| Author (Corporate) | European Court of Justice: Press and Information Division |
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| Series Title | Press Release |
| Series Details | No.52 (16.05.17) |
| Publication Date | 16/05/2017 |
| Content Type | News |
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On 13-14 September 2016 the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) held hearings for Opinion 2/15, which concerned the EU’s competence to conclude a new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Singapore, in a rare sitting of the Full Court of CJEU judges. On 16 May 2017 the Court gave its conclusions on Opinion 2/15. The free trade agreement with Singapore cannot, in its current form, be concluded by the European Union alone. The provisions of the agreement relating to non-direct foreign investment and those relating to dispute settlement between investors and States do not fall within the exclusive competence of the European Union, so that the agreement cannot, as it stands, be concluded without the participation of the Member States. However, commentators noted that the judges of the ECJ had ruled that the scope of exclusive EU competences was much bigger than the opinion by the ECJ Advocate-General suggested in December 2016. Some of the commentary on the judgment also speculated on its possible impact on the Brexit negotiations, with division as to whether it would help or hinder the facilitation of a future trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU (see related url hyperlinks). |
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| Source Link | https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2017-05/cp170052en.pdf |
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| Subject Categories | Law, Politics and International Relations, Trade |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
