Vrijschrift’s submission to the Dutch consultation on its new model bilateral investment treaty.
The Netherlands has published a new model bilateral investment treaty (BIT). A BIT gives multinationals far reaching rights to challenge government decisions. Its enforcement mechanism, investor-to-state dispute settlement or ISDS, is widely criticised. See for instance George Kahale, III, ISDS: The wild, wild west of international law and arbitration.
The Dutch draft would place ISDS under U.S. and Dutch influence. It combines invasive, far reaching rights for multinationals with a biased enforcement system. The reform failed.
