With its Communication of July 19, the European Commission reaffirmed the illegality of intra-EU bilateral investment treaties(intra-EU BITs) and stated that ''EU investors cannot invoke intra-EU BITs, which are incompatible with Union law and no longer necessary in the single market’’ .
Intra-EU BITs treaties are international agreements that focus on investor protection and assure citizens and companies of a certain Member State the right to invest in a different Country. Following the judgment of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the Achmea case emitted last March, the European Commission has reminded Member States and requests for the agreements still in force to be terminated. The Judgment of the ECJ confirmed the incompatibility of intra-EU BITs with EU law and explained that their norms do not have legal effect. The existence of intra-EU BITs undermines the system of legal remedies foreseen in the EU Treaties posing a threat to the autonomy of EU law and the principle of mutual trust between Member States.
Moreover, Intra-EU BITs overlap with Single Market rules and conflict with the principle of non-discrimination among EU investors by conferring rights on a bilateral basis to investors from some Member States only. As a result, the Commission has already launched infringement procedures against 5 Member States for failure to terminate intra-EU BITs.
For any further information please find here the Communication issued by the European Commission.