Eight negotiation round to modernise Energy Charter Treaty: main takeaways

The European Commission and Member States took part in the fourth negotiation round to modernise the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), which took place between 9 and 12 November 2021.

The EU presented a proposal for the modernisation of the ECT in May 2020, aiming to modernise provisions concerning (i) investment protection; (ii) alignment with climate change and clean energy transition goals; and (iii) the treaty’s investor-to-state dispute settlement mechanism. The treaty has been subject to several challenges before the Court of Justice, most notably its judgment in Komstroy (C-741/19), where it applied its Achmea case law to the ECT and held that intra-EU investment treaty arbitration pursuant to the ECT is precluded by EU law.