UNCITRAL Working Group III and Multilateral Investment Court – Troubled Waters for EU Normative Power

This article analyses the European Union (EU)’s and its Member States’ activities in the multilateral reform of investors- state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the early stages of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) discussions with the ultimate goal of the establishment of a multilateral investment court. First, the article explains the EU’s approach to the reform and its ambitious proposal of a standing investment court. Then, it demonstrates how difficult it turned out to be for the EU to promote the reform proposal in multilateral negotiations at the UNCITRAL. Finally, the article explores how the EU employs several means, including internal mobilisation, or engagement of other stakeholders, in order to ensure that work of the UNCITRAL continues in a direction of systemic reform of ISDS. In conclusion, it offers a view of how the EU normative ambitions play out in the context of different approaches of third countries and how legal factors complement its political preferences.