In order to favor foreign investment, governments have focused on building a fair, secure and full protection system. In particular, the protection in case of expropriation and the possibility of recourse to investor-state arbitration have been secured to investors. As a consequence, states started to confine their policy space and their capacity to adopt measures for the protection of the public interest, including in situations of crisis. The limitations of these systems were underlined in cases against Argentina. They dealt with measures taken by Argentina in order to tackle its economic and financial crisis of 2001. It was clear in that occasion that there was the need to reform the system. The chapter explores this reform of international investment law, taking into consideration economic crises. Focusing on the post-crisis EU-led reform, it examines substantive and procedural standards, including provisions and policy Statements explicitly referring to the financial sector and economic crises, in order to better understand the new face of international investment law and the new generation of international investment agreements. New exceptions in EU treaties regarding the measures taken in situations of economic crisis and prudential measures play a restrictive role vis-à-vis investment tribunals' interpretive leeway. This leads to generate more freedom in the host economy, when dealing with such situations without violating an investment agreement. It has to be noticed that new formulations of substantive standards and accompanying exceptions introduce a measure of balance and are to be welcomed. Furthermore, provisions aimed at improving the functioning of the investor-State arbitration system, including those that may leave out of the treaty's scope measures taken in times of crisis, reflect the new sensitivity about safeguarding the public interest, and indirectly about the State's capacity to deal with situations of crisis. As cases relating to Argentina's debt restructurings and the most recent financial crisis are yet to be decided, what needs to be studied is how tribunals will deal with the new issues, including with the novel treaty provisions, and how investment policy will respond to these adjudications in the future.
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