Challenging the notion of coherence in EU foreign investment policy

Abstract

There have long been demands for more coherence in EU external action. The Lisbon Treaty has introduced important institutional changes in this respect. However, coherence – in the broad sense of a positive process that is focused on establishing synergies between various policy fields and actors – is still largely lacking for an EU foreign investment policy. An institutional bifurcation of different Directorates-General puts fuel to the fire of a conceptual confusion of intra-EU and extra-EU investment agreements. As a consequence, overarching concerns such as compatibility with the principle of autonomy or effects of investor-state arbitration on the internal market are missing a coherent approach.