CETA临时实施的范围之内。这些规定只有在所有欧盟成员国都批准时才会生效。

比利时提出的具体请求报道如下：

 比利时请求欧盟法院对CETA相关事项发表意见

2016年10月27日，就欧盟与加拿大之间全面经济贸易协定（CETA）的签署，比利时王国达成了一份联邦政府和联合实体政府之间的内部协议。

比利时在该协议中对其签署CETA的条件作出单方声明，并请求欧盟法院（CJEU）就CETA的某些方面与欧盟条约（尤其是关于意见2 / 15）的兼容性发表意见。

2017年5月16日，欧盟法院发布了关于欧盟与新加坡之间自由贸易协定的意见（2 / 15）（参见20170517仲裁早新闻报道）。该意见指出，欧盟对于投资者和成员国之间的争端没有专属管辖权。此外，欧盟法院确认：意见2 / 15只涉及是否有管辖权的问题，而不涉及投资者与成员国之间争议审理制度的兼容性问题。

有鉴于此，比利时王国请求欧盟法院对CETA第8章（“投资”）第F条（“解决投资者与成员国之间的投资争端”）与欧盟条约（包括基本权利的规定）的兼容性发表意见。这涉及到一项经改革的审理投资者和成员国之间争端的新制度，即所谓的投资仲裁法庭制度（ICS），由一个法庭和一个上诉机构组成。

具体而言，比利时王国要求欧盟法院就投资仲裁法庭制度（ICS）与以下事项之间的兼容性提供意见：

1）欧盟法院拥有提供欧盟法权威解释的专属权限；

2）衡平法的一般原则和欧盟法的实效性（practical effect）要求；

3）向法庭请求救济的权利；

4）司法独立和公正的权利。

关于司法独立和公正的权利，比利时王国希望获得以下方面的意见：

1）关于法庭和上诉机构成员报酬的条件；

2）法庭和上诉机构成员的任命；

3）法庭和上诉机构成员的解聘（release）；

4）参考国际律师协会关于国际仲裁利益冲突的指引并为法庭和上诉机构成员引进行为准则；

5）法庭和上诉机构成员参加的与投资争端有关的外部职业活动。

通过请求提供意见，比利时王国希望欧盟法院能够依照其内部协议所提出的问题（即关于CETA签署条件的声明）进一步明确CETA已建立的法律框架。比利时王国不会对已提交给欧盟法院的问题自作主张。

比利时王国意识到，CETA某些方面的阐述（特别是投资仲裁法庭制度）还需由欧盟理事会根据欧盟委员会的提议作出裁决。这种进一步阐述可能会对立法框架（regulatory framework）造成影响，因此需要欧盟法院对该请求提供意见。比利时王国还意识到，投资仲裁法庭制度是建立多边投资仲裁法庭的第一步，从长远来看，该法庭将成为负责解决投资者和成员国之间冲突的法律机构。

The provisions in CETA which are the subject of the Belgian opinionrequest to the CJEU are excluded from the provisional implementation of theTreaty. The provisions in question shall only enter into force when all MemberStates have ratified CETA in accordance with their national constitutionalprocedures.

比利时请求欧盟法院提供意见所涉及的CETA相关条款将被排除在条约的临时实施范围之内。这些条款只有在所有成员国都根据其国内宪法程序批准CETA时才能生效。

 

 

【英文版】

 Minister Reynders submitsrequest for opinion on CETA

 

06 September 2017 - Deputy Prime Minister and Ministerof Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders submits Belgium's request for an opinion on the compatibility of the Investment Court System (ICS) with the EuropeanTreaties to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The ICS is the reformed system of dispute settlement between States and investors,that was introduced in the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). This morning, Belgium's Consultative Committee reached an agreement between the Federal Government and the federated entities on the basis of Minister Reynders' proposal.

This agreement follows an agreement in principle that the Consultative Committee reached on 27 October 2016 on the signing of CETA.Since December 2016, a working group composed of representatives of the Federal Government and the Governments of the federated entities has been preparing the Belgian request for an opinion.

CETA will provisionally enter into force on the 21st of September 2017. However, the dispositions on which Belgium is requesting the Court's opinion have been excluded from CETA's provisional application. These dispositions will only enter into force when all EU Member States have ratified CETA.

Further information on the Belgian request for an opinion can be found here:

 CETA

Belgian Request for an Opinion From the European Court of Justice

On 27 October 2016, the Kingdom of Belgium reached an internal agreement between the Federal Government and the governments of the federated entities concerned regarding the signing of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

This agreement contains a national unilateral declaration regarding the Belgian conditions for signing CETA, for which the undertaking was made to request an opinion from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the compatibility of certain aspects of CETA with the European Treaties, in particular with regards to Opinion 2/15.

On 16 May 2017, the CJEU published its Opinion 2/15 regarding the EU-Singapore free trade agreement. Opinion 2/15 states that the EU does not have exclusive competence with regards to hearing disputes between investors and States. Furthermore, the CJEU confirmed that Opinion 2/15 only pertains to the question of competence, and not the question of the compatibility of a system of hearing disputes between investors and States withthe European Treaties.

In light of this, the Kingdom of Belgium is requesting an opinion from the CJEU regarding the compatibility of Chapter 8 ("Investments"), Section F ("Resolution of investment disputes between investors and states") with the European Treaties, including basic rights. This concerns a new, reformed system of hearing disputes between investors and States, the so-called Investment Court System (ICS), which will consist of a Tribunal and an Appeals Body.

Specifically, the Kingdom of Belgium is requesting the CJEU to provide an opinion regarding the compatibility of the ICS with:

1) The exclusive competence of the CJEU to provide the definitive interpretation of European Union law

2) The general principle of equality and the 'practical effect' requirement of European Union law

3) The right of access to the courts

4) The right to an independent and impartial judiciary

Regarding the right to an independent and impartial judiciary, the Kingdom of Belgium wishes to obtain an opinion regarding the following aspects:

- the conditions regarding the remuneration of the members of the Tribunal and the Appeals Body.

- the appointment of members of the Tribunal and the Appeals Body.

- the release of members of the Tribunal and the Appeals Body.

- the guidelines of the International Bar Association regarding conflicts of interest in international arbitration and the introduction of a code of conduct for the members of the Tribunal and the Appeals Body.

- the external professional activities related to investment disputes of members of the Tribunal and the Appeals Body.

With its request for an opinion, the Kingdom of Belgium hopes to further clarify the legal framework in which CETA has been established, in accordance with the agreements which pertain to the signing ofCETA by Belgium. The Kingdom of Belgium does not take any position itself regarding the questions which have been put to the CJEU.

The Kingdom of Belgium is conscious of the fact that certain aspects of the elaboration of CETA, and in particular the ICS, still need to be decided on by the Council of the European Union on the basis of aproposal by the European Commission. This further elaboration may influence the regulatory framework for which the CJEU is requested to advise in this opinion request. The Kingdom of Belgium is also conscious of the fact that the ICS is the first step towards the creation of a multilateral Investment Court which,in the long run, shall become the responsible legal institution to resolve conflicts between investors and states.

The provisions in CETA which are the subject of the Belgian opinion request to the CJEU are excluded from the provisional implementation of the Treaty. The provisions in question shall only enter intoforce when all Member States have ratified CETA in accordance with their national constitutional procedures.