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RECOMMENDATION (06509/2024 – C90059/2024 – 2023/0273(NLE))

On the draft Council decision on the withdrawal of the Union from the Energy Charter Treaty

A-9-2024-0176

Committee on International Trade Committee on Industry, Research and Energy · Rapporteur: Anna Cavazzini, Marc Botenga

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 26 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament gives its consent to the withdrawal of the European Union from the Energy Charter Treaty, a multilateral energy investment agreement signed in 1994 and in force since 1998. The explanatory statement says the treaty protects fossil fuel investments, has been used for investor-state dispute settlement cases, and obstructs climate action and the energy transition. It notes that a modernisation process begun in 2018 failed to align the treaty with the Paris Agreement, the EU Climate Law or the European Green Deal, and did not win a qualified majority of member states. The rapporteurs welcome the Commission's withdrawal proposal and ask it to promote a coordinated exit of all member states and to seek agreements limiting the sunset clause and preventing intra-EU disputes.

Committee position. The committees give their consent to the withdrawal of the Union from the Energy Charter Treaty and call on the Commission to promote a coordinated exit of all member states and to address the sunset clause and intra-EU disputes.

Key points

  1. Parliament gives its consent to the withdrawal of the Union from the Energy Charter Treaty.
  2. The Energy Charter Treaty is a multilateral trade and investment agreement for the energy sector, signed in 1994 and in force since 1998.
  3. The EU is a Contracting Party together with Euratom, 23 EU member states, Japan, Switzerland, Turkey and most countries from the Western Balkans and the former USSR.
  4. Eleven member states and the UK, representing more than 70% of the European population, have already decided to exit the treaty.
  5. As of 1 December 2023, there were 162 known investment arbitration cases under the treaty, around 70% of them intra-EU.
  6. The statement says the treaty has enabled fossil fuel corporations to sue European governments over policies to phase out fossil fuels or advance a just energy transition.
  7. It cites cases including RWE and Uniper seeking €2.4bn from the Netherlands, Italy ordered to pay Rockhopper €250 million, and Klesch Group suing the EU, Germany and Denmark for at least €95 million.
  8. The withdrawal follows years of mobilisation, including over 1 million European citizens calling on EU countries to pull out of the treaty and a Parliament resolution of 24 November 2022.
  9. A modernisation process started in November 2018, but the proposed modernised treaty failed to align with the Paris Agreement, the EU Climate Law and the European Green Deal.
  10. The modernised treaty did not convince a qualified majority of member states in the Council, so the EU did not receive a mandate to adopt it at the November 2022 Energy Charter Conference.
  11. The rapporteurs say that while the EU remains a member, even member states that have left can still be sued for pursuing EU policies.
  12. The rapporteurs invite the Commission to promote a coordinated exit of all member states, to seek an inter-se agreement on intra-EU disputes, and to propose a second agreement with non-EU Contracting Parties to neutralise the sunset clause.

Who is affected

  • The European Union: would withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty.
  • EU member states: eleven have already decided to exit; all are urged to coordinate their exit.
  • Fossil fuel investors: the treaty's protection of their investments is the target of the withdrawal.
  • Non-EU Contracting Parties willing to withdraw: the Commission is asked to propose an agreement to neutralise the sunset clause.

Figures and deadlines

  • Signed in Lisbon on 17 December 1994.
  • Entered into force in 1998.
  • 23 EU Member States are Contracting Parties.
  • Eleven Member States and the UK, representing more than 70% of the European population, have decided to exit.
  • As of 1 December 2023, 162 known investment arbitration cases, around 70% intra-EU.
  • RWE and Uniper sought €2.4bn in damages from the Dutch government.
  • Italy was ordered to pay Rockhopper €250 million.
  • Klesch Group Holdings Limited sued the EU, Germany and Denmark for at least €95 million.

Legal basis: Articles 194(2) and 207(4), first subparagraph, and Article 218(6), second subparagraph, point (a)(v) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.