Highlights

The inclusion of most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment provisions in international investment agreements (IIAs) followed its use in the context of international trade and was meant to address commitments made by States in free trade agreements (FTA) to grant preferential treatment to goods and services regarding market access. However, in the context of international investment that takes place behind borders, MFN clauses work differently. In early IIAs, as national treatment (NT) was not granted systematically, the inclusion of MFN treatment clauses was generalized in order to ...