ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the prospects and challenges for the European Union (EU) to live up to its values included in Art. 21 Treaty on European Union in the negotiations of the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) with China. It analyses the connections between human rights and international investment law in general and also in the particular case of the EU with regard to its credo of ‘comprehensive’ trade and investment policies. The chapter also analyses the state of play in the structured and more indirect dialogues on human rights between the EU and China. It highlights the main drivers of the politicization of the debate on the China–EU CAI and the prospects and challenges for the incorporation of human rights related provisions in the CAI. In the debate on the negotiations of the China–EU CAI, there have been some contrasting views as to the necessity of including direct or indirect references to human rights in the CAI.
