Autonomy and EU competences in the context of free trade and investment agreements

In the first place, the chapter investigates the interaction between the delimitation of the EU’s external competence in the area of trade and investment and the requirement to preserve the essential characteristics of the EU legal order. It follows from the joint reading of Achmea and of Opinion 2/15 that the competence to approve dispute settlement provisions in free trade agreements (FTAs) finds its limits in the preservation of the systemic dimension of the autonomy. On the other hand, the specific balance between competences and objectives reinforces the substantive autonomy of the EU legal order through a dynamic interpretation of external competences. Secondly, the chapter focuses on the EU’s capacity to exercise independently its competences, which is challenged by the recent FTAs. Despite the insertion of clauses on the right to regulate, there is no guarantee of the interpretation of investment protection standards in view of the preservation of the regulatory autonomy of the Union