Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of whether foreign corporations will be able to sue the Government for damages and loss of profit under the investor-state dispute mechanism of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; and what steps the Government plans to take to prevent such an occurrence.

The Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has not yet been negotiated. The European Commission carried out a public consultation on these provisions last year and has published a report on the consultation responses. The UK, with other EU Member States and the Commission, will consider the report’s findings carefully to understand what is required of ISDS provisions to protect the right of governments to regulate in the public interest.