28 June 2022

Keynote speech by Commissioner McGuinness at the forum on protecting and facilitating investment in the single market

Everyone in this room and online shares a key goal – and that is to facilitate investment in the single market – we may differ on how to achieve that goal – but I think we are clear about the target.

Because the topic we are discussing is really important, so thanks to Yann and indeed Anne-Françoise, who will address us shortly, and indeed colleagues in DG FISMA for all they work they've done on this topic for some time.

To you who are here, thank you for your contribution, because I know the engagement has been extremely strong.

And maybe before I start my formal presentation, just to acknowledge the very strong statement from a number of you in the room, including Business Europe and Eurocommerce, calling for a fresh political engagement to renew economic integration in the single market. This also speaks to the agenda we are addressing today.

Let's say where we are at. Everyone in this room and online shares a key goal – and that is to facilitate investment in the single market – we may differ on how to achieve that goal – but I think we are clear about the target.

Because of current circumstances, the goal is more urgent that ever. We have a very uncertain climate.

Interest rates are rising, inflation is a reality, and indeed the Covid crisis has not gone away.

We also have Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, which is exacerbating pressure on growth, impacting on commodity prices and of course supply chains remain disrupted.

We are living in very uncertain times, and my engagement, formal and informal, with business across Europe, speaks to that sense of uncertainty and concern, amongst small and large companies.

So our policy priorities are more important than ever.

We, as you know, need to end our dependency on Russian fossil fuels, and speed up the transition to renewable energy. And we really need to accelerate that, removing blockages that exist, and also mobilising private finance to this absolute urgency.

We need to try and work to sustain the post-COVID economic recovery in Europe. In January, we were quite optimistic about the future. I think when the war broke out on February 24^th – that optimism is now tinged with huge concern and much less optimism and more uncertainty.

And that's why we're here today, to address all of these issues and look at our priorities.

The regulatory environment in the Union should give investors certainty and stability – including when they invest in a member state you're not based in, so across the single market.

We want the single market to work for investors.

In the past, investors often relied on bilateral investment treaties to protect investments if they faced difficulties in a different EU country.

And the Commission consistently held the view that there is no place for bilateral investment treaties between Member States within the EU legal system and in the single market – these so-called “intra-EU BITs”.

They overlap with EU single market rules and they discriminate among EU investors.

They create out-of-court dispute resolution systems that are incompatible with EU law.

And this was confirmed, as you know, by the Court of Justice in the Achmea case...

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