This oral question (OQ) was tabled at the initiative of our Group and it has received the support of the EPP, ALDE, Greens and GUE.
Three years after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, a legislative framework for the EU's new exclusive competence on foreign direct investment (which is now an integral part of the EU's trade policy) is slowly being established.
However, there are a number of potential incompatibilities between EU law and international investment treaties which still need to be addressed.
This OQ deals with three issues:
1. the existence of 190 bilateral investment treaties between EU member states
2. the inclusion of clauses in bilateral investment treaties which do not restrict the movement of capital
3. the fact that investment treaties might grant greater rights to foreign investors than to European investors.