EU Appoints Members to Search Committee for Trade Agreement Arbitrators

The European Commission appointed four individuals to its panel of independent experts to help the commission pick candidates to serve as adjudicators under the dispute settlement mechanisms in European Union trade and investment agreements, the commission said. The four are Bruno Simma, judge at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague; Inge Govaere, professor of EU Law at Ghent University; Jan Klabbers, professor of International Law at the University of Helsinki; and Pavel Sturma, professor of international law at Charles University.

Following a commission open call on Dec. 18, 2020, for arbitrator applications, the expert panel will conduct a selection procedure. The appointments are another step taken by the commission to address demands for a more “depoliticised, independent and inclusive process,” when ramping up the enforcement of EU trade and investment agreements, the EC said.