The Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) is a planned trade agreement between the People`s Republic of China and the European Union. The agreement proposed in 2013 had not yet been signed as of 31 December 2021. [1] In December 2020, the European Commission announced that the agreement had been concluded in principle by the Heads of State or Government of the European Council pending its ratification by the European Parliament. [2] The overall objective of the ASEAN GLOBAL Investment Agreement is to create a free, open, transparent and integrated investment system for domestic and international investors throughout the ASEAN region, and the benefits of the CFIA include investment liberalization, non-discrimination, transparency, investor protection and investor-state dispute settlement. Another valuable element of the CFIA is its investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms and the promotion of alternative dispute settlement methods. ASEAN investors can settle disputes through national courts and tribunals, through international arbitration, including ICSID, UNCITRAL and other agreed rules, and through alternative methods of dispute settlement: mediation, arbitration, and consultation and negotiation. A litigious investor must prove that it has suffered harm as a result of or as a result of the breach of asEAN`s host Member State`s obligations under the CFIA with respect to the management, implementation, operation or sale or other disposal of a covered investment. In the event of disagreements on the CFIA`s interpretation that are not investment disputes, all parties must use the existing ASEAN State-to-State dispute settlement mechanism under the ASEAN Protocol on an Enhanced Dispute Settlement Mechanism. To benefit from the CFIA, an investment must be made either by a natural person (national, citizen or permanent resident) of an ASEAN country, or by a legal entity resident in ASEAN that meets the requirements set out in the CFIA. Investments by a recognized legal entity are how non-ASEAN investors can benefit from the protection offered by the CFIA. The CFIA is considered an important part of the ASEAN Economic Community`s approach developed by the Member States of the Regional Group in 2007, which aims to create an integrated regional economy with free movement of investment and services. Any investor may freely and promptly make investment-related transfers to and from the territory of the ASEAN State in which he or she has invested.
These transfers can be made in freely usable currencies and at the market rate at the time of the transfer. In exceptional cases, this right may be limited by the application in good faith of the laws and procedures of the host country, for example with regard to bankruptcy, insolvency, trading in securities and futures contracts, taxation and employee severance pay. Equal treatment of ASEAN investors and their investments is another important function of the CFIA. The principles of national and most-favoured-nation treatment of the Agreement oblige ASEAN member States not to discriminate against ASEAN investors and to treat them less favourably than their local or foreign competitors. Under national treatment, an ASEAN country undertakes to treat investors of any ASEAN country no less favourably than it would treat its investors in the licensing, establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, execution, operation and sale or other sale of investments in its territory. Under most-favoured-nation treatment, all ASEAN investors must be treated equally, and this also applies to investors from non-ASEAN countries. In addition, Member States may not impose specific nationality requirements on senior managers, unless there is an officially published reservation, and where a Member State requires that the board of directors of a foreign company be a member or resident of a given nationality, this shall not affect the investor`s ability to control his investment. The CFIA also does not guarantee performance requirements and cannot impose conditions such as the minimum number of local content, export requirements or trade accounting requirements. April 12 – The ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (CFIA) entered into force on March 29, 2012 and aims to create a free and open investment environment by consolidating and expanding existing agreements among ASEAN member countries.
By replacing its two predecessor agreements, the ASEAN Investment Zone (AEOI) and the ASEAN Investment Guarantee (AIG), the CFIA seeks to create a system based on international best practices while extending and reaffirming the principles set out in the AEOI and IGA. In this way, it contains comprehensive and clear definitions in line with existing international agreements, thus increasing asean`s attractiveness as the sole investment objective. www.asean.org/resources/publications/asean-publications/item/asean-comprehensive-Investitionsabkommen Politico reported that prominent MEPs opposed the ratification of the investment pact after China responded with the counter-sanctions. [3] Reinhard Bütikofer, the chairman of the parliamentary delegation for relations with China hit by Chinese sanctions, said: ”The fate of this agreement is very questionable. France summoned the Chinese ambassador for ”unacceptable” insults and sanctions from Beijing. [4] On 24 March, EU Trade Commissioner Dombrovskis warned China that ”the ratification process cannot be separated from the evolving dynamics of broader EU-China relations”, and also referred to these counter-sanctions. [17] The CFIA is not a mutual fund from which any type of business or investor can benefit, and it contains specific definitions of approved investments and investors […].
