Withdrawal of the EU now unavoidable
19.11.2022, Berlin: The reform of the Energy Charter Treaty has not found a majority among the EU member states in a landmark vote on Friday evening. In the Permanent Representatives Committee, Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands abstained, thus failing to achieve the required qualified majority among the Member States.
As a consequence, the EU cannot agree to the reform of the Energy Charter Treaty at a conference of the parties next Tuesday in Mongolia. Since the Energy Charter Treaty in its existing form is not in line with European law, the EU remains only the way to withdraw from the Investment Protection Agreement. This would follow seven EU member states, including Germany, France and Spain, which have already announced an exit from the treaty and represent more than 75 percent of the EU population. A withdrawal of the EU significantly reduces the risk of lawsuits by foreign investors and calls into question the future of the controversial treaty.
Fabian Flues, Trade Policy Expert at PowerShift:
"The result of the vote is a great success for climate action. Because the now unavoidable withdrawal of the EU significantly reduces the risk of investor complaints. To do this, the European Commission needs to come up with a proposal quickly. A withdrawal from the EU also sends a clear signal to countries in the Global South that are considering being included in the Energy Charter Treaty that this treaty is a thing of the past.”
Amandine Van Den Berghe, legal expert at ClientEarth:
"The outcome of this vote is a great success for all those who oppose international treaties used by investors to challenge democratic decisions for more climate protection. Since the attempt to save the non-reformable Energy Charter Treaty has clearly failed, the Commission must now launch the formal withdrawal of the entire EU. Anything else would put the states that have announced their withdrawal, like Germany, in an untenable legal situation. At the same time, an agreement must be prepared between the EU countries that will leave the Treaty and those that want to remain, in order to avoid the further application of the ECT Treaty in their internal relations.”
Ludwig Essig, Network of Fair World Trade:
“Germany has shown its climate courage and refused to endorse the modernisation of the ECT. This is a consequence of the expansion of the traffic light trade agenda. However, it also decided on a number of unpleasant things: The ratification of CETA and support for further free trade agreements with ISDS that provide investment protection for fossil fuels. This is completely incomprehensible and makes the entire trading agenda of the traffic lights downright unreliable. We will continue to be critical of trade policy.”
At the same time as the EU decision, more than 380 civil society organisations highlighted the risks of investment protection in tackling the climate crisis during the COP27 climate conference in Egypt. In her appeal call on governments around the world to withdraw from agreements such as the Energy Charter Treaty so that urgently needed climate action cannot be deplored.
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Press contacts
- PowerShift, Fabian Flues, fabian.flues@power-shift.de, +49 (0)159 0611 3733
- ClientEarth: Dániel Fehér, presse@clientearth.org, +49 (0)30 3119 3850
- network of equitable world trade, essig@forumue.de, +49(0)176 546 752 53
