ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the resurgent emphasis on states' inherent power to regulate for public welfare objectives, so-called 'return of the state', in the investment chapters of three free trade agreements (FTAs). They are: Comprehensive Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA), and the EU–Singapore FTA Investment Protection Agreement (EUSFTA IPA). The chapter deals with the genesis of states' concerns about preserving their policy space. It deconstructs the suggestion in some circles of a 'return of the state' regulatory approach to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). The chapter then undertakes a comparative analysis of the latest developments in the investment chapters of CPTPP, CETA, and EUSFTA, with a view to identifying convergences and divergences between these agreements with respect to the right to regulate. It also traces the origins of the language employed in the four principle investment protections: fair and equitable treatment (FET); expropriation; national treatment; and most-favoured nation (MFN) treatment.
