Article: Escaping Minimum Taxation Through Investor-State Arbitration? A Closer Look at the Robustness of the EU GloBE Directive

The OECD proposal for a global minimum tax (GloBE) is designed in a manner that could be conflictive with investment treaties. This tension is even more severe in the context of its adoption in the European Union through Directive (EU) 2022/2523 as EU Law prima facie supersedes any other international law obligation adopted by Member States. Yet, investors from jurisdictions not subject to GloBE liabilities (and their investment vehicles) may try to seek remedies envisaged in investment treaties and enforce them abroad. Would such claims succeed? How should the Member States or the Union itself react to such undermining of EU Law (and the very idea of the GloBE proposal) abroad? This article explores the robustness of EU Law for adequately enforcing the minimum tax Directive (MTD) and prospective challenges set to arise during arbitration, at the enforcement stage, and after successfully recouping minimum taxation through a fruitful collection of awarded damages.