Brussels, 15/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament's International Trade Committee wants to restrict the European Commission's power to scrutinise and withdraw member states' powers to sign bilateral investment deals with non-EU countries and is suggesting a more robust mechanism to replace bilateral talks with an approach aimed at concluding EU/third country agreements.
The current legal system for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) comprises more than 1,200 bilateral investment deals (BID) between member states and other countries. Since the Lisbon Treaty came into force on 1 December 2009, FDI has been an exclusive EU power and the Commission now holds the exclusive right to carry out negotiations over new investment deals. This will lead to the gradual replacement of the 1,200 existing deals, a matter dealt with in a report by Karl Schlyter (Greens/EFA, Sweden), adopted by the committee by a narrow majority (15 to 13) on Wednesday 13 April 2011.
A draft regulation published by the European Commission is controversial at both the EP and the Council of Minsters, where most member states express doubts. The Commission suggests forcing member states to inform the Commission of all their BIDs, in return for which they would be allowed to keep the deals in force. After examining the BIDs, the Commission may decide to withdraw the authorisation for a BID which fails to comply with EU law or which duplicates a similar EU deal with the country in question or which is not compatible with the EU's investment policies.
The Schlyter Report, as adopted on Wednesday, includes most of the amendments tabled by the EPP, ECR and ALDE. The International Trade Committee recommends strong protection for existing agreements and limited options for the European Commission to replace the BIDs with EU deals. It also suggests restricting the Commission's power to withdraw authorisations for BIDs, saying it should only be able to do so if the BID is incompatible with EU law, if it introduces big obstacles to the signing of other agreements in the future with the country in question or if, in the first twelve months, the EU Council of Minsters decides to enter talks on an EU investment deal with the country concerned. The EP also recommends restricting the Commission's scrutiny powers.
The draft regulation would enable member states to amend existing BIDs, or sign new ones, as long as the Commission is informed of any changes in advance. The final draft suggests five months' prior notice but the MEPs want this to be reduced to three months. The International Trade Committee voted on Wednesday to give the Commission a consultation mandate to examine, in consultation with all the other member states, whether it would be better to negotiate an investment treaty at EU level. If a simple majority of the member states want an EU deal, then the authorisation for bilateral negotiations may be withdrawn.
Given the narrow majority on Wednesday and a request from the rapporteur, the International Trade Committee decided to put the Schlyter Report to the vote in plenary to clarify the EP's negotiating position. There will be no talks between the EP, the Council of Ministers and the Commission until the full parliament has voted on the amendments to the regulation. By postponing the final vote and sending the report back to the Committee, agreement on this controversial issue may still be possible in first reading. (E.H./trans.fl)