In this introductory chapter to Part III, we examine the context of EU international investment regulation. We will analyse the objectives of EU trade and investment strategy, and shifts between multilateralism, bilateralism and unilateralism, effectively endorsing pragmatic-lateralism. First, EU values, objectives and principles are briefly introduced, to the extent to which they shape and define the EU’s international action. This is followed by the examination of EU strategy for its integration with the wider world through trade and investment agreements, and the consideration of circumstances which led to the EU’s international investment policy reform. The aim of this chapter is to provide the political background of EU international investment regulatory framework, which is analysed in Chapters 8 and 9.

State backlash has marked dispute settlement mechanisms in both the international trade and investment treaty regimes. For the former, the transition from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) dispute panels to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) represented a notable instance of the turn toward international courts within world politics.