Opinion1/17

(Opinion pursuant to Article218(11) TFEU— Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada, of the one part, and the European Union and its Member States, of the other part (CETA)— Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS)— Establishment of a Tribunal and an Appellate Tribunal— Compatibility with primary EU law— Requirement to respect the autonomy of the EU legal order— Level of protection of public interests determined, in accordance with the EU constitutional framework, by the EU institutions— Equal treatment of Canadian investors and EU investors— Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union— Article20— Access to the above Tribunals and their independence— Article47 of the Charter— Financial accessibility— Commitment to guarantee that accessibility for natural persons and small and medium-sized enterprises— External and internal aspects of the requirement of independence— Appointment, remuneration and ethics of the Members— Role of the CETA Joint Committee— Binding interpretations of the CETA determined by that Committee)

1.International agreements— Conclusion— Competence of the Union— Scope— Creation of a court or other entity with competence to rule on the provisions of the agreement— Included— Conditions— No adverse effect on the autonomy of the EU legal order

(Art.1, second para., TEU, Arts2 and19 TEU; Art.267 TFEU)

(see paragraphs106-111)

2.International agreements— European Union agreements— EU-Canada free trade agreement— Mechanism for the resolution of investment disputes between investors and States— Creation of tribunals standing outside the EU judicial system, but with no power to interpret or apply rules of EU law or to prevent the operation of the EU institutions— Lawfulness

(Art.19 TEU)

(see paragraphs114-119, 122, 150-153)

3.Member States— Obligations— Due regard to the principle of mutual trust— Scope— Applicability to relations between the Union and a non-Member State— Not included

(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art.47)

(see paragraphs128, 129)

4.International agreements— Conclusion— Prior opinion of the Court— Subject matter— Questions on the substantive or formal validity of an agreement with regard to the Treaty— Compatibility of the agreement with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

(Art.6(1) TEU; Arts217 TFEU and 218 TFEU)

(see paragraph167)

5.EU law— Principles— Equal treatment— Discrimination on grounds of nationality— Prohibition— Scope— Difference in treatment between nationals of Member States and nationals of non-Member States— Not included

(Art.18, first para., TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art.21(2))

(see paragraphs169, 170)

6.Fundamental rights— Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union— Equal treatment— Scope— International agreement between the European Union and a non-Member State— Included— Limits

(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art.20)

(see paragraphs171-174)

7.International agreements— European Union agreements— EU-Canada free trade agreement— Mechanism for the resolution of investment disputes between investors and States— Possibility of challenging European Union measures available only for Canadian investors, not for EU investors— No comparable situation for the two categories of persons— Infringement of the principle of equal treatment— No infringement

(Arts101 and 102 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art.20)

(see paragraphs179-186)

8.International agreements— European Union agreements— EU-Canada free trade agreement— Mechanism for the resolution of investment disputes between investors and States— Access by litigants to the bodies for the resolution of disputes— Observance of the right to effective judicial protection— Infringement of the requirements of accessibility, independence and impartiality — No infringement

(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47)

(see paragraphs190-193, 201-204, 222, 244)