03/12/2020 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 2 December, in a reply to a written question from around 50 MEPs, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis did not rule out the possibility of the EU withdrawing from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) (see EUROPE 12592/22). “The Commission will continue to review regularly the progress of the negotiations. If core EU objectives, including the alignment with the Paris Agreement, are not attained within a reasonable timeframe, the Commission may consider proposing other options, including withdrawal from the ECT”, wrote Mr Dombrovskis, without, however, specifying what he meant by “reasonable timeframe”. This response echoes that of Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson during a debate in the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12587/3). Although the third round of negotiations to modernise it ended on 6 November, criticism of the ECT has been growing (see EUROPE 12594/11). See Mr Dombrovskis’ reply: https://bit.ly/3qw9C7l (DG)