'The Politics of Transnational Investment Regulation'

'The Politics of Transnational Investment Regulation: EU Bilateral Investment Rules and and Practices with Latin America'

The PhD project investigates the political struggles that have given shape to the

pre- and post-Lisbon bilateral and regional investment rules and practices between the EU and Latin America. It identifies and explains the motives of the agents involved in driving and contesting the governance of investment flows, and the ways in which regulatory practices are framed and institutionalised.

The project seeks to reveal the interface of, on the one hand, the political decisions that have led to further European integration in the field of investment regulation and, on the other hand, the political controversies that arose from the experience of investment law enforcement in Latin America. Importantly, the project will go beyond generic and isolated discussions of bilateral investment treaties by embedding them in the broader context of transnationalisation of production, processes of financialisation, and the ambitions in EU external policies in a rapidly changing global economic order.

Central questions guiding the research are:

• What explains the political struggles that have given shape to  the content, form and scope of EU bilateral investment rules and practices with Latin America?
• What explains the growing political contestation in Latin America with respect to the existing EU member state investment rule regime?
• What explains the establishment of the new EU level investment framework as part of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009?

See for more information:

Roy Huijsmans