The system for the protection of investments has been articulated mainly through specific treaties (bilateral agreements -for the reciprocal protection of investments- and multilateral agreements -CIADI-), while remaining largely outside the WTO and trade agreements.

However, in the WTO, a working group has been responsible for analyzing the relationship between the two dimensions since 1996 and, in addition, a group of States have signed the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures ("TRIMs Agreement"). Otherwise, investment is only tangentially addressed in GATS (mode 3 services; commercial presence) and GATT-94.

In recent times, the EU has been a pioneer in articulating a formal relationship between investment and trade by incorporating provisions on the latter and its protection mechanisms (arbitration) in the new generation of free trade agreements. At the same time, the EU has also promoted the negotiation of a multilateral treaty, so that the current situation and its prospects for development become an important line of work.