The European Commission has recently published a recommendation for a Council Decision authorising the entering into negotiations on the modernisation of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).
The ECT, signed in Lisbon in 1994, is an international agreement that regulates cross-border cooperation in the energy industry. It covers all aspects of commercial energy activities, including trade, investments and energy efficiency. The EU aims at amending the treaty provisions by negotiating innovative rules on investment protection, which would guarantee greater legal certainty to investors in the sector. Furthermore, the EU will call for the inclusion of provisions on sustainable development, climate change and corporate social responsibility.
Given the relevance of the ECT for the energy industry, it will be necessary to monitor the negotiations which are set to start in the following months.