Tax and investment treaty overlaps

Carina Frahm

doi:10.26481/dis.20260428cf

Tax and investment treaty overlaps

Carina Frahm

Research output: Thesis › Doctoral Thesis › Internal

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Abstract

Every euro of foreign investment is fought over, and companies demand certainty before they commit. Yet the treaties governing international tax and foreign investment are becoming a tangled mess to operate as two completely separate worlds. This legal fragmentation doesn’t just confuse businesses – it creates opportunities for governments to overstep. The result? A paradox: states try to fund growth while discouraging the very investment they depend on. Instead of bridging the gap, UN proposals – pushed by tax authorities – threaten to pull these two systems even further apart, leaving businesses trapped in the crossfire.
The UN’s newest framework suggests that investment arbitration should play no role in matters covered by bilateral tax treaties. This PhD reaches the opposite conclusion: as politics should be kept out of judicial review and legal protection, arbitrary, discriminative or confiscatory tax treatment might still call for independent review.

Original language	English
Qualification	Doctor of Philosophy
Awarding Institution	Maastricht University Universidad del Rosario
Supervisors/Advisors	Luja, Raymond, Supervisor Buitrago Diaz, Esperanza, Supervisor
Award date	28 Apr 2026
Place of Publication	Maastricht
Publisher	ProefschriftMaken
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.26481/dis.20260428cf
Publication status	Published - 28 Apr 2026

Keywords

Double Taxation Conventions
International Investment Agreements
Fragmentation of International Law
Depoliticization

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10.26481/dis.20260428cf

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Tax and investment treaty overlaps
Luja, R. (Supervisor), Buitrago Diaz, E. (Supervisor), van den Hurk, H. (Assessment committee chair), Lennard, M. (Assessment / reading committee member), Plazas Vega, M. (Assessment / reading committee member) & Silva Romero, E. (Assessment / reading committee member)
28 Apr 2026
Activity: PhD examination / assessment committee › PhD (co-) supervision / assessment committee - internal promotion › Academic

Cite this

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Tax and investment treaty overlaps

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Tax and investment treaty overlaps

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