26 AVRIL 2005. - An Act to Enact the Agreement between the Belgian Economic Union and the United Arab Emirates concerning the mutual encouragement and protection of investments, signed in Dubai on 8 March 2004 (1) (2) (3)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. The Agreement between the Belgian Economic Union and the United Arab Emirates concerning the mutual encouragement and protection of investments, signed in Dubai on 8 March 2004, will emerge its full and full effect.
Promulgate this Act, order it to be sealed by the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 26 April 2005.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
K. DE GUCHT
Minister of Foreign Trade,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. L. ONKELINX
____
Note
(1) Session 2004-2005.
Senate.
Documents. - Bill tabled on 8 December 2004, No. 3-952/1. - Report, number 3-952/2.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion and voting. Session of February 17, 2005.
Room.
Documents. - Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 51-1617/1. - Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, No. 51-1617/2.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion and voting. Session of March 17, 2005.
(2) See decree of the Flemish Region of 7 July 2006 (Moniteur belge of 6 October 2006), decree of the Walloon Region of 17 November 2005 (Moniteur belge of 8 December 2005), order of the Brussels-Capital Region of 10 March 2005 (Moniteur belge du 1^er April 2005).
(3) The exchange of instruments of ratification took place on 22 October 2007. Pursuant to Article 16, the agreement will enter into force on November 22, 2007.

Agreement between the Belgian Economic Union and the United Arab Emirates on mutual encouragement and protection of investments
The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium, acting on behalf of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, under existing agreements, the Walloon Government, the Flemish Government and the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, on the one hand,
and
The Government of the United Arab Emirates, on the other hand,
(hereinafter referred to as the Contracting Parties)
Desirous of strengthening their economic cooperation by creating favourable conditions for the realization of investments by investors of one of the Contracting Parties in the territory of the other Contracting Party,
The following agreed:
Article 1^er
Definitions
For the purposes of this Agreement,
1. The term "investors" means:
(a) "nationals", that is, any natural person who, according to the law of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the United Arab Emirates is considered to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the United Arab Emirates respectively;
(b) "societies", that is, any legal entity incorporated in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the United Arab Emirates and having its head office or head office in the territory of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the United Arab Emirates respectively;
(c) the federal government and the local governments of the Contracting States and their financial institutions.
2. The term "investment" means any assets held or controlled, directly or indirectly, by any investor of one of the Contracting Parties in the territory of the other Contracting Party.
These include, but are not limited to, investments within the meaning of this Agreement:
(a) movable and immovable property and any other real rights such as mortgages, privileges, leases, usufructs and similar rights;
(b) shares, shares and other forms of participation, whether minority or indirect, in the capital of corporations incorporated in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties;
(c) obligations, receivables and rights to all benefits of economic value;
(d) copyright, industrial property rights, technical processes, names filed and the trade fund;
(e) concessions of public or contractual law, including those relating to the prospecting, cultivation, extraction or exploitation of natural resources. Such concessions shall be in accordance with the terms of the contracts between the investor and the Contracting State in the territory of which such concessions are granted.
No change in the legal form in which assets and capital have been invested or reinvested will affect their quality of "investments" within the meaning of this Agreement, provided that such changes are made in accordance with the existing laws and regulations of the Contracting States on whose territory investments are made.
3. The term "income" refers to amounts generated by an investment and, in particular, not exclusively, profits, interests, capital increments, dividends, royalties or allowances.
4. The term "territory" means:
(a) the territory of the Kingdom of Belgium and the territory of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, as well as the maritime zones, that is, the marine and submarine zones that extend beyond the territorial waters of the Kingdom of Belgium and on which the Kingdom of Belgium exercises, in accordance with international law, its sovereign rights and jurisdiction for the exploration, exploitation and conservation of natural resources;
(b) the United Arab Emirates, as well as the maritime areas, including the seabed and its subsoil, adjacent to the outer limits of the territorial sea of any of the above-mentioned territories, on which the State concerned exercises, in accordance with international law, its sovereign rights and jurisdiction for the exploration and exploitation of the natural resources of the said zones.
5. The term "environmental legislation" refers to the legislation of the Contracting States, or any provision contained in that legislation, which is primarily intended to protect the environment, or to prevent any danger to the life or health of men, animals or plants.
6. The term "labour legislation" means the legislation of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the United Arab Emirates, or any provision contained in that legislation, having a direct relationship with the International Labour Conventions that each Contracting Party has ratified.
Article 2
Investment promotion
1. Each Contracting Party shall encourage investment in its territory by investors from the other Contracting Party and admit such investments in accordance with its legislation.
2. Each Contracting Party shall authorize, to the extent possible, in accordance with its existing laws and regulations, the conclusion and execution of licence contracts and trade, administrative or technical assistance agreements, provided that such activities have a relationship with investments.
Article 3
Investment protection
1. All investments made by investors of one of the Contracting Parties shall enjoy fair and equitable treatment in the territory of the other Contracting Party.
2. Subject to the measures necessary for the maintenance of public order, these investments will enjoy constant security and protection, excluding any unjustified or discriminatory measures that may hinder, in law or in fact, the management, maintenance, use, enjoyment or liquidation of such investments.
Article 4
Most-favoured national and national treatment
1. For all matters relating to the processing of investments, investors from each Contracting Party will benefit, on the territory of the other Contracting Party, from the national treatment and treatment of the most favoured nation. The treatment of the most-favoured nation will not apply to judicial or procedural matters.
2. With regard to exploitation, management, maintenance, use, enjoyment, sale or any other form of investment alienation, each Contracting Party shall grant in its territory to investors of the other Contracting Party a treatment that will not be less favourable than that granted to its own investors or investors of any third State, if that treatment is more favourable.
3. Such treatment shall not extend to the privileges granted by a Contracting Party to investors of a third State, by virtue of its participation or association in a free trade zone, a customs union, a common market or any other form of regional economic organization.
4. The provisions of this section do not apply to tax matters, land and property.
Article 5
Environment
1. Recognizing that each Contracting Party has the right to establish its own level of environmental protection and to define its environmental and development policies and priorities, as well as to adopt or amend its ad hoc laws accordingly, each Contracting Party shall ensure that its legislation guarantees a high level of environmental protection and shall make every effort to continuously improve such legislation.
2. None of the Contracting Parties shall amend or relax its national environmental legislation to encourage investments or maintenance or expansion of investments to be made in its territory.
3. The parties recognize that mutual cooperation offers them greater opportunities to improve environmental standards. At the request of one of the parties, the other party will agree that representatives of their governments meet for consultation on any matter relating to investment involving investors from Contracting Parties and falling within the scope of this Article.
Article 6
Labour
1. Recognizing that each Contracting Party has the right to establish its own labour protection standards and to adopt or amend its ad hoc laws accordingly;
2. None of the Contracting Parties shall amend or relax its national labour legislation to encourage investments or maintenance or expansion of investments to be made in its territory.
Article 7
Private and restrictive measures of ownership
1. Each of the Contracting Parties undertakes not to take any measures of expropriation or nationalization or any other measure whose effect is to directly or indirectly dispossess the investors of the other Contracting Party of their investments in its territory.
2. If public utility, security or national interest requirements warrant a derogation from paragraph 1^erthe following conditions shall be met:
(a) measures shall be taken in accordance with a legal procedure;
(b) they will not be discriminatory or contrary to a specific commitment;
(c) they shall be provided with provisions for the payment of adequate and effective compensation.
3. The amount of this allowance will be calculated on the basis of the market value of the investment immediately before the time the expropriation or nationalization decision has been announced or made public. Where the market value cannot be properly established, the amount of compensation will be determined in accordance with generally recognized principles of appreciation and on the basis of fair principles, including the investment capital, depreciation, capital already repatriated, replacement value and other relevant factors. The allowance will include interest at the interest rate applicable to the currency in which the investment was originally made, from the date of expropriation to the date of payment.
4. Investors of one of the Contracting Parties whose investments would have suffered damage from war or other armed conflict, revolution, state of national emergency or revolt in the territory of the other Contracting Party shall, on the part of the other Contracting Party, receive at least equal treatment to that granted to investors of the most-favoured nation in respect of restitution, compensation, compensation or other compensation.
Article 8
Transfers
1. Each Contracting Party shall grant investors of the other Contracting Party the free transfer of all payments relating to an investment, including:
(a) amounts intended to establish, maintain or develop investment;
(b) amounts intended for the settlement of contractual obligations, including amounts necessary for the reimbursement of borrowings, royalties and other payments arising from licences, franchises, concessions and other similar fees, as well as the remuneration of expatriated personnel;
(c) Investment income;
(d) the proceeds of the total or partial liquidation of investments, including capital gains or increases;
(e) compensation paid pursuant to section 7.
2. Nationals of each Contracting Party authorized to work for an investment in the territory of the other Contracting Party will also be allowed to transfer an appropriate quotity of their remuneration to their country of origin.
3. Transfers will be made in a freely convertible currency, in the course applicable to cash transactions in the currency used.
4. Each of the Contracting Parties shall issue the necessary authorizations to ensure without delay the execution of transfers without any other charges than the usual bank charges.
Article 9
Subrogation
1. If one of the Contracting Parties or a public body of the Contracting Party pays compensation to its own investors under a particular investment guarantee, the other Contracting Party shall recognize that the rights of investors are transferred to the Contracting Party or the public body concerned, in their capacity as insurer.
2. With respect to the rights transferred, the other Contracting Party may apply the obligations that are legally or contractually binding on the insurer subject to the rights of the indemnified investors.
Article 10
Rules applicable
Where an investment issue, except for hydrocarbons, is governed both by this Agreement and by the national legislation of one of the Contracting Parties or by international conventions currently in force or contracted in the future by the Parties, the investors of the other Contracting Party may avail themselves of the provisions that are most favourable to them.
Article 11
Special agreements
1. Investments that have been the subject of a particular agreement between one of the Contracting Parties and investors of the other Party shall be governed by the provisions of this Agreement and those of that particular agreement.
2. Each Contracting Party undertakes to ensure at any time the compliance with its obligations with respect to investors in the other Contracting Party, with investors having to comply with the terms and conditions of its commitments.
Article 12
Settlement of investment disputes
1. Any investment dispute between an investor of one of the Contracting Parties and the other Contracting Party shall be notified in writing, together with a sufficiently detailed aide-memoire, on the part of the most diligent party.
To the extent possible, the parties will attempt to settle the dispute amicably by negotiation, possibly using the expert opinion of a third party, or by conciliation between the Contracting Parties through diplomatic channels, through an ad hoc joint commission.
2. If there is no friendly settlement by direct arrangement between the parties to the dispute or by diplomatic conciliation within six months of its notification, the dispute will be submitted to the competent jurisdiction of the State where the investment has been made.
If there is no settlement within 15 months of the date on which the dispute has been submitted to the competent court, including the national arbitration centres, the investor will be allowed to submit the dispute to international arbitration.
If there is no settlement within 6 months of the date on which the dispute has been submitted to the competent court, both parties may submit, with their mutual written consent, the dispute to international arbitration.
3. In case of recourse to international arbitration, the dispute shall be submitted to one of the following arbitration bodies, at the investor's choice:
- to an ad hoc arbitration tribunal, established in accordance with the arbitration rules of the United Nations Commission on Commercial Law (C.N.U.D.C.I.);
- at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (C.I.R.D.I.), established by "the Convention for the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States", opened for signature in Washington, D.C., on 18 March 1965, when each State Party to this Agreement shall be a member of it. As long as this condition is not fulfilled, each Contracting Party agrees that the dispute is subject to arbitration in accordance with the C.I.R.D.I. Supplementary Mechanism Regulations;
- the Arbitration Tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris;
- at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.
If the arbitration procedure has been initiated by a Contracting Party, the Contracting Party shall, in writing, invite the investor concerned to express his or her choice with respect to the arbitration body that must be seized of the dispute.
4. None of the Contracting Parties, a party to a dispute, shall raise any objection, at any stage of the arbitration proceedings or the execution of an arbitration award, as the investor, a party opposing the dispute, would have received compensation covering all or part of its losses in the execution of an insurance policy.
5. Arbitration awards will be final and binding for the parties to the dispute. Each Contracting Party undertakes to enforce the awards in accordance with its national legislation.
6. At any stage of the arbitration proceedings, all parties to the dispute may agree to subtract the dispute from arbitration.
Article 13
Disputes between Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement
1. Any dispute relating to the interpretation or application of this Agreement shall be resolved, if possible, by diplomatic means.
2. If the dispute is not resolved by diplomatic means, the dispute shall be submitted to a joint commission composed of representatives of the two Parties; the Party shall meet at the request of the most diligent and without undue delay.
3. If the joint commission cannot resolve the dispute, it shall be submitted, at the request of either Contracting Party, to an arbitral tribunal constituted, for each particular case, as follows:
Each Contracting Party shall designate an arbitrator within two months of the date on which one of the Contracting Parties has indicated to the other of its intention to submit the dispute to arbitration. Within two months of their designation, the two arbitrators shall jointly appoint a third-country national who shall serve as president of the arbitral tribunal.
If these deadlines have not been observed, one or the other Contracting Party shall invite the President of the International Court of Justice to make the necessary appointment or appointments.
If the President of the International Court of Justice is a national of either Contracting Party or of a State with which one or the other Contracting Party does not maintain diplomatic relations, or if, for another reason, the Vice-President of the International Court of Justice shall be invited to proceed with the appointment or appointments required.
4. At any stage of the arbitration procedure, Contracting Parties may agree to withdraw the dispute from arbitration.
5. The court shall establish its own rules of procedure. Its decisions shall be taken by a majority vote; they shall be final and binding for Contracting Parties.
6. Each Contracting Party shall bear the costs associated with the designation of its arbitrator. The disbursements inherent in the designation of the third arbitrator and the operating costs of the court shall be borne by the Contracting Parties equally.
Article 14
Previous investments
This Agreement shall also apply to investments made prior to its entry into force by investors of one of the Contracting Parties in the territory of the other Contracting Party in accordance with the laws and regulations of the other Contracting Party.
This Agreement shall not apply to any dispute arising prior to its entry into force.
Article 15
Consultations
At the request of either Contracting Party, consultations may be held between the Contracting Parties at any time after the entry into force of this Agreement with a view to amending the Agreement and discussing any matter relating to subrogation and investment disputes, notwithstanding the respective provisions of Articles 9 and 12.
Article 16
Entry into force and duration
1. This Agreement shall enter into force one month from the date on which the Contracting Parties have exchanged their instruments of ratification. It will remain in force for a period of ten years.
Unless one of the Contracting Parties denounces it at least six months before the expiry of its validity period, it will be automatically extended for a further ten-year period, each Contracting Party reserves the right to denounce it by a notification introduced at least six months before the expiration date of the current validity period.
2. The investments made prior to the expiry date of this Agreement shall remain subject to it for a period of ten years from that date.
In faith, the undersigned representatives, duly authorized to do so by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.
Made in Dubai on March 8, 2004, in two original copies, each in French, Dutch, Arabic and English, all texts being equally authentic. The English language text will prevail in the event of a discrepancy of interpretation.