Press Release: EU takes key step to provide legal certainty for investors outside Europe

The European Commission welcomed the adoption by the European Parliament and Council of new legislation on bilateral investment agreements. This is a key step in respect of foreign direct investment, which has become an exclusive EU competence under the Lisbon Treaty. Some 1,200 Bilateral Investment Agreements had been concluded by Member States with non-EU countries prior to the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, and the status of these agreements needed to be clarified under the new Treaty rules.

European Commission: Memo/12/977: Q&A: EU gives greater clarity to EU investment rules http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-12-977_en.htm

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