Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make it his policy that the arbitration mechanism to be included in the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will not be carried out by a for-profit company.

The detail of the arbitration mechanisms contained in the EU-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be the result of on-going negotiations between the EU and the US.

Any arbitration conducted under the EU-US FTA would involve a fair and transparent procedure, with a range of public and private sector participants including, EU and Member States, investors and arbitrators, with all parties to the dispute able to appoint their own lawyers.

Arbitration proceedings under an international investment treaty are typically carried out on an ad hoc basis, with the tribunal constituted solely for the purpose of resolving a single dispute. The costs of the arbitration are apportioned according to the arbitrators’ findings. Disputing parties may rely upon an international institution, such as the World Bank or the United Nations to provide the procedural rules for the tribunal. These services are provided on a non-profit basis.