EU Court thwarts ratification of EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement

SINGAPORE - In a legal Opinion handed down on May 16, the Court of Justice of the European Union declared that the Free Trade Agreement signed between the EU and Singapore in June 2015 cannot be ratified without the approval of all 38 of the EU's national and regional parliaments.

Lawyers Baker McKenzie comment: “Given the broad subject-matter of the agreement, including potentially controversial provisions regarding investor-State dispute settlement, might this decision spell the end of the EU's fledgling project to promote a new generation of trade and investment agreements and an international investment court system?   www.bakermckenzie.com (ATI).