Investor Obligations Through the Prism of the EU Foreign Investment Screening Framework

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) screening instruments adopted in recent years do not directly impose corporate social responsibility (CSR) obligations on foreign investors. This is in contrast with the latest generation of international investment agreements (IIAs), which increasingly incorporate CSR norms into the treaty language. CSR obligations seem to exceed the scope of FDI screening mechanisms, that are devised as safeguard mechanisms against the establishment of certain types of FDI in the territory of the State. However, even though FDI screening instruments contain no apparent CSR investor obligations, they may do so indirectly. By focusing on the FDI screening framework of the European Union (EU), this chapter investigates the presence of indirect investor obligations with regard to environmental standards and capital transfer.