European Parliament calls for EU’s withdrawal from the ECT

MEPs have just voted to adopt the report by Greens/EFA MEP Anna Cavazzini, calling on the European Union to exit the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). The European Parliament calls on the Commission to withdraw its proposal to modernise the ECT and to immediately present a coordinated exit plan for the EU and its Member States. The treaty has been in force since 1998 and is the most litigated investment protection treaty in the world. 

Anna Cavazzini, MEP, rapporteur on the Energy Charter Treaty and Greens/EFA Chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, comments:

"Today, the European Parliament calls for the defeat of a treaty that has been guaranteeing the anachronistic protection of investments in fossil fuels. This treaty has been a brake on the EU’s climate ambition. Via the Energy Charter Treaty, fossil fuel investors are undermining governments’ climate actions and suing states for billions of euros in front of private arbitration tribunals."

“There is no majority in the Council nor in the European Parliament to save the Energy Charter Treaty. The Commission must, without delay, propose for the EU to withdraw, and support the coordinated exit of Member States.” 

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The ECT protects investments in fossil fuels and it has therefore become incompatible with the fight against climate change. Eight Member States have already taken steps to withdraw from the treaty, and earlier this month a proposal from the Commission to reform the treaty did not find a majority in the Council. This vote is a major success for the Green/EFA group that has long called for an exit from the treaty.