The autonomy of EU law and international investment arbitration

This article argues that, in the context of international investment law, the principle of autonomy need not be construed as broadly as the recent judgment in Achmea may appear to suggest. The Court’s approach in this case is formalist, inward-looking and hostile to the harmonious co-existence between EU and international law. The article argues, however, that this conception of autonomy ought to be confined to the specific legal and policy context of investment agreements between Member States of the Union. A careful reading of Achmea supports such a view. There are, also, sound conceptual, legal, and policy reasons that militate for a more open approach to autonomy when it comes to the Union’s trade agreements with third countries