Investment arbitration and EU's credibility as an economic actor

In Achmea, the European Court of Justice uphold the European Commission’s standpoint vis-à-vis the incompatibility of intra-European Union bilateral investment treaties with the autonomy of EU legal order. It remains controversial, however, whether the objections raised to the latter treaties or to mixed agreements in particular are exclusively due to allowing disputes concerning EU law being solved outside EU’s jurisdiction, or whether these objections would surface even if the agreements were not mixed. This communication seeks to foresee the European Court of Justice’s attitude in a pending proceeding (Opinion 1/17), concerning the compatibility of Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (with Canada) and its investment dispute settlement provisions with EU primary law.