7. The Tribunal shall decide on the basis of the provisions of this Agreement and the principles of international law applicable.
Article 18. Final Provisions
1. Each Contracting Party shall notify the other contracting party of the completion of the internal procedures required for the Entry into Force of this Agreement, which shall enter into force one month after the date of receipt of the last notification.
2. The contracting parties may agree to amend this Agreement. Once agreed and approval according to the constitutional requirements of each Contracting Party, an amendment shall constitute an integral part of this Agreement and shall enter into force on the date on which the Contracting Parties so agree.
3. This Agreement shall remain in force for an initial period of ten years. Thereafter, the Agreement shall remain in force thereafter unless one of the contracting parties gives a written notice of termination notice through one year through diplomatic channels.
4. In the event of termination of this Agreement, the investments made in force will continue to enjoy the protection of their provisions for a further period of fifteen years.
Conclusion
Done in Bogota, ten (10) days of July 2014 each one in two originals in English and French languages, both texts being equally authentic.
The Government of the Republic of Colombia
Santiago Rojas Arroyo
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism
The Government of the French Republic
Jean-Marc Laforet
Ambassador of France in Colombia
Attachments
PROTOCOL
On the signature of the Agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Republic of Colombia on the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, the Contracting Parties shall also agree on the following provisions contained in the Agreement:
With respect to article 1, agreed that the public debt operations are excluded from the definition of investment and therefore the scope of the Agreement and its provisions on dispute settlement. Public debt contracts concluded by the Governments of the contracting parties involved in a commercial risk and include certain specific procedures for the resolution of disputes available in case of differences between the debtor and its creditors.
JOINT INTERPRETATIVE DECLARATION BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA AND THE FRENCH REPUBLIC ON THE AGREEMENT ON THE RECIPROCAL PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF INVESTMENTS BETWEEN COLOMBIA AND FRANCE, SIGNED ON 10 JULY 2014.
The Government of the Republic of Colombia ("Colombia") and the Government of the French Republic ("France"), hereinafter referred to as the "Contracting Parties";
Recalling the customary international rules on the interpretation of treaties, codified in Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties;
Reaffirming their mutual understanding of the Agreement on the Reciprocal Encouragement and Protection of Investments between Colombia and France signed on 1 O July 2014 ("Agreement");
Declare that:
1. The Agreement shall not result in the granting of unjustified more favourable treatment to foreign investors vis-à-vis domestic investors.
2. Having regard to the relevant sources of public international law, namely international treaties, in particular those concluded between the Contracting Parties, customary international norms or judicial decisions and arbitral jurisprudence, the Contracting Parties understand that the obligation referred to in Article 4 of the Agreement to accord fair and equitable treatment in accordance with applicable international law shall be breached where a measure constitutes:
(a) a denial of justice in criminal, civil or administrative proceedings;
(b) a fundamental breach of due process, including a fundamental breach of the principle of transparency in judicial and administrative proceedings;
(c) manifest arbitrariness;
(d) specific discrimination on manifestly unfair grounds, such as sex, race or religious belief;
(e) abusive treatment of investors, such as coercion, intimidation or harassment.
3. The content of the obligation to provide fair and equitable treatment in accordance with applicable international law within the meaning of Article 4 of the Agreement shall be limited to the elements set out in paragraph 2 above and may be revised and supplemented only by mutual agreement of the Contracting Parties.
4. Legitimate expectations, which may be taken into account under Articles 4 or 6 of the Agreement, refer to whether a Contracting Party had specifically approached an investor to induce it to make an investment, creating reasonable expectations that motivate the latter's decision to make or maintain the investment, but which are nevertheless frustrated by that Contracting Party.
5. The treatment referred to in Article 5 of the Agreement shall be accorded in like situations with respect to the management, conduct, operation and sale or disposal of investments in the same economic sector in the territory of a Contracting Party.
6. Without prejudice to Article 5.4 of the Agreement, substantive obligations under other international investment treaties and other trade agreements concluded between the Contracting Parties do not in themselves constitute "treatment" in relation to the most-favoured-nation principle under Article 5 of the Agreement, and therefore shall not, in the absence of measures adopted or maintained by a Contracting Party pursuant to such obligations, give rise to a breach of that Article.
7. Whether a measure taken by a Contracting Party is necessary and proportionate to the legitimate public policy objectives referred to in Articles 5.3 and 6.2 of the Agreement shall be determined on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the existence of appropriate alternatives reasonably available in the circumstances and the reasonable relationship of proportionality between the means employed and the importance of the objective pursued. It is understood that a measure need not be the only option available to be considered necessary and that a measure will not be proportional if its impact is so severe in the light of the objective pursued that it appears manifestly excessive.
Done at Bogota on 5 August 2020 in duplicate, in the French and Spanish languages, both texts being equally authentic.
For the Government of the Republic of Colombia
Claudia BLUM
Minister for Foreign Affairs
For the Government of the French Republic
Gautier MIGNOT
Ambassador of France in Colombia