REX/593 Follow-up from the Commission

The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT, 1998) is a multilateral trade and investment agreement applicable to the energy sector. Eleven Member States and the UK, representing more than 70% of the European population, have already decided to exit the ECT.  The ECT is the most used investment treaty by multinational corporations to sue countries and the number of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases is rising each year. As long as the EU is still a member of the ECT, even the EU Member States that have already left the ECT can still be sued for pursuing EU policies. 

The proposed decision aims to codify the interpretation of the European Court of Justice that the ECT does not apply to disputes between a Member State and an investor of another Member State concerning an investment made by the latter in the first Member State.