8 JUIN 2004. - An Act to approve the Agreement between the Belgo-Luxembourg Union and the Republic of Benin concerning the mutual encouragement and protection of investments, signed in Brussels on 18 May 2001 (1) (2)

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 Republic of Benin concerning the mutual encouragement and protection of investments, signed in Brussels on 18 May 2001, will emerge its full and full effect.
Promulgation of this law, let us order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 8 June 2004.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
L. MICHEL
Minister of Foreign Trade,
Ms. F. MOERMAN
Seen and sealed the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. L. ONKELINX
____
Notes
(1) Session 2003-2004.
Senate.
Documents.
Bill, tabled on 28 January 2004, No. 3-483/1.
Report, No. 3-483/2.
Annales parliamentarians.
Discussion, meeting of 9 March 2004.
Vote, meeting of 9 March 2004.
Room
Documents
Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 51-947/1.
Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, No. 51-947/2.
Annales parlementaire
Discussion, meeting of 6 May 2004.
Vote, meeting of 6 May 2004.
(2) See also the Decree of the Flemish Region of April 4, 2003 (Belgian Monitor of August 20, 2003 - Ed. 1), the Decree of the Walloon Region of November 13, 2002 (Belgian Monitor of December 4, 2002 - Ed. 2) and the Order of the Brussels-Capital Region of July 3, 2003 (Belgian Monitor of July 9, 2003 - Ed. 1).

Agreement between the Belgian Economic Union and the Republic of Benin on mutual encouragement and protection of investments
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE BELGIUM ROYAUME,
acting both in his name and in the name
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 BENIN REPUBLIC,
on the other hand,
(hereinafter referred to as the Contracting Parties)
Wishing to strengthen their economic cooperation by creating favourable conditions for the realization of investments by nationals of one of the Contracting Parties in the territory of the other Contracting Party;
The following agreed:
ARTICLE 1
Definitions
For the purposes of this Agreement,
1. The term "investors" means:
(a) "nationals", that is, any natural person who, according to the laws of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the Republic of Benin, is considered to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the Republic of Benin respectively, who makes investments in the territory of the State of the other Contracting Party in accordance with this Agreement;
(b) the "societies", that is, any legal entity constituted in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the Republic of Benin and having its head office in the territory of the other Contracting Party, which makes investments in the territory of the State of the other Contracting Patier, in accordance with this Agreement.
2. The term "investments" means any assets or direct or indirect contributions to digital, in kind or in services, invested or reinvested in any sector of economic activity.
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.
No change in the legal form in which assets and capital have been invested or reinvested will affect their investment quality within the meaning of this Agreement.
3. The term "income" refers to the net amounts of taxes reported by an investment, including, but not limited to, profits, interest, capital increments, dividends, royalties or allowances.
4. The term "territory" applies to the territory of the Kingdom of Belgium, to the territory of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and to the territory of the Republic of Benin, as well as to the maritime zones, that is, the marine and submarine zones that extend beyond the territorial waters of the State concerned and on which it exercises, in accordance with international law, its sovereign rights and jurisdiction for the purposes of exploration, exploration and
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. In particular, each Contracting Party will authorize 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 direct or indirect 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.
3. The treatment and protection defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be at least equal to those enjoyed by investors of a third State and shall, in no case, be less favourable than those recognized by international law.
4. However, such treatment and protection will not extend to the privileges that a Contracting Party grants 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.
5. The income of the investment and in the event of their reinvestment in accordance with the legislation of a Contracting Party, shall enjoy the same protection as the initial investment.
ARTICLE 4
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, the 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 compensation will correspond to the real value of the investments concerned on the day before the measures were taken or made public.
Compensation will be paid in the currency of the State of which the investor is a national or in any other convertible currency. They will be paid without delay and freely transferable. They will be of interest to the normal commercial rate from the date of the fixing of their amount to that of their 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.
5. For substances regulated by this Article, each Contracting Party shall grant to investors of the other Contracting Party at least equal treatment to that which it reserves in its territory to investors of the most favoured nation. Such treatment would in no way be less favourable than that recognized by international law.
ARTICLE 5
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 4.
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 fees and fees.
5. The guarantees provided for in this Article shall be at least equal to those granted to investors of the most favoured nation.
ARTICLE 6
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.
3. Any different between a Contracting Party and the insurer of an investor of the other Contracting Party shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions of Article 9 of this Agreement.
ARTICLE 7
Rules applicable
Where an investment issue 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 8
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 compliance with its obligations with respect to investors of the other Contracting Party.
ARTICLE 9
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 resolve the dispute through negotiation, possibly using the expert advice of a third party, or by conciliation between the Contracting Parties through diplomatic channels.
2. In the absence of amicable settlement by direct arrangement between the parties to the dispute or by diplomatic conciliation within six months of its notification, the dispute shall be submitted, at the option of the investor, to the competent jurisdiction of the State where the investment has been made, or to international arbitration.
To this end, each Contracting Party shall give its early and irrevocable consent to any dispute being submitted to that arbitration. This consent implies that they do not demand the exhaustion of domestic administrative or judicial remedies.
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, an opposing party to the dispute, would have received compensation covering all or part of its losses in the execution of an insurance policy or the guarantee provided for in Article 6 of this Agreement.
5. The arbitral tribunal shall rule on the basis of the domestic law of the Contracting Party party to the dispute in the territory of which the investment has been made, including the rules relating to conflicts of law, as well as on the basis of the provisions of this Agreement, of the terms of the particular agreement possibly concluded with respect to the investment and principles of international law.
6. 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.
ARTICLE 10
Most-favoured national and national treatment
For all matters relating to the processing of investments, investors from each Contracting Party will benefit, on the territory of the other Party, from the treatment of the most favoured nation.
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.
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.
The provisions of this section do not apply to tax matters.
ARTICLE 11
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. 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.
5. 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 12
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.
ARTICLE 13
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.
Done in Brussels on 18 May 2001, in two original copies, each in French and Dutch, all texts being equally authentic. The French language text will prevail in the event of a discrepancy of interpretation.