Photo by Christian Dubovan on Unsplash
Campaigners have applauded a decision to escape “the sinking ship of a treaty.”
This comes after the Council of the EU – Member States – on Thursday adopted a “historic decision” to withdraw the European Union from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).
The ECT is an international investment treaty from the 1990s which campaigners claims was “increasingly used by the fossil fuel industry to sue governments over their climate and energy policies.”
Comment came from Audrey Changoe, Trade and Investment Policy Coordinator at Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe.
On Thursday, she told this site: “This is a historic moment and a significant victory for climate justice campaigners across Europe.”
“The EU is finally abandoning this sinking ship of a treaty that protects polluters and allows fossil fuel companies to claim billions from taxpayers. Amidst a global climate crisis, such climate-wrecking agreements have no place.”
Ahead of the EU, 12 European countries have left the treaty already, including Spain, France, Italy, Germany, and the UK.
CAN Europe says it has campaigned relentlessly with civil society organisations and climate activists across Europe against the treaty.
CAN said it sought to “expose the dangers of the controversial treaty” and called on the EU and European countries to withdraw from it.
In 2021, CAN Europe’s petition against the ECT gathered over 1 m signatures from citizens across the EU.
The Council decision on 30 May followed after the European Parliament massively voted in favour of exiting the Energy Charter Treaty in April this year.
The cornerstone of the Energy Charter Treaty is said to have been the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism that, even without the ECT, continues to exist in many other investment treaties.
CAN said, “ISDS allows companies to sue governments through private arbitration courts if they pass or enforce laws that affect the companies’ investments.”
Changoe continued: “Right now, our pressure is on the remaining EU countries that have yet to exit the ECT. They have a unique opportunity to abandon this sinking ship, dismantle the power of the fossil industry and prioritise future generations over fossil fuel profits.”
“And next, we will take on the undemocratic ISDS system which poses a serious threat to a just global energy transition.”
Tinne Van der Straeten,Minister for Energy for Belgium, current holder of the EU presidency, said, “Today’s adoption represents the final milestone in the Belgian roadmap we crafted for the Energy Charter Treaty.”
“Building on the groundwork laid by our Swedish predecessors, the Belgian presidency has worked tirelessly to break this complex deadlock and found a balance acceptable and useful to all.”
A Council spokesman told this site, “The withdrawal will take effect one year after the receipt of the notification by the depositary of the treaty.
“The position to be taken by remaining member states on modernisation will apply during the next Energy Charter Conference.”
