ECIPE Seminar: One Year After Argentinean Expropriation of YPF: Whither EU - Argentina Trade and Investment Relations?

http://www.ecipe.org/events/eu-argentina-event/

A little more than a year ago, the Argentinean government introduced the bill to expropriate the controlling stake in energy firm YPF, which was owned by European firm Repsol. This expropriation is now subject to an investment-dispute settlement – plus a dispute with a U.S. company that has acquired parts of the expropriated assets – and it raises some general concerns about the political development of Argentina as well as EU’s trade and investment relations with Argentina. The legal structure for addressing investor-state dispute settlements leaves much to be desired. While the EU is about to establish a new policy for Bilateral Investment Treaties – and effectively negotiate such treaties in some current trade negotiations – the institutional arrangements for legal procedures and for collecting rewards are weak, especially if the loosing defendant is a government with little interest in complying with rulings against it. How should Europe generally arrange its own policy to ensure stable and reliable investment protection for European firms? How should it behave when countries do not want to comply? What should be the overall direction of EU-Argentina relations?

Program

09:30 Registration/Coffee

10:00 Welcome/Introduction

MEP Pablo Zalba

10:10 Argentina’s trade and investment policy

Mr. Fredrik Erixon, Director ECIPE

10:20 The expropriation of YPF: Costs and consequences

Professor Pablo Fernandez, PricewaterhouseCooper Chair of Corporate Finance, IESE

10:30 In dispute with the Argentinian government: a company view

Mr. Miguel Klingenberg, Deputy Secretary General of Repsol

10:40 Whither EU-Argentina trade and investment relations?

Mr. Matthias Jorgensen, Head of Unit, DG Trade, European Commission

10:50-12:00 Discussion

Please note: We kindly remind you that access badges are required in order to enter the European Parliament. If you do not have such a badge, please state your ID-details in the RSVP form. Registration for this conference will be closed on Thursday, September 12.

Registration for the conference and distribution of the badges will take place at the Place de Luxembourg entrance of the Altiero Spinelli building, as from 9.30.

The registration for this event is now closed

Participants: Pablo Zalba, Fredrik Erixon, Pablo Fernandez, Miguel Klingenberg, Matthias Jorgensen

Date: 2013-09-18

Time: 09:30 to 12:00

Venue: European Parliament, Room 6Q1