Abstract
This article examines the trade and investment relations between the EU and ASEAN members, with a focus on Singapore in particular. It examines the state-of-play in the trade and investment agreements and negotiations between the two blocs and discusses the EU-Singapore investment protection aspect within this landscape.
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Notes
- 1.
Republished in Lay Hwee and Latif (2000), pp. 107–109. Among his many other honorable titles, Amb. Koh is currently Ambassador-At-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, and was also Ambassador to the US (1984–1990), founding Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Foundation, and Singapore’s Chief Negotiator for the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (2000–2003).
- 2.
It is beyond the scope of this article to chronicle the long history and extensive integration initiatives of the EU which have been examined in a great deal of academic literature; see for example, Jones et al. (2012); Dedman (2010); Dosenrode (2012). For a quick overview, see http://europa.eu/about-eu/eu-history/index_en.htm. For information on the EU’s global policy, see generally: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2010/november/tradoc_146941.pdf.
- 3.
The founding document is the ASEAN Declaration, also known as the Bangkok Declaration, signed 8 August 1967, available at: http://www.asean.org/news/item/the-asean-declaration-bangkok-declaration.
- 4.
See Framework Agreement on Enhancing ASEAN Economic Cooperation, signed on 28 January 1992, and Framework Agreement on the ASEAN Investment Area, signed on 7 October 1998; texts of these and other related agreements and protocols are available at: http://www.asean.org/communities/asean-economic-community/category/asean-trade-in-goods-agreement and http://www.asean.org/communities/asean-economic-community/category/overview-14. See also generally ASEAN website at: http://www.asean.org/communities/asean-economic-community/category/asean-free-trade-area-afta-council.
- 5.
The members in 1992 were Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam subsequently joined ASEAN in 1999, 1997, 1997 and 1995, respectively.
- 6.
Framework Agreement. See also generally the information at the Singapore Government website, at: http://www.fta.gov.sg/afta/9basean_investment_area.pdf.
- 7.
The text of the ACIA is available at: http://www.asean.org/images/archive/documents/FINAL-SIGNED-ACIA.pdf; the treaty came into force on 29 March 2012. It superseded two earlier, more limited, investment treaties. See generally: http://www.asean.org/communities/asean-economic-community/category/asean-investment-area-aia-council.
- 8.
See Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, available at: http://www.asean.org/asean/asean-charter/asean-charter.
- 9.
See Roadmap for an ASEAN Community 2009–2015, ASEAN, available at: http://www.asean.org/resources/publications/asean-publications/item/roadmap-for-an-asean-community-2009-2015.
- 10.
The original target for the AEC was 2020; the members decided in January 2007 at the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, Philippines, to accelerate this date to 2015. The Blueprint (2008) is available at: www.asean.org/archive/5187-10.pdf.
- 11.
See Singapore Ministry of Trade & Industry website: http://www.fta.gov.sg/fta_anzscep.asp?hl=9.
- 12.
For information on the Singapore Government’s policy on this, see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website at: http://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/international_organisation_initiatives/ftas.html. For information on Singapore’s FTAs that are in force, see generally www.fta.gov.sg.
- 13.
For the FTAs in force in ASEAN, see generally the Singapore Ministry of Trade & Industry website at: http://www.fta.gov.sg/sg_fta.asp.
- 14.
See information sheet of the Singapore Government on the RCEP, 2012, available at: http://www.fta.gov.sg/press_release%5CFACTSHEET%20ON%20RCEP_final.pdf.
- 15.
See European Commission (Trade), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/regions/asean.
- 16.
European Commission (Trade), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/regions/asean.
- 17.
See European Commission (2013a), p. 16.
- 18.
Ying and Tan (2001–2011), p. 2, available at: http://www.singstat.gov.sg/publications/publications_and_papers/investment/ssnsep13-pg1-9.pdf.
- 19.
Ying and Tan (2001–2011), p. 3, Table 2, available at: http://www.singstat.gov.sg/publications/publications_and_papers/investment/ssnsep13-pg1-9.pdf.
- 20.
Ying and Tan (2001–2011), pp. 6–7, Table 8, available at: http://www.singstat.gov.sg/publications/publications_and_papers/investment/ssnsep13-pg1-9.pdf.
- 21.
European Commission (Trade), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/regions/asean.
- 22.
According to the EU’s Progress Report on the Global Policy 2006–2010, 2010, p. 8, the reasons were as follows:
Following Member States’ authorisation to negotiate, “region-to-region”, FTA negotiations with a group of seven (out of ten) ASEAN countries were launched in 2007. Until March 2009, nine negotiation rounds had been held. However, progress in these region-to-region negotiations was slow, and both sides agreed to put negotiations on hold in March 2009. One difficulty in the region-to-region negotiations arose from significant structural differences within ASEAN, which meant that existing levels of liberalisation and negotiation objectives differed widely among countries in the group.
- 23.
EU’s Progress Report on the Global Policy 2006–2010, 2010, p. 23.
- 24.
EU Trade Commissioner (2010).
- 25.
See Article 2 of the Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, [2007] OJ C 306/1, adding a new Article 2B to The Treaty establishing the European Community—the new Art. 2B(1)(e) attributes exclusive competence over to the Union over the common commercial policy. Article 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), [2012] OJ C 326/1, in turn, includes FDI matters within the scope of the common commercial policy; and Europe 2020: A Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, COM(2010) 2020 final, p. 11. See also the Regulation (EU) No 1219/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 establishing transitional arrangements for bilateral investment agreements between Member States and third countries, [2012] OJ L 351/40, governing transitional matters on members’ BITs.
- 26.
European Commission, Communication, Towards a Comprehensive European International Investment Policy, COM(2010)343 final, p. 4. For an overview of EU investment policy, see European Commission (Trade), Investment, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/accessing-markets/investment/.
- 27.
European Commission, Communication, Europe and Asia: A Strategic Framework for enhanced Partnership, COM(2001)469 final.
- 28.
European Commission, Communication, A new partnership with South East Asia, COM (2003)399/4.
- 29.
European Commission, Communication, A new partnership with South East Asia, COM (2003)399/4, pp. 3–4.
- 30.
See United States Trade Representative, The President’s 2008 Trade Policy Agenda, pp. 9–10, available at: http://www.ustr.gov/archive/assets/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/2008/2008_Trade_Policy_Agenda/asset_upload_file490_14556.pdf. For a Singapore perspective, see also Koh and Lin (2004). The US signed a US-ASEAN Trade and Investment Framework Agreement in 2006, available at: http://www.ustr.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/agreements/tifa/asset_upload_file932_9760.pdf.
- 31.
The signalling of the start of talks for an EU-ASEAN FTA was made in the Joint Ministerial Statement of the ASEAN Economic Ministers and the European Union Trade Commissioner on the Launch of the Negotiations of the ASEAN-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), 4 May 2007, see www.asean.org/archive/ASEAN-EU-FTA.pdf. According to this Joint Statement, the parties intended for the negotiating process to “be based on a region-to-region approach” and would consider “the different levels of development and capacity of individual ASEAN Member countries”, para. 3.
- 32.
See European Commission (Trade), Singapore, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/singapore/.
- 33.
See European Commission, Memo, EU investment negotiations with China and ASEAN, available at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-913_en.htm.
- 34.
See European Commission (Trade) (2006).
- 35.
See Pratruangkrai (2014).
- 36.
European Commission, Memo, EU investment negotiations with China and ASEAN, available at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-913_en.htm.
- 37.
Although the EU had earlier concluded a FTA with Korea, that FTA does not include an investment chapter, as the new EU role in investment negotiations was still in gestation. The Lisbon Treaty, discussed below, was signed on 13 December 2007, after the EU-Korea FTA negotiations had been launched in May 2007. For the detailed timeline of the negotiations of the FTA, see the Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs website at: http://www.mofa.go.kr/ENG/policy/fta/status/effect/eu/index.jsp?menu=m_20_80_10&tabmenu=t_2&submenu=s_6. The EU-Canada FTA (CETA) does, however, include an investment chapter.
- 38.
EU-China negotiations commenced in January 2014. See European Commission (Trade), EU and China begin investment talks, available at: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1013; European Commission, Memo 13/913, EU investment negotiations with China and ASEAN, available at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-913_en.htm; and European Commission (Trade) (2006).
- 39.
Negotiations with India began in 2007 and 11 rounds have been held to date. Current meetings appear to comprise smaller cluster groups; see European Commission (Trade) (2006).
- 40.
Negotiations between the EU and Japan were launched in March 2013; see European Commission (Trade), Japan, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/japan/.
- 41.
See European Commission (Trade), Malaysia, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/malaysia/.
- 42.
Negotiations with Thailand began in 2013; see European Union, External Action, Thailand, available at: http://eeas.europa.eu/thailand/ and European Commission (Trade), Thailand, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/thailand and European Commission (Trade) (2006).
- 43.
See European Commission (Trade), Vietnam, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/vietnam/. For an overview of the EU’s FTAs, negotiations and launch dates, see generally European Commission, Enterprise and Industry, Free Trade Agreements, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/international/facilitating-trade/free-trade/ and European Commission (Trade) (2006).
- 44.
Fact Sheet on the EU-Singapore FTA, European Commission, Memo 13/805, The EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, p. 3, available at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-849_en.htm .
- 45.
Information sheet of the Singapore Government on the RCEP, 2012, p. 3, available at: http://www.fta.gov.sg/press_release%5CFACTSHEET%20ON%20RCEP_final.pdf.
- 46.
- 47.
See Regulation (EU) No 607/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 552/97 temporarily withdrawing access to generalised tariff preferences from Myanmar/Burma, [2013] OJ L 181/13 and European Commission (Trade) (2014d).
- 48.
See European Commission (Trade), South Korea, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/south-korea/. See also generally, Pollet-Fort (2011), EU Centre in Singapore, available at: http://www.eucentre.sg/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/BackgroundBrief-The-EU-Korea-FTA-and-its-Implications-for-the-Future-EU-Singapore-FTA.pdf.
- 49.
The text is available at: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=973. For a recent critical analysis of the CETA’s provisions as released to date, see Bernasconi-Osterwalder (2013).
- 50.
European Commission (2013c).
- 51.
See European Commission (Trade) (2014a).
- 52.
European Commission (2013a), pp. 9 and 12.
- 53.
The view has been expressed as follows: “The EUSFTA thus paves the way for comprehensive FTAs with other ASEAN countries, and ultimately an agreement with the entire region. […] Singapore […] regional trendsetter […]”; European Commission (2013a), p. 3.
- 54.
European Commission (Trade) (2014b).
- 55.
European Commission (2013a), pp. 6–7.
- 56.
European Commission (2013a), p. 10.
- 57.
- 58.
See European Commission, Press Release 14/56, Commission to consult European public on provisions in EU-US trade deal on investment and investor-state dispute settlement, available at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-56_en.htm.
- 59.
There have been calls to exclude any ISDS mechanism in the TTIP: see for example Financial Times, EU and US Pressed to Drop Dispute-settlement Rule from Trade Deal, 10 March 2014. See also Ikenson (2014).
- 60.
European Commission (2013b), p. 3.
- 61.
European Commission, Communication, Towards a Comprehensive European International Investment Policy, COM(2010)343 final, p. 8.
- 62.
See Voskamp (2013).
- 63.
European Commission (2013b).
- 64.
European Commission (2013b), p. 4.
- 65.
European Commission (2013b), pp. 7–10.
- 66.
European Commission (2013c).
- 67.
Annex X.11, CETA and Annex 9A, EUSFTA.
- 68.
European Commission (2013c), p. 7.
- 69.
European Commission (2013c); according to the Fact Sheet, this will “avoid too wide interpretations and provide clear guidelines to tribunals“.
- 70.
Art. 9.4.2, EUSFTA. (Other differences in the FET provisions of the two agreements exist and can be appreciated only by reading both sets of provisions in full.)
- 71.
- 72.
EUSFTA (2013), pp. 8–9.
- 73.
Art. 9.23 and 9.24 of the EUSFTA Investment Chapter.
- 74.
UNCITRAL, Rules on Transparency in Treaty-Based Investor-State Arbitration, available at: http://www.uncitral.org/pdf/english/texts/arbitration/rules-on-transparency/Rules-on-Transparency-E.pdf.
- 75.
See CETA, Art. X.33 and EUSFTA Art. 9.25 and Art. Annex 9.C.
- 76.
Art. 9.33.1 of the EUSFTA.
- 77.
Art. 9.33.2(b) and Art. 9.22.3 of the EUSFTA.
- 78.
Art.X.11.6 of the CETA provides as follows: 6. For greater certainty, the revocation, limitation or creation of intellectual property rights to the extent that these measures are consistent with TRIPS and Chapter X (Intellectual Property) of this Agreement, do not constitute expropriation. Moreover, a determination that these actions are inconsistent with the TRIPS Agreement or Chapter X (Intellectual Property) of this Agreement does not establish that there has been an expropriation. The related Declaration is found at p. 185 of the CETA Consolidated Text, available at: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2014/september/tradoc_152806.pdf.
- 79.
Articles 9.15 of the Investment Chapter also encourages amicable settlements of investor-State disputes, while Art. 9.16 provides for mediation (read with Annex 9A) and alternative dispute resolution.
- 80.
Article 2, Annex 9.C EUSFTA.
- 81.
Art. 15.20, USSFTA; entry into force on 1 January 2004—the text and background information are available at: http://www.fta.gov.sg/fta_ussfta.asp?hl=13.
- 82.
Art. 9.29 EUSFTA.
- 83.
Para. 9, Annex 1, Rules of Procedure and Code of Conduct, CETA provides: 9. Unless the Parties agree otherwise, they shall meet the arbitration panel within seven working days of its establishment in order to determine such matters that the Parties or the arbitration panel deem appropriate, including the remuneration and expenses to be paid to the arbitrators, which shall be in accordance with WTO standards. Remuneration for each arbitrator’s assistant shall not exceed 50 % of the total remuneration of that arbitrator. Members of the arbitration panel and representatives of the Parties may take part in this meeting via telephone or video conference;
Art. 9.29 of the EUSFTA provides: The fees and expenses of the arbitrators shall be those determined pursuant to Regulation 14(1) of the Administrative and Financial Regulations of the ICSID Convention in force on the date of the initiation of the arbitration.
- 84.
European Commission (2013c), p. 3.
- 85.
Annex 9-B, Code of Conduct for Arbitrators and Mediators. On such challenges generally, see Daele (2012).
- 86.
See for example ICSID, ARB/12/20, Blue Bank International & Trust (Barbados) Ltd v Venezuela.
- 87.
These refer to FTA provisions which impose intellectual property protection standards that exceed those required under the WTO’s Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS), Annex 1C of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, 1869 U.N.T.S. 299. TRIPS-plus provisions such as those, which affect the patenting and licensing of pharmaceutical products, have been included in a number of FTAs.
- 88.
- 89.
See Art. 3, Annex 2-C; text available at: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2013/september/tradoc_151731.pdf.
- 90.
Incoming Chilean Officials Convey TPP Red Lines in Meeting with Froman, Inside US Trade 32 (2014) 7, 14 February 2014.
- 91.
See for example the reservations of the ASEAN members made in relation to the ACIA: http://www.asean.org/communities/asean-economic-community/item/asean-compehensive-investment-agreement-reservation-list.
- 92.
For example, Thailand’s benefits ended in January 2015.
- 93.
See European Commission (Trade) (2014c). Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar are under its EBA programme for; for information on this scheme, see generally Regulation (EU) No 607/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 552/97 temporarily withdrawing access to generalised tariff preferences from Myanmar/Burma, [2013] OJ L 181/13.
- 94.
See European Commission (Trade) (2014d).
- 95.
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Hsu, L. (2015). EU-ASEAN Trade and Investment Relations with a Special Focus on Singapore. In: Herrmann, C., Krajewski, M., Terhechte, J. (eds) European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2015. European Yearbook of International Economic Law, vol 6. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46748-0_10
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