Several EU Member States to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty despite progress on modernisation
- 25/10/2022
- News
Within the last two months, several EU Member States - Spain, the Netherlands, France and Poland - have confirmed that they intend to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty, despite agreement in principle between Contracting Parties on a modernised treaty having been reached in June 2022. It appears that these decisions to withdraw are based on the view that the Energy Charter Treaty is not in line with commitments under the Paris Agreement and that the Treaty hinders the fight against climate change. It is now reported that, in addition to the four EU Member States which have publicly confirmed their withdrawal, a number of other EU Member States are also considering leaving the ECT, reportedly including Germany and Belgium.
Regardless of the most recently announced withdrawals, under the current text of the treaty these Contracting Parties will still be subject to potential claims from covered investors in their territory for the next 20 years, and withdrawal should also not affect pending cases or the enforcement of the arbitral awards rendered.
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