On Friday 24 September, the European Commission appointed four experts to assist it in selecting arbitrators for trade disputes. Every trade agreement signed by the EU provides for a set of panellists and experts to be called upon in the event of a dispute.
In December, the Commission had launched a recruitment of arbitrators (see EUROPE 12626/23) to feed the pool of individuals who could later be mobilised for an arbitration panel.
The four members appointed on Friday will have to select these candidates and thus fill the pool of referees.
The Commission appointed Bruno Simma, arbitrator at the Iran-US Claims Tribunal in The Hague and former member of the International Court of Justice; Inge Govaere, professor of European law at the University of Ghent; Jan Klabbers, professor of international law at the University of Helsinki; Pavel Šturma, professor of international law at Charles University in Prague.
See the Commission’s decision: https://bit.ly/3iatkma (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)