On Thursday, 23 June, MEPs adopted—with 436 votes in favour, 69 against, and 71 abstentions—an own-initiative report by Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA, Germany) on the EU’s investment policy. They are calling for a framework that favours sustainable investments abroad.
“[We] suggest, in the report, [ending] the protection of investments in fossil fuels or any other activities that pose significant harm to the environment and human rights”, Ms Cavazzini declared in the chamber.
MEPs express the need to introduce “enforceable provisions as regards corporate social responsibility, human rights, and environmental due diligence as well as anti-corruption safeguards” into investment facilitation frameworks. The same is true for international investment agreements (IIAs), which should exclude investments in fossil fuels or any other activities that pose significant harm to the environment and human rights.
MEPs lament the way in which investors can initiate investment-related legal proceedings against states, “while governments, workers, and affected communities are unable to pursue in arbitration transnational corporations”. According to the European Parliament, these dispute settlements between investors and states make it more expensive and difficult for the latter to adopt energy transition measures. MEPs indicate in the report that all IIAs should require that investors use national court systems first and that, once recourse through these systems has been exhausted, they be allowed to appeal to an arbitration tribunal.
Finally—and for similar reasons—the report takes a stance in favour of exiting the Energy Charter Treaty (see other news).
See the report adopted by the European Parliament: https://aeur.eu/f/2a6 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)