Energy Charter Treaty

The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is a plurilateral investment agreement between 53 European and Central Asian countries. It was signed in 1994 and entered into force in April 1998.

About 30 countries around the world are at different stages of joining the ECT. Burundi, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and Mauritania are first in line, followed by Pakistan and Uganda.

The original objective of the ECT was to overcome the political and economic divisions between Eastern and Western Europe after the demise of the Soviet Union, as well as to strengthen Europe’s energy security. European countries wanted to secure the access to fossil fuel resources of the former Soviet countries by protecting foreign energy investments in these countries.

The ECT provides for an Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism to resolve disputes between an investor and a member state. To this day, it is the world’s most widely used legal instrument for initiating ISDS arbitrations. It has been invoked by investors in 124 cases.

Critics argue that as with most other investment agreements, it places investors’ economic rights and interests over the social, ecological and economic interests of host states and their societies. The ECT imposes obligations on the host state but not on foreign investors. The ECT has also been condemned by environmental activists for protecting the fossil fuel industry and undermining serious climate action.

Spain has been subject to 45 arbitration disputes under the ECT after it implemented a series of energy reforms affecting the renewables sector, including a reduction in subsidies for producers. While some cases are still pending, Spain has already been ordered to pay over €800 million.

You can find out more about the Energy Charter Treaty on the ECT’s dirty secrets website.

Key cases include:

Vattenfall (Sweden) vs. Germany: In 2007 the Swedish energy corporation was granted a provisional permit to build a coal-fired power plant near the city of Hamburg. In an effort to protect the Elbe river from the waste waters dumped from the plant, environmental restrictions were added before the final approval of its construction. The investor initiated a dispute, arguing it would make the project unviable. The case was ultimately settled in 2011, with the city of Hamburg agreeing to the lowering of environmental standards.

Yukos (Isle of Man) vs. Russia: Yukos was a Russian oil and gas company. It was acquired from the Russian government during the controversial “loans for shares” auctions of the mid 1990s, whereby some of the largest state industrial assets were leased (in effect privatized) through auctions for money lent by commercial banks to the government. The auctions were rigged and lacked competition, and effectively became a form of selling for a very low price. In 2003, the Yukos CEO was arrested on charges of fraud and tax evasion and the following year Yukos’ assets were frozen or confiscated. In 2007 Yukos’ former shareholders filed a claim for over US$100 billion, seeking compensation for their expropriation. The dispute resulted in 2014 in the arbitrators awarding the majority shareholders over US$50 billion in damages. The investors have been trying to enforce the award in several countries since then.

NextEra (Netherland) vs. Spain: The Dutch investor filed for arbitration in May 2014, after Spain changed the regulatory framework applicable to its investment, namely the construction of two solar power plants. NextEra claimed that Spain abolished the long-term premium and tariff system, negatively affecting the profitability of the project. However, Spain alleged that NextEra should have been aware that changes could be made to the regulatory regime. In May 2019, the investor was awarded around €290 million. Spain filed for annulment in October 2019.

Photo: Marc Maes / Twitter

Last update: April 2020

E3G | 4-Dec-2024
Our ranking reveals that the Energy Charter Treaty remains the most dangerous investment treaty to the energy transition by protecting over 300 megatonnes (Mt) of greenhouse gas emissions.
Friends of the Earth Europe | 3-Dec-2024
Even after modernisation, the ECT continues to undermine European and global climate policies.
Gouvernement suisse | 20-Nov-2024
Les parties contractantes restantes devraient approuver la nouvelle mouture du traité lors de la Conférence de la Charte de l’énergie, qui aura lieu le 3 décembre 2024.
The Standard | 23-Oct-2024
Critics argue that the ECT, designed to protect foreign investments, contains vague provisions that allow multinational corporations to sue governments for lost profits due to policy changes.
SOMO | 11-Oct-2024
The multinational disagrees with the decision that gas production in the Dutch province of Groningen will be shut down early.
Observatoire de l’Europe | 11-Oct-2024
Le géant pétrolier américain ExxonMobil a invoqué le controversé traité sur la Charte de l’énergie dans une éventuelle demande d’indemnisation de plusieurs milliards d’euros.
iclg | 9-Oct-2024
Invoking the Australia-Poland bilateral investment treaty, together with the Energy Charter Treaty, Green X has been awarded hundreds of millions of dollars over a thwarted mining project.
Upstream | 2-Oct-2024
The “de-facto expropriation of Wintershall’s interests in Russian gas ventures was formalised in December 2023 when President Putin issued decrees invalidating gas sale contracts and transferring assets to Russian companies.
XM | 1-Oct-2024
Investors in Finland’s largest power distributor Caruna are taking the Nordic country to arbitration, the Finnish foreign ministry said, due to the Finnish Energy Authority’s attempt to curb rising power transmission prices for ordinary consumers.
Boursorama | 1-Oct-2024
Les investisseurs de Caruna, le plus grand distributeur d’électricité de Finlande, ont engagé une procédure d’arbitrage contre le pays nordique, en raison de la tentative de l’autorité finlandaise de l’énergie de freiner l’augmentation des prix de transport de l’électricité.