Legal Instruments and Practice of Arbitration in the EU

Abstract

Upon request by the JURI Committee, this study investigates the law and practice of arbitration across the European Union and Switzerland. It includes an in-depth examination of the practice and the laws relating to arbitration in each Member State of the European Union and Switzerland, as well as an examination of the involvement of Member States and the European Union in arbitration. While substantial harmony exists across the European Union at both the level of law and practice, the Study finds that arbitration in the European Union is predominantly regional, rather than transnational. It also concludes that investment arbitration is often a beneficial feature of investment agreements, although the terms of such agreements must be carefully designed. PE 509.988 EN DOCUMENT REQUESTED BY THE COMMITTEE ON LEGAL AFFAIRS AUTHOR(S)Mr LINGUISTIC VERSIONSOriginal: EN ABOUT THE EDITORPolicy Departments provide in-house and external expertise to support EP committees and other parliamentary bodies in shaping legislation and exercising democratic scrutiny.To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe to its monthly newsletter please write to: poldep-citizens@ep.europa.euEuropean Parliament, manuscript completed in November 2014. © European Union, Brussels, 2014.This document is available on the Internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies DISCLAIMERThe opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament.Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy. EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe purpose of this Study is to provide an in-depth, objective description and analysis of the law and practice of arbitration across the European Union and Switzerland. One of the primary goals of the Authors was to portray accurately the actual diversity of arbitration law and practice across the European Union and Switzerland, rather than merely to report on arbitration practice as it is undertaken by the leading specialists in the field, and on arbitration law in the primary arbitral jurisdictions. Consequently, it was decided to include discussion of the law and practice of arbitration of all the States of the European Union/Switzerland, in order to identify both similarities and variants, and in order to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the law and practice observed, in the specific national contexts in which it is found. Overview of ArbitrationArbitration is a dispute resolution mechanism in which parties agree to have their dispute resolved by a private third-party decision-maker, rather than through litigation in public courts. The parties agree in advance that the decision-maker's ruling will be binding on them, rather than merely advisory. Although arbitration is often described as a form of alternative dispute resolution, and it does indeed provide an alternative to court litigation, arbitration's ...