On Wednesday 18 June, the European Parliament adopted by a large majority (554 votes in favour, 53 against, 7 abstentions) the report by Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA, German) and Borys Budka (EPP, Polish) on the ‘inter se’ agreement’s interpretation, stating that the arbitration clause of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) cannot be applied to intra-EU arbitration proceedings.
This report validates the European Commission’s initial proposal to indicate that this clause cannot apply to disputes between a Member State and a private investor from another EU country concerning an investment made in the first Member State, as was ruled in the Komstroy judgment in 2021 (see EUROPE 12782/13).
“These dangerous disputes between investors and states undermine the EU’s sovereignty and jeopardise our climate and energy policy. But fortunately, this will be a thing of the past”, said Ms Cavazzini before the vote.
The MEP also said that she had asked the European Commission to extend coverage of the ‘inter se’ agreement to Switzerland and the UK, and to continue reforming the international investment protection system “to fully align it with the principles of the Rule of law and democratic sovereignty”.
In addition, Parliament validated the report on the EU/Euratom agreement to recognise this same interpretation, with 557 votes in favour, 47 against and 46 abstentions.
To see the text: https://aeur.eu/f/he9 ; and the text relating to the EU/Euratom agreement: https://aeur.eu/f/hec (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)