Energy Charter Treaty

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The Energy Charter Treaty (English Energy Charter Treaty , ECT) is an international treaty by the end of the Cold War, originally to integrate the energy sectors of the successor states of the Soviet Union had and Eastern Europe into the European and global markets to the task.

The underlying Energy Charter was signed on December 17, 1991 in The Hague . It was a political declaration of the principles of international energy relations, including trade, transit and investment. The intention to negotiate a legally binding contract was also expressed.

The legally binding treaty itself was signed in Lisbon in December 1994 , along with a Protocol on Energy Efficiency and Related Environmental Aspects (PEEREA). The treaty and protocol entered into force in April 1998.

The lawsuit brought by the energy company Vattenfall against the Federal Republic of Germany due to the nuclear phase-out is based on the Energy Charter Treaty.

content

The contract covers four main areas:

  • the protection of foreign investments according to the principle of application of national treatment or most favored nation treatment (whichever is more advantageous) and protection against the main non-commercial risks;
  • Non-discriminatory conditions for the trade in energy materials, products and energy-related equipment based on the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as regulations to ensure reliable cross-border energy transit through pipelines, networks and other types of transport, the contract does not, however, see any compulsion Contracting parties reserve the right to grant third parties access to the infrastructure;
  • Resolving disputes between participating states and, in the case of investments, between investors and host countries ( investor-state dispute settlement );
  • the promotion of energy efficiency, as well as approaches to minimize the environmental impact of energy production and consumption.

While the Energy Charter is based on the idea that international investment and technology transfers in the energy sector are mutually beneficial, national sovereignty over energy resources remains a core principle of the Treaty (Art. 18 ECT). Each member country is free to decide when and how its national energy resources should be developed and to what extent its energy sector should be open to foreign investors.

One of the aims of the treaty is to promote the transparency and efficiency of energy markets, but it is up to governments to determine the structure of the national energy sector. There is no obligation to privatize state-owned energy companies or to break up vertically integrated energy companies.

In December 2007, the Energy Charter Conference reaffirmed its support for a conclusion of the negotiations and the adoption of the transit protocol for the Energy Charter Treaty in order to expand the existing provisions of the Treaty. The Energy Charter Trade and Transit Working Group was mandated to return to the multilateral consultations on the draft Transit Protocol in 2008.

membership

The Energy Charter Treaty and the Protocol on Energy Efficiency and Related Environmental Aspects were signed in December 1994 and came into force in April 1998. Currently 51 countries, the European Community and EURATOM have signed or acceded to the treaty. The total number of its members is now 53.

All members have ratified the treaty, with the exception of Australia, Belarus, Iceland, Norway and Russia. Belarus and Russia have declared that they will apply the provisions of the treaty provisionally until ratification, insofar as it is in accordance with their national constitutions, laws and regulations.

Russia has made ratification of the ECT conditional on negotiation of a transit protocol. This protocol would strengthen the regulations of the ECT in the field of energy transit in order to mitigate some specific operational risks that still affect the energy transit. Negotiations on the text of a transit protocol began in early 2000 and a compromise proposal, reflecting the ongoing discussion between the European Union and Russia, was presented to the Energy Charter Conference (the organisation's governing and decision-making body) on December 10, 2003.

However, a friendly decision could not be reached on the basis of the compromise proposal. An aggravating factor was that energy issues, including transit, were also the subject of bilateral negotiations between the European Union and Russia in the context of Russia's accession process to the WTO. Negotiations on the transit protocol have been temporarily suspended. The suspension was lifted in 2004 after Russia and the EU agreed on terms for Russia to join the WTO. Further bilateral negotiations between the EU and Russia have taken place since autumn 2004.

In December 2006, Russia indicated that ratification of the ECT was unlikely given its regulations on third party access to pipelines. At the beginning of September 2007, members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament demanded that the EU should only support Russia's membership in the WTO if Russia adheres to the ECT.

Italy officially announced in spring 2015 that it would withdraw as a member in order to save the annual membership fees of 370,000 euros. The termination will take effect after one year, but investors can still claim the violation of their rights by Italy before arbitration tribunals until 2036 if their investment was made before the termination took effect.

Energy Charter Conference

The Energy Charter Conference is the governing and decision-making body of the organization. The Chair of the Energy Charter Conference is Selim Kuneralp, Turkey, and the Vice Chairs Anatolij Janowskij, Russian Federation, and Odd Sverre Haraldsen, Norway. The Energy Charter Conference has the following subsidiary bodies:

  • Ad hoc strategy group,
  • Investment group,
  • Trade and transit group,
  • Working group on energy efficiency and related environmental aspects,
  • Budget committee,
  • Legal Advisory Committee.

In addition, the round with industry as an advisory body brings the views of private industry on issues of investment in the energy sector, cross-border trade and energy efficiency to the conference and its groups.

The Legal Advisory Task Force was set up by the Energy Charter 2001 Secretariat to support the development of model contracts for cross-border oil and gas pipelines.

office

The Energy Charter Conference is supported by a secretariat based in Brussels. The tasks of the secretariat are:

  • Monitoring the implementation of the ECT and the PEEREA
  • Organization and support of the meetings of the Conference and its subsidiary bodies
  • Analysis and advice to the conference and its subsidiary bodies
  • Representation of the conference in relations with non-member states, organizations and institutions
  • Support for negotiations on new instruments on behalf of the conference.

Urban Rusnák has been General Secretary since January 1, 2012. Vladimir Rachmanin became Deputy Secretary General in July 2008. All members are represented in the Energy Charter Conference (the governing and decision-making body of the organization) and the subordinate bodies. The conference meets regularly to discuss matters that have an impact on the members' cooperation in the field of energy and to review the implementation of the ECT and PEEREA and to consider new instruments and joint activities under the Energy Charter.

Members of the Energy Charter Conference

Members (green and light green) and observers (red) of the Energy Charter Conference.
  • Members who have ratified the Energy Charter Treaty.
  • Members who are pending ratification of the Energy Charter.
  • States with observer status.
    •

    Note: * - denotes countries in which the ratification of the Energy Charter Treaty is pending

    observer

    Twenty states and ten international organizations have observer status in the Energy Charter. Observers are authorized to attend all meetings of the Charter and the working level debates and have access to all relevant documents, reports and analyzes. This is intended to give the respective countries the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the charter and its functions in order to join the ECT later if necessary.

    States

    Note: ** - denotes observer states that have signed the 1991 Energy Charter

    International organizations

    Investment arbitration

    A number of investment arbitration proceedings have been and continue to be conducted under the Energy Charter Treaty . The energy company Vattenfall sued the Federal Republic of Germany in April 2009 because of the environmental requirements of the coal-fired power plant Moorburg and because of the nuclear phase-out. Spain and the Czech Republic are being sued for withdrawing funding programs for renewable energies within the framework of the so-called "solar claims". The highest arbitration award in history to date following the break-up of the Yukos oil company was also issued under the Energy Charter Treaty (see Yukos arbitration ).

    See also

    Web links

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ https://www.fr.de/wirtschaft/juristen-gegen-demokratie-11269181.html
    2. ^ A b Italy withdraws from Energy Charter Treaty , Globalarbitrationnews.com, May 6, 2015.
    3. ↑ Nathalie Bernasconi: Background paper on Vattenfall v. Germany arbitration. (PDF, 555 kB) International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), July 2009, accessed on May 5, 2016 (English).