Quentin Declève participates in African round table on the reform of investment protection
- 05/12/2018
- News
On 22 November 2018, Van Bael & Bellis associate Quentin Declève participated in a high level event on the reform of investment protection organized by the Belgian Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs.
The morning session brought together key stakeholders in the reform of the existing Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms as well as in the plans for a Multilateral Investment Court (MIC).
European Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström, delivered a keynote speech laying out the EU’s plans for a multilateral investment court. This keynote speech was followed by two presentations: one by Meg Kinnear (Secretary-General of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)) and the other by Anna Joubin-Bret (Secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)). Those presentations were followed by two panel discussions which brought together a broad range of stakeholders, including members of trade unions, the OECD and academia, as well as business and arbitration experts.
The afternoon session gathered representatives from several African countries (Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, South Africa and Zimbabwe) and was aimed at further discussing the ongoing reform and the specific expectations of African countries. During that session, Quentin spoke about the pro bono technical assistance offered by Van Bael & Bellis to the Republic of Benin in the context of ISDS reform. Representatives from the European Commission, the government of the Netherlands and UNCITRAL also took part in the discussion.
