EU investors already suing governments

In a rather short article on EU Observer ("EU governments paid €3.5bn in investor claims") it is mentioned that the controversial "investor protection" in the proposed TIPP trade pact between the EU and the US is already implemented at a lower level in the EU: EU governments have been forced to pay out more than €3.5 billion in compensation to firms under controversial investor protection rules according to new research published on Thursday (4 December). The survey, by the NGO Friends of the Earth Europe, has identified at least 127 individual cases which were brought against governments since 1994 in claims totalling more than €30 billion. But the campaign group says difficulties in acquiring information about "investor-state dispute settlement" (ISDS) cases, which is not publicly available, indicate that the total is likely to be far higher. Of the 127 cases, the NGO found out the level of compensation sought in just 62 examples. The precise sum paid out is only known for 14 of them Once again the EU is trying to undermine the national governments.