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Abstract:
In these three linked cases, the European Court of Justice held that, following accession to the European Union, Austria, Sweden and Finland were required to seek to amend provisions in their earlier Bilateral Investment Treaties so as to permit the European Union to impose restrictions on free movement of capital and payments. Such provisions are general in hundreds of Treaties in force between almost all Member States and non-Member States so that an immense task of re-negotiation would be required to permit non-discriminatory application of restrictions by the Union. This would greatly weaken existing guarantees of free transfer for European investors. With the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, foreign direct investment has been brought within the exclusive competence of the common commercial policy - offering a pause for collective consideration of an appropriate general policy for the Union on free transfer restrictions.
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