EU Council Presidency puts forward compromise proposals concerning Energy Charter Treaty

The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union presented its proposals, in a document sent to the EU Council Working Party on Energy, on Friday 28 April, for the accession of Member States to the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and its modernisation. 

The last country to notify its intention to withdraw from the Treaty was Denmark (see EUROPE 13161/24). It was preceded by seven other countries denouncing the protection of certain investments in fossil fuels, which was not in line with the European Green Deal.

Previous negotiations to modernise the ECT ended on 24 June 2022 and this modernised ECT was due to be adopted at the Energy Charter Conference last 22 November, but it did not gain sufficient support at the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the EU of 18 November 2022 (see EUROPE 13067/8).

Therefore, in the absence of EU and Euratom support for the modernisation of the ECT, the current ECT remains in force.

In this context, the EU Council Presidency has put forward a proposal for the withdrawal of the European Union and Euratom from the Energy Charter Treaty. “This would provide those Member States that have argued strongly for the withdrawal of the EU as well as a majority of members of the European Parliament reassurances that there will be an early and swift withdrawal of the EU from the ECT”, the document says. 

At the same time, an EU Council decision would allow those Member States who want to remain in the ECT to do so under a modernised ECT by allowing them not to oppose the approval of the modernisation package. 

“This would give reassurances to those Member States who support a modernised ECT and to those Member States that cannot agree to the conservation of an unreformed treaty for another 20 years that a withdrawal now would bring about for existing investments”. 

It is then up to the Commission to introduce a proposal to move towards a global solution.

To see the Swedish Presidency’s proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/6ns (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)